Arch Linux

gay

Member

Registered: 2012-12-16

Posts: 90

[SOLVED] Ethernet controller kills network switch while laptop is off

I have a rather odd problem with my ethernet controller when the laptop is switched off: it continues to communicate with the network (switch is still blinking) and sometimes kills the network (switch ceases to function properly). The only way to resolve this I found so far is to remove the LAN cable when switching off the laptop.

Am I correct in assuming that if the ethernet controller still communicates when the computer is switched off it must have some kind of autonomous operating system that works independently from the Arch installed on the laptop? If so, is there any way to access it from my Arch (or otherwise - but I guess trying to access it from the laptop's main operating system would probably be the best chance I have) in order to get it to stop this?

Some additional information: The laptop is a 'Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E530 3259-MAG'. The ethernet controller is (according to lspci) a 'Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller'. A Google search for the laptop type revealed that some websites specify the type of this laptop's ethernet controller as 'Realtek RTL8111F'. Realtek in turn states on its website that this device is capable of 'Wake-on-LAN and remote wake-up support' - which I don't need and don't use but anyway. Am I correct in assuming that this is related to the above described behavior?

edit: marked solved.

Last edited by gay (2014-01-11 22:55:47)

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We are exactly the people our parents always warned us about.

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: [SOLVED] Ethernet controller kills network switch while laptop is off

ethtool (in extra/ethtool) can show you supported and active Wake-on capabilities:

# ethtool net1
Settings for net1:
...
	Supports Wake-on: pg
	Wake-on: d
...

It can also disable Wake-on, but only temporarily I think (re-enabled next boot).

Last edited by alphaniner (2014-01-09 21:22:51)

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-Lysander Spooner

gay

Member

Registered: 2012-12-16

Posts: 90

Re: [SOLVED] Ethernet controller kills network switch while laptop is off

thanks, alphaniner.

this is what I had hoped for.  I have now disabled wake-on-lan and will see if it helps when I switch off my computer. if it does but is not persistent after another reboot I will probably write a startup script to renew this setting after every reboot.

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We are exactly the people our parents always warned us about.