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#1 2010-05-15 23:42:20

KRTac
Member
From: Croatia
Registered: 2008-07-01
Posts: 99

Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

I'm planing on buying a Intel D510MO motherboard for a small home server. I've read that many people have had problems with Realtek's 8111DL ethernet controller that is on the board. I'm interested if someone here has experience with this MB, particularly the ethernet controller.

Last edited by KRTac (2010-05-15 23:43:09)

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#2 2010-05-15 23:52:05

Ultraman
Member
Registered: 2009-12-24
Posts: 242

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

These:

02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)

I have multiples of these, also rev 02. Are working fine.
They probably use the same driver. I never had trouble with these cards, speed is also excellent. My thought was to simply try them and see how they would work, I could always buy an Intel Gigabit PCIe card if I needed it. But my server has one of these controllers, and my main rig has two, working great. I also reach into the 90MB/s range, with sometimes a spike in the 100MB/s, when copying files over NFS and FTP. Samba is slower, more like 45MB/s, but that's not the controllers fault.

What kind of trouble did you expect to run in to?

Last edited by Ultraman (2010-05-15 23:52:16)

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#3 2010-05-16 01:39:46

KRTac
Member
From: Croatia
Registered: 2008-07-01
Posts: 99

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)

That's on my desktop pc. I didn't realize that RTL8111/8168B is the same as 8111DL. Is it the same?

Anyway, does someone have any experiance with this (or any) atom motherboard?

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#4 2010-05-16 10:17:29

Ultraman
Member
Registered: 2009-12-24
Posts: 242

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

I just checked my exact specs online and in the manual of my motherboard (MSI P55-GD65). I have Realtek 8111DL controller chips on my motherboard. So those really do work fine.
As far as I know, the Realtek chips model numbers come down to this:
8111 = Chip model
D = Revision
L = Stands for embedded/low voltage, I think

I also have rev 02, that is a 8111C chip.

I've heard those Atom motherboards run fine, I would expect it to work fine as well.

Last edited by Ultraman (2010-05-16 10:17:41)

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#5 2010-05-16 10:46:45

attila
Member
Registered: 2006-11-14
Posts: 293

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

Two weeks ago i would say go for it but now i must say that there is one light, but from my view angrily problem: Sometimes after shutting down the PC and start it again (must not be relevant to a server because the uptime is longer) the card falls back to 100Mbit instead of 1000Mbit. One of the side effects for this is that than all network relevant boot scripts after the network script could fails because the time of the the initialisation takes longer as expected. This could be solves very easy if you plug out and in the cable from the network card and the bridge plus restart the network but in the most cases this happens if you don't have the time for this.:) Now i deactivate all internal realtek network cards and put in intel network cards in every PC. If you have the choice to do the same than you can make your life easier if you choose a board with a intel card which has form my view the best linux support (Have attention that i don't work for Intel smile ).

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#6 2010-05-16 20:50:23

KRTac
Member
From: Croatia
Registered: 2008-07-01
Posts: 99

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

I think I don't have much choice but to try it and see if it'll be ok. I will buy a case that supports at least one expansion slot (Thermaltake Element Q) and buy a Intel ethernet PCI card if needed.

Thanks for the info.

Last edited by KRTac (2010-05-16 20:50:36)

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#7 2010-05-17 00:55:09

Ultraman
Member
Registered: 2009-12-24
Posts: 242

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

And don't forget to report your experiences.
I haven't had any trouble with Realtek 8111DL so far, running smoothly. So let us know smile

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#8 2010-05-27 20:59:05

Hrod beraht
Member
Registered: 2008-09-30
Posts: 186

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

I've got an Intel D510MO Atom board, and the Realtek ethernet works perfectly with Linux as long as you have a recent BIOS. My board came with a version 0154 BIOS, but the current version is 0210. After the BIOS update it's rock solid and works with both Arch (2.6.33 kernel) and Debian Lenny (2.6.26-2 kernel).

