Network problem

Hello,
I have a Dell Vostro 3550 laptop with Realtek network card, at home I connect via hotspot with my Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 phone. In this last period I have problems with the unstable connection and I immediately blamed my telephone provider since Part of the time the connection is unstable between 15:30 and 17:30. However, a few days ago I noticed that on my phone, which I use as a router, the connection is stable while on the PC, with Manjaro up-to-date, it goes and comes back, forcing me to restart the hotspot on the phone or the PC Wifi and in doing so I return to normal. What I don’t understand is if the problem is the laptop’s network card, the phone or the internet provider. And worse, I can’t even figure out what I could do. With Windows 10 Pro, in dual boot with Manjaro, the problem is less serious but it exists. The Kernel in use in the system is 5.4.184-1.
Thank you if someone can give me a light! Thank you

  • RTE CARD: RTL8111 / 8168/8411 PCI EXPRESS GIGABIT ETHERNET CONTROLLER
    -NETWORK - R8168
    -WIRELESS 3160 INTEL
    Open source driver

Hi @eduardolp3,

In order for us or anyone for that matter, to be able to provide assistance, more information is necessary. To that end, please see:

Hope you manage!

System:
  Kernel: 5.4.184-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
    parameters: root=UUID=4242f572-a1d1-48d5-a2ef-d260511d2586 rw quiet splash
    apparmor=1 security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
    initrd=boot\initramfs-5.4-x86_64.img
  Desktop: GNOME v: 41.4 tk: GTK v: 3.24.33 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM v: 41.3
    Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Vostro 3558 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 05W6N2 v: A00 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell
    v: A17 date: 09/11/2020
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 26.2 Wh (100.0%) condition: 26.2/41.4 Wh (63.2%)
    volts: 16.2 min: 14.8 model: LGC DELL 991XP66T66T type: Li-ion
    serial: <filter> status: full
Memory:
  RAM: total: 7.69 GiB used: 2.3 GiB (29.9%)
  RAM Report:
    permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i3-5005U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Broadwell
    family: 6 model-id: 0x3D (61) stepping: 4 microcode: 0x2F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB
    L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 976 high: 1097 min/max: 500/1900 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 900 2: 1097 3: 912 4: 998
    bogomips: 15971
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon
    avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2 bts clflush cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8
    de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority
    flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr ht ibpb ibrs intel_pt invpcid
    invpcid_single lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe msr mtrr
    nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb pebs pge pln
    pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep smap
    smep ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow
    tsc tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xsave xsaveopt
    xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages
  Type: l1tf
    mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: spec_store_bypass
    mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1
    mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
    STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel ports:
    active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:1616
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Microdia Integrated Webcam type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 2-5:5 chip-ID: 0c45:6710 class-ID: 0e02
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.0
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: gpu: i915 display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x15c5 built: 2014 res: 1366x768
    dpi: 101 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x193mm (13.54x7.6") diag: 394mm (15.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
  Message: Wayland GBM/EGL data currently not available.
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 8086:160c class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:9ca0
    class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.4.184-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.20 running: no
  Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
  Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 3160 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:08b3 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp6s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: e000 bus-ID: 07:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp7s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: enp0s20u1 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Xiaomi Mi/Redmi series (RNDIS + ADB) type: USB driver: rndis_host
    v: kernel bus-ID: 2-1:53 chip-ID: 2717:ff88 class-ID: 0a00 serial: <filter>
  Report: This feature requires one of these tools: hciconfig/bt-adapter
  Device-2: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb
    v: 0.8 bus-ID: 2-6:6 chip-ID: 8087:07dc class-ID: e001
  Report: ID: hci0 rfk-id: 8 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: N/A
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 111.79 GiB used: 24.28 GiB (21.7%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 120GB
    size: 111.79 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 1B6Q scheme: GPT
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: HL-DT-ST model: DVD+-RW GU90N rev: A1C1
    dev-links: cdrom
  Features: speed: 24 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes
    rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 33 GiB size: 32.23 GiB (97.67%) used: 16.35 GiB (50.7%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda7 maj-min: 8:7 label: manjaro
    uuid: 4242f572-a1d1-48d5-a2ef-d260511d2586
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 100 MiB size: 96 MiB (96.00%)
    used: 45 MiB (46.8%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 3C97-A06A
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 33.69 GiB size: 32.91 GiB (97.69%)
    used: 7.89 GiB (24.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6
    label: manjaro-home uuid: ac268f32-75ba-492c-b741-cf46464ad626
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 4 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/sda8 maj-min: 8:8 label: N/A
    uuid: f55575d0-b785-4fb4-9ea4-0ffcf8e9aebf
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 450 MiB fs: ntfs label: Ripristino
    uuid: 02A496ECA496E209
  ID-2: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 size: 16 MiB fs: <superuser required>
    label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-3: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 size: 40 GiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
    uuid: 382C99872C994134
  ID-4: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 size: 556 MiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
    uuid: 30048A180489E168
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Hub ports: 8 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 8087:8001 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 11 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-1:53 info: Xiaomi Mi/Redmi series (RNDIS + ADB)
    type: Bluetooth,CDC-Data driver: rndis_host interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s power: 500mA chip-ID: 2717:ff88 class-ID: 0a00
    serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 2-3:51 info: Logitech Unifying Receiver type: Keyboard,Mouse
    driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
    power: 98mA chip-ID: 046d:c534 class-ID: 0301
  Device-3: 2-5:5 info: Microdia Integrated Webcam type: Video
    driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 500mA
    chip-ID: 0c45:6710 class-ID: 0e02
  Device-4: 2-6:6 info: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: Bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 8087:07dc class-ID: e001
  Device-5: 2-8:7 info: Realtek RTS5129 Card Reader Controller
    type: <vendor specific> driver: rtsx_usb,rtsx_usb_ms,rtsx_usb_sdmmc
    interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 500mA chip-ID: 0bda:0129
    class-ID: ff00 serial: <filter>
  Hub-4: 3-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C mobo: 25.0 C sodimm: SODIMM C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 fan-2: 0 fan-3: 0
Info:
  Processes: 219 Uptime: 4d 15h 6m wakeups: 21 Init: systemd v: 250
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 clang: 13.0.1 Packages: 1265
  pacman: 1255 lib: 318 flatpak: 10 Shell: Zsh v: 5.8.1
  running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.14```


