Strange problems with USB-C Ethernet Dongle

Support Network
1

I’m having strange problems with my tp-link UE300C RJ-45 to USB-C dongle. In Linux kernel 5.9, 5.10 and 5.13, the networking randomly stops. Note that it happens only with the dongle as my WiFi does connect and works pretty normally. Another strange thing that during these freezes is that the OS get stuck in the poweroff cycle and I need to perform a hard reset for it to restart again.

The last properly working kernel is version 5.9.x

The corresponding output for lsusb -vv

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2357:0601 TP-Link UE300 10/100/1000 LAN (ethernet mode) [Realtek RTL8153]
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               3.00
  bDeviceClass            0 
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0         9
  idVendor           0x2357 TP-Link
  idProduct          0x0601 UE300 10/100/1000 LAN (ethernet mode) [Realtek RTL8153]
  bcdDevice           30.00
  iManufacturer           1 TP-Link
  iProduct                2 USB 10/100/1000 LAN
  iSerial                 6 000001000000
  bNumConfigurations      2
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x0039
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xa0
      (Bus Powered)
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower              256mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           3
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass    255 Vendor Specific Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0400  1x 1024 bytes
        bInterval               0
        bMaxBurst               3
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0400  1x 1024 bytes
        bInterval               0
        bMaxBurst               3
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x83  EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0002  1x 2 bytes
        bInterval               8
        bMaxBurst               0
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x0062
    bNumInterfaces          2
    bConfigurationValue     2
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xa0
      (Bus Powered)
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower              256mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           1
      bInterfaceClass         2 Communications
      bInterfaceSubClass      6 Ethernet Networking
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              5 CDC Communications Control
      CDC Header:
        bcdCDC               1.10
      CDC Union:
        bMasterInterface        0
        bSlaveInterface         1 
      CDC Ethernet:
        iMacAddress                      3 005F67C140D9
        bmEthernetStatistics    0x00000000
        wMaxSegmentSize               1514
        wNumberMCFilters            0x0000
        bNumberPowerFilters              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x83  EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0010  1x 16 bytes
        bInterval               8
        bMaxBurst               0
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        1
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           0
      bInterfaceClass        10 CDC Data
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        1
      bAlternateSetting       1
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass        10 CDC Data
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              4 Ethernet Data
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0400  1x 1024 bytes
        bInterval               0
        bMaxBurst               3
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0400  1x 1024 bytes
        bInterval               0
        bMaxBurst               3

This is what inxi -Nza reports

Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel port: d000 
           bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8136 class-ID: 0200 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Dell driver: ath10k_pci v: kernel 
           port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 168c:0042 class-ID: 0280 
           Device-3: Lite-On Dell Wireless Device type: USB driver: hid-generic,usbhid bus-ID: 1-2:2 chip-ID: 04ca:00ac 
           class-ID: 0301 
           Device-4: TP-Link UE300 10/100/1000 LAN (ethernet mode) [Realtek RTL8153] type: USB driver: r8152 bus-ID: 2-4:2 
           chip-ID: 2357:0601 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>

Update 1: The same error happen again. I took the following from my dmsg

[33673.533797] r8152 2-4:1.0 enp0s20f0u4: Tx timeout
[33678.443761] r8152 2-4:1.0 enp0s20f0u4: Tx timeout
[33683.560549] r8152 2-4:1.0 enp0s20f0u4: Tx timeout
[33688.470446] r8152 2-4:1.0 enp0s20f0u4: Tx timeout
[33693.587194] r8152 2-4:1.0 enp0s20f0u4: Tx timeout
[33698.493781] r8152 2-4:1.0 enp0s20f0u4: Tx timeout
[33703.613891] r8152 2-4:1.0 enp0s20f0u4: Tx timeout

Here enp0s20f0u4 is the dongle in question

2

It could be helpful if you enter

lsusb -vv

and extract the result corresponding to your tp-link UE300C RJ-45 to USB-C dongle. Post this here (not the full output). Also post

inxi -Nza

Have you installed a driver from AUR?

3

No, I haven’t. It worked out of the box.

4

Are they something strange in these outpout ?
(you should mask any ip adress if you post something here)

journalctl -u NetworkManager.service
journalctl -fu NetworkManager

5

There’s nothing in these.

6

This is possibly an issue with power being cut to USB devices.

As you have not mentioned which environment - let’s begin with tlp.

To finetune without the need for manually browse the tlp.conf - install the tlpui package.

Adjust as needed.

7

I’m using a laptop.

I adjusted TLP configs and disabled USB Autosuspend

8

I was more thinking KDE vs. something else

Then you will have to wait and see …

9

The problem again appeared. I have updated my initial question

10

@BangaliBabu - did you find any solution?
I’m having same issues on my laptop - different brand of dongle …

11

  1. edit /etc/default/grub and add usbcore.quirks=2357:0601:k to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT

    for example, if you find line
    GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

    then comment it and add a new line with
    GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="usbcore.quirks=2357:0601:k quiet splash"

  2. sudo update-grub

  3. reboot

  4. the usb ethernet adapter (identified by 2357:0601) should not handle power management (:k) i.e. it should not drop the connection anymore.

12