Since the motherboard has express BIOS update capability, an easy way to update the BIOS is with a USB stick (even though Intel's instructions seem to all want to steer you towards a CD). My build with the D510MO didn't include a CD/DVD drive since Arch's new USB stick bootable images are so awesome! smile The latest BIOS version as I type this is 0210, filename MO0210P.BIO. Just copy this file to your stick and boot from it with the motherboard's BIOS configuration block jumper removed. New BIOS will then install. When you're done, reinstall the BIOS configuration block jumper (on pins 1 and 2) and you're good to go.

One other note about the board is that the GMA 3150 video needs an xf86-video-intel driver of version 2.10. No problem with Arch, as it's version 2.10.0-1, but other Distros like Debian Lenny are using a much older version of 2.3.2, which won't work.

All in all, a great board. I'm quite happy with it.

Bob

Last edited by Hrod beraht (2010-06-01 15:52:58)

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#9 2010-05-27 21:07:30

KRTac
Member
From: Croatia
Registered: 2008-07-01
Posts: 99

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

Thanks Bob. That was very helpfull. I'll update the BIOS as soon as I get the board. That's usually the first thing I do with new motherboards.

I don't really care for the graphics, but it's nice to hear that thay work.

Last edited by KRTac (2010-05-27 21:08:10)

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#10 2010-06-02 17:31:47

KRTac
Member
From: Croatia
Registered: 2008-07-01
Posts: 99

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

Ultraman wrote:

And don't forget to report your experiences.

So I got the board, along with a 2GB G-SKILL RAM stick, WD's 1TB 3.5'' HDD and a Frontier micoATX PSU. The system seems to be running smoothly for now (a few hours). It's not under any load yet, but I think that It'll be ok considering that I don't plan on having it do any heavy lifting.

The ethernet card is running ok:

01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
[root@scorpion /]# ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
    Supported ports: [ TP MII ]
    Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 
                            100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 
                            1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full 
    Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
    Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 
                            100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 
                            1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full 
    Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
    Speed: 100Mb/s
    Duplex: Full
    Port: MII
    PHYAD: 0
    Transceiver: internal
    Auto-negotiation: on
    Supports Wake-on: pumbg
    Wake-on: g
    Current message level: 0x00000033 (51)
    Link detected: yes

I haven't noticed any problems with it so far, but it is only running a short time, so I really can't tell for sure.

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#11 2010-06-07 11:01:28

attila
Member
Registered: 2006-11-14
Posts: 293

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

Why do you have only 100Mb/s for your Gigabit Card? Is this a problem of your cable or your card?

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#12 2010-06-07 11:33:12

KRTac
Member
From: Croatia
Registered: 2008-07-01
Posts: 99

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

attila wrote:

Why do you have only 100Mb/s for your Gigabit Card? Is this a problem of your cable or your card?

I have a 100Mb/s router.

edit: 100, not 1.

Last edited by KRTac (2010-06-07 15:16:16)

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#13 2010-06-07 15:14:11

attila
Member
Registered: 2006-11-14
Posts: 293

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

KRTac wrote:

I have a 1Mb/s router.

Good to know because than you will never have my problems.:)

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#14 2010-06-07 15:15:30

KRTac
Member
From: Croatia
Registered: 2008-07-01
Posts: 99

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

attila wrote:
KRTac wrote:

I have a 100Mb/s router.

Good to know because than you will never have my problems.:)

I eventually plan to get a 1 Gb/s router. That's why I asked.

Last edited by KRTac (2010-06-07 15:16:25)

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#15 2010-06-07 15:48:03

attila
Member
Registered: 2006-11-14
Posts: 293

Re: Realtek 8111DL ethernet controller problems?

KRTac wrote:

I eventually plan to get a 1 Gb/s router. That's why I asked.

I don't think my problem was a general  thing, more a combination of my configuration, and so you could/should be on the safe side because the other here have had no problems. Have fun.

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