What should I do now?

I hope this information is sufficient, possibly let me know. I apologize for the mistakes made in creating the post.

Hi @eduardolp3,

I honestly don’t know at this point. All I can recommend is you install the r8168-dkms or r8169aspm-dkms driver and see if this makes a difference.

  • To install the r8168-dkms driver, open a terminal and run:
pamac build r8168-dkms
  • To install the r8169aspm-dkms driver, open a terminal and run:
pamac build r8169aspm-dkms

Report back, whether you’ve got a problem or not.

Thanks for the reply! In your opinion which of the two would be better to install?

r8169aspm-dkms because

is the current drivers, which works partially.

Note: I do not know if the driver would need extra configuration.

Ok, I install the driver you recommend, then eventually if it takes additional configurations I will ask for help. Thanks for now!

1 Like

Just came across this page, that states:

r8169 is an in-tree kernel driver that supports a few Ethernet adapters including R8168.

r8168 module built from source provided by Realtek.

In some cases new adapters don’t get good support by Linux kernel immediately after they are released. In that case using r8168 makes sense as a temporary solution till Linux driver is fixed.

So if your Ethernet adapter works well, then there is no need to install r8168. People get problems if they install r8169-dkms and forget about it. Later they get a kernel upgrade to another major version and the driver doesn’t build.

