mtorromeo / R8168

This is the Linux device driver released for RealTek RTL8168B/8111B, RTL8168C/8111C, RTL8168CP/8111CP, RTL8168D/8111D, RTL8168DP/8111DP, and RTL8168E/8111E Gigabit Ethernet controllers with PCI-Express interface.

- Kernel source tree (supported Linux kernel 2.6.x and 2.4.x)
- For linux kernel 2.4.x, this driver supports 2.4.20 and latter.
- Compiler/binutils for kernel compilation

Unpack the tarball : # tar vjxf r8168-8.aaa.bb.tar.bz2

Change to the directory:
	# cd r8168-8.aaa.bb

If you are running the target kernel, then you should be able to do :

	# ./autorun.sh	(as root or with sudo)

You can check whether the driver is loaded by using following commands.

	# lsmod | grep r8168
	# ifconfig -a

If there is a device name, ethX, shown on the monitor, the linux
driver is loaded. Then, you can use the following command to activate
the ethX.

	# ifconfig ethX up

	,where X=0,1,2,...

1. Set manually a. Set the IP address of your machine.

		# ifconfig ethX "the IP address of your machine"

	b. Set the IP address of DNS.

	   Insert the following configuration in /etc/resolv.conf.

		nameserver "the IP address of DNS"

	c. Set the IP address of gateway.

		# route add default gw "the IP address of gateway"

2. Set by doing configurations in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
   /ifcfg-ethX for Redhat and Fedora, or /etc/sysconfig/network
   /ifcfg-ethX for SuSE. There are two examples to set network
   configurations.

	a. Fixed IP address:
		DEVICE=eth0
		BOOTPROTO=static
		ONBOOT=yes
		TYPE=ethernet
		NETMASK=255.255.255.0
		IPADDR=192.168.1.1
		GATEWAY=192.168.1.254
		BROADCAST=192.168.1.255

	b. DHCP:
		DEVICE=eth0
		BOOTPROTO=dhcp
		ONBOOT=yes

There are two ways to modify the MAC address of the NIC. 1. Use ifconfig:

	# ifconfig ethX hw ether YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY

   ,where X is the device number assigned by Linux kernel, and
	  YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY is the MAC address assigned by the user.

2. Use ip:

	# ip link set ethX address YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY

   ,where X is the device number assigned by Linux kernel, and
	  YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY is the MAC address assigned by the user.

1. Force the link status when insert the driver.

   If the user is in the path ~/r8168, the link status can be forced
   to one of the 5 modes as following command.

	# insmod ./src/r8168.ko speed=SPEED_MODