[gentoo-user] Problem loading r8169 kernel module

[Peter Humphrey]

Hello list,

I decided to find out why the kernel had trouble loading the r8169 module on my
Intel NUC server. I found <https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-1061944-start-0.html> which seemed to tell me all I needed to know.

I got this result after installing sys-apps/fwts and running it:

---------------------
Test 1 of 2: PCIe ASPM ACPI test.
PCIe ASPM is not controlled by Linux kernel.

ADVICE: BIOS reports that Linux kernel should not modify ASPM settings that
BIOS configured. It can be intentional because hardware vendors identified some
capability bugs between the motherboard and the add-on cards.
---------------------

The BIOS offered two choices:

PCIe ASPM support enable/disable
Native ACPI OS PCIe Support enable/disable

I've tried all four combinations of those settings and got almost the same
result: the boot-up console output complained that the r8169 module couldn't
be loaded because it was already in the kernel. (I think that's just a coder's
assumption from the inability to load the module.)

The only tiny difference was in the fwts log: that PCIe ASPM was or was not
controlled by the kernel.

Is there a way forward from here, or should I just ignore it and get on with
life?

[Michael]

Post by Peter Humphrey
Hello list,
I decided to find out why the kernel had trouble loading the r8169 module on
my Intel NUC server. I found
<https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-1061944-start-0.html> which seemed
to tell me all I needed to know.
---------------------
Test 1 of 2: PCIe ASPM ACPI test.
PCIe ASPM is not controlled by Linux kernel.
ADVICE: BIOS reports that Linux kernel should not modify ASPM settings that
BIOS configured. It can be intentional because hardware vendors identified
some capability bugs between the motherboard and the add-on cards.
---------------------
PCIe ASPM support enable/disable
Native ACPI OS PCIe Support enable/disable
I've tried all four combinations of those settings and got almost the same
result: the boot-up console output complained that the r8169 module couldn't
be loaded because it was already in the kernel. (I think that's just a
coder's assumption from the inability to load the module.)
The only tiny difference was in the fwts log: that PCIe ASPM was or was not
controlled by the kernel.
Is there a way forward from here, or should I just ignore it and get on with
life?

I don't have the same hardware to know how it is meant to behave, but it is
reasonable to assume fwts will try to load/unload the driver to test it. What
do you get when you compile the driver as a module, to give a chance to the
fwts to do its thing?

NOTE: I don't have the same hardware to know how it is meant to behave.

[ralfconn]

Post by Peter Humphrey
Hello list,
I decided to find out why the kernel had trouble loading the r8169 module on my
Intel NUC server. I found <https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-1061944-start-0.html> which seemed to tell me all I needed to know.
---------------------
Test 1 of 2: PCIe ASPM ACPI test.
PCIe ASPM is not controlled by Linux kernel.
ADVICE: BIOS reports that Linux kernel should not modify ASPM settings that
BIOS configured. It can be intentional because hardware vendors identified some
capability bugs between the motherboard and the add-on cards.
---------------------
PCIe ASPM support enable/disable
Native ACPI OS PCIe Support enable/disable
I've tried all four combinations of those settings and got almost the same
result: the boot-up console output complained that the r8169 module couldn't
be loaded because it was already in the kernel. (I think that's just a coder's
assumption from the inability to load the module.)
The only tiny difference was in the fwts log: that PCIe ASPM was or was not
controlled by the kernel.
Is there a way forward from here, or should I just ignore it and get on with
life?

I have the same module here but built into the kernel (no loadable
module support) with no problems.

lspci | grep -i eth
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125
2.5GbE Controller (rev 05)

Regarding ASPM the syslog reports:

acpi PNP0A08:00: _OSC: OS supports [ExtendedConfig ASPM ClockPM Segments
MSI HPX-Type3]
pci 0000:00:03.1: ASPM: current common clock configuration is
inconsistent, reconfiguring

And for r8169:

Loading firmware: rtl_nic/rtl8125b-2.fw
RTL8226B_RTL8221B 2.5Gbps PHY r8169-0-500:00: attached PHY driver
(mii_bus:phy_addr=r8169-0-500:00, irq=MAC)

What is the error you get loading the r8169 module?

raffaele

[Peter Humphrey]

Post by Peter Humphrey
I decided to find out why the kernel had trouble loading the r8169 module on
my Intel NUC server.

Please ignore that. I think I'm getting too old for this young person's game
(I had a major birthday last week). :-(