So perhaps rather use the r8168-dkms one:

pamac build r8168-dkms

Grazie, avevo installato il r8169aspm-dkms e poi ho disinstallato e installato r8168-dkms. Secondo te dovrei cambiare Kernel? Adesso sto usando 5.4.184-1.

Thanks, I had installed the r8169aspm-dkms and then I uninstalled and installed the r8168-dkms. Do you think I should change Kernel? I am now using 5.4.184-1.

Try 5.10 and/or 5.15 as well, yes.

https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Manjaro_Kernels

Hi, it seems to me that the connection is going better now, but I would like to understand how I can be sure that the installed driver is actually installed and running. Thank you.

Apologies for only replying now. Life happened. You can check the driver in use with:

inxi -N

For example:

$ inxi -N
Network:
Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V driver: e1000e

Hope this answers your question.

inxi -N                                                          ✔ 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 3160 driver: iwlwifi
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    driver: r8169
  Device-3: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb```


Thanks, but I think it's still running on
r8169aspm-dkms, is that wrong?

Now, here’s the thing. I don’t know if the driver shows differently for the two drivers. Because they are different, but also the same. I know, I know. I’m king of making sense.

Anyway, this:

Looks the same as the previous one:

So I don’t know. Although, if it is better, as you mentioned, I’m guessing it is, indeed, the other, or a different one.


Although, I have in the meantime come across this page, that explains:

r8169 is an in-tree kernel driver that supports a few Ethernet adapters including R8168.

r8168 module built from source provided by Realtek.

So, you are welcome to rather try that instead. To do so, first remove the r8169aspm-dkms driver:

pamac remove r8169aspm-dkms

Followed by installing the r8168-dkms:

pamac build r8168-dkms

Followed by a reboot and testing.

sudo pamac remove r8169aspm-dkms                                 ✔ 
[sudo] password di eduardolp3: 
Errore: Destinazione non trovata: r8169aspm-dkms```


Error: Destination not found: r8169aspm-dkms
sudo pamac build r8168-dkms                             1 ✘  5s  
Avviso: Building packages as dynamic user
Avviso: Preparazione directory di costruzione in /var/cache/pamac
Preparazione...
Controllo delle dipendenze di r8168-dkms in corso...
Avviso: r8168-dkms-8.049.02-2 è aggiornato ma sarà reinstallato
Risoluzione delle dipendenze...
Controllo conflitti tra i pacchetti...

Da costruire (1):
  r8168-dkms  8.049.02-2                AUR


Modifica file di costruzione : [e] 
Applica la transazione ? [e/s/N] s

Clonazione r8168-dkms file di costruzione in corso...
Running as unit: run-u267.service
Finished with result: success
Main processes terminated with: code=exited/status=0
Service runtime: 922ms
CPU time consumed: 103ms
Creazione informazioni r8168-dkms...
Running as unit: run-u268.service
Finished with result: success
Main processes terminated with: code=exited/status=0
Service runtime: 3.091s
CPU time consumed: 3.578s

