Ethernet adapter, chipset SR9700 not working

Hi, everyone.

I bought an ethernet/usb adaptor for a laptop. After connecting the ethernet cable to it, I don’t have a network connection at all, not even an ethernet device is created:

$ ls /sys/class/net
lo   virbr0  wlp2s0
$ ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
3: virbr0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 52:54:00:34:86:c2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlp2s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 10:63:c8:6e:bc:23 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

The vendor is Core Chips (http://corechip-sz.com).

The short lsusb output is:
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0fe6:9702 ICS Advent USB 2.0 10/100M Ethernet Adaptor

When I first plugged it in, file manager opened the folder where “driver” packages sit, as well as some info…

I list them here:

.
├── AUTORUN.INF
├── CoreChips.ico
├── RD9700.sfx.exe
├── SR9700 Mac OS 10.10 Driver.pkg
└── SR9700 Mac OS 10.6~10.9 Driver.pkg
    └── Contents
        ├── Archive.bom
        ├── Archive.pax.gz
        ├── Info.plist
        ├── PkgInfo
        └── Resources
            ├── package_version
            ├── postflight
            └── zh-Hans.lproj
                └── Description.plist

I want to know if it’s possible to run (somehow) them in my Manjaro/Mabox system or better yet, how can I get this adapter to work.

It is my guess that since the vendor provided some drivers files for Win/Mac systems, maybe some of them somehow could I use with my Manjaro? (sort of wicd project)…

(Thanks in advance for reading thru this point so far ;D )

you can search for:
0fe6:9702 ICS Advent USB 2.0 10/100M Ethernet Adaptor
and there are other with the same issue, but didnt find any solution…

Linux Hardware lists 0fe6:9702 device as a CDROM. And since you said the file manager opened a folder, suggests that the CDROM device is working as expected.

Back in the day, this was common with UMTS-USB modems. In this case you would need to use usb-modeswitch to change the USB device form a CDROM to a serial modem. It might be similar for your Ethernet-USB device. Or you chose the wrong line from lsusb .

Considering that most even very cheap USB-Ethernet devices will work out of the box and have Gigabit-Ethernet instead of only 10/100M, it is probably not worth dining into this much more.

Should be this one: ICS Advent DM9601 Fast Ethernet Adapter

Did you try loading sr9700 module?

modprobe sr9700

Hey, @zbe!

Unfortunately, it didn’t work. The kernel module is for 0fe6:9700, which is close but not enough, apparently. Thanks anyway.

You are totally right, @xabbu.

The town where I live lack a real, well-supplied store for this computer gimmicks. I bought it when I was in the big city. So I would like to give it a try to your solution.

Since I’m not that savvy, could you please tell me the steps to do what you think can help me?

It is like switching from 0fe6:9702 to 0fe6:9700 so the Kernel can identify it and use the correct module.
However, it is often not that simple. Sometimes special commands need to send to the device. And by reading this and this, it will probably not work.

The usb_modeswitch package should be installed by default. If not install it.

Then plug your USB-Ethernet adapter in and if a file manager window opens close it. Then run

usb_modeswitch -v 0fe6 -p 9702 -V 0fe6 -P 9700

(You need to run it as root or with sudo)

All right. I’ll report you back. Let’s cross fingers. And thank you very much!

Hi, @xabbu. Here is my report.

According to what you recommended to read, and to what I tried on my own, the experiment failed. It was kinda expected, I know.

Just to recount the facts, I also read https://github.com/NetworkManager/usb_modeswitch/blob/master/README.

I modified the /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules and created my own /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/0fe6:9702 file.

Thank you for helping me in this. As you already adviced me earlier, «…it’s not worth dining into this much more».

I did write to the company expressing my disappointment with their product. I just do not understand, with all the money they have, they are not able to do a useful driver to be incorporated into the Linux kernel.

I will wait until I get a decent piece of hardware.

Have a great week!