Re: connection problems
Ian Millsom <ian@interactiveww.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
>
> My first posting to this list so go easy..
>
> I have a debian 2.2 (woody) box which has trouble keeping its ethernet
> connection.
>
> It runs a adaptec 2100s running raid 5 Pent4 1.5GHZ Processor 1gb
> Memory and rtl8139 network cards.
>
> (Some people may complain about the network cards, but I have installed
> over 100 of these machines this year, with the same dsl carrier and not
> had a problem.)
>
> The problem that I am having is about every 2-3 minutes, the ethernet
> connection drops out. I have written a link checker script which will
> restart the networking when the connection dies.
>
> Now this is only a temp fix, its still a pain in the bum as connections
> are terminated.
>
> Does anybody have a fix for this? or do I have to provide more
> information?
>
>
> Regards
>
> Ian Millsom
Ian,
This seems to be a persistant problem for this chipset. Personally, I
have been running cards using this chipset for about 2 years without any
problems in my home LAN. The problem seems to occur more frequently
under heavier loads than I routinely experience at the house.
I suggest you look at the Realtek-Bug Archive of the mailing list and
search on the "Subject" category. There are entries there as late as
Sep 01 on this topic. The URL is:
http://www.scyld.com/pipermail/realtek-bug/. This will show you that
you are not alone, and will perhaps a better place to get answers.
There seems to be a running debate about which is best between the
"rtl8139.o" driver module written by Don Becker, and the "8139too.o"
driver by someone else. Don has some strong opinions
(http://www.scyld.com/network/rtl8139.html#mail)..... Anyway, depending
on which module you are using, you might want to try the other one.
Both work for me, and I believe both are available in the current 2.2.19
kernels from Debian. The 8139too.o is the "module of choice" in the
2.4.X kernels.
A card with a different chipset may be required if you cannot "live with
it" or find a better fix.
I can't offer much more, except sympathy...sorry!
Cheers,
-Don Spoon-
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