Costruzione in corso di r8168-dkms...
Running as unit: run-u269.service
Press ^] three times within 1s to disconnect TTY.
==> Creazione del pacchetto: r8168-dkms 8.049.02-2 (mar 5 apr 2022, 17:25:27)
==> Controllo delle dipendenze durante l'avvio in corso...
==> Controllo delle dipendenze durante la compilazione in corso...
==> Download dei sorgenti in corso...
  -> Clonazione del repository r8168-dkms git in corso...
Clone nel repository spoglio '/var/cache/private/pamac/r8168-dkms/r8168-dkms' in corso...
remote: Enumerating objects: 249, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (28/28), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (24/24), done.
remote: Total 249 (delta 8), reused 11 (delta 4), pack-reused 221
Ricezione degli oggetti: 100% (249/249), 689.05 KiB | 588.00 KiB/s, fatto.
Risoluzione dei delta: 100% (156/156), fatto.
  -> Download di linux517.patch in corso...
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100  1308  100  1308    0     0   2259      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--  2259
  -> È stato trovato dkms.conf
==> Validazione di source file con sha256sums...
    r8168-dkms ... Ignorato
    linux517.patch ... Verificato
    dkms.conf ... Verificato
==> Rimozione dell'esistente directory $srcdir/ in corso...
==> Estrazione dei sorgenti in corso...
  -> Creazione di una copia di lavoro del repository r8168-dkms git in corso...
Clone in 'r8168-dkms' in corso...
fatto.
==> Avvio di prepare() in corso...
patching file src/r8168_n.c
==> Entro nell'ambiente fakeroot...
==> Avvio di package() in corso...
==> Rimozione dei dati superflui in corso...
  -> Rimozione dei file libtool in corso...
  -> Eliminazione dei file indesiderati in corso...
  -> Rimozione dei file dalle librerie statiche...
  -> Rimozione dei simboli non necessari dai binari e dalle librerie in corso...
  -> Compressione delle pagine man ed info in corso...
==> Controllo per il rilascio dei pacchetti in corso...
==> Creazione del pacchetto "r8168-dkms" in corso...
  -> Generazione del file .PKGINFO in corso...
  -> Generazione del file .BUILDINFO in corso...
  -> Aggiunta del file install in corso...
  -> Creazione del file .MTREE in corso...
  -> Compressione del pacchetto in corso...
==> Uscita dall'ambiente di fakeroot.
==> Compilazione terminata: r8168-dkms 8.049.02-2 (mar 5 apr 2022, 17:25:34)
==> Pulizia in corso...
Finished with result: success
Main processes terminated with: code=exited/status=0
Service runtime: 9.695s
CPU time consumed: 8.231s
Running as unit: run-u270.service
Finished with result: success
Main processes terminated with: code=exited/status=0
Service runtime: 2.603s
CPU time consumed: 3.015s

Controllo portachiavi...                                                   [1/1]
Verifico l'integrità dei pacchetti...                                      [1/1]
Caricamento dei file dei pacchetti...                                      [1/1]
Controllo conflitti tra file...                                            [1/1]
Controllo spazio disponibile su disco...                                   [1/1]
Esecuzione pre-transaction hooks...
Creating Timeshift snapshot before upgrade...                              [1/2]
==> skipping timeshift-autosnap due skipRsyncAutosnap in /etc/timeshift-autosnap.conf set to TRUE.
Remove upgraded DKMS modules                                               [2/2]
==> dkms remove r8168/8.049.02
Reinstallazione r8168-dkms (8.049.02-2)...                                 [1/1]
Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/r8168/8.049.02/source -> /usr/src/r8168-8.049.02
==> The module r8168 conflicts with r8169. You can blacklist it with:
==> echo "blacklist r8169" > /etc/modprobe.d/r8169_blacklist.conf
Esecuzione post-transaction hooks...
Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...                                             [1/2]
Install DKMS modules                                                       [2/2]
==> ERROR: Missing opt kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing lib kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing sbin kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing mnt kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing var kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing rootfs-pkgs.txt kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing bin kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing boot kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing run kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing usr kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing timeshift kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing proc kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing desktopfs-pkgs.txt kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing root kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing lost+found kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing etc kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing srv kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing tmp kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing lib64 kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing home kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing sys kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
==> ERROR: Missing dev kernel headers for module r8168/8.049.02.
Transazione completata con successo.

Firstly, I believe pamac should never be run with sudo. It’ll as for permissions should it be required.

I also believe you should install the kernel headers for all your installed kernels:

pamac install $(pamac list --quiet --installed | grep "^linux[0-9]*[-rt]*$" | awk '{print $1"-headers"}' ORS=' ')

Followed by trying again:

pamac build r8168-dkms
1 Like

The commands went through without errors. Question, every time I change the Kernel do I have to do all this again?
Thanks for now.

Good to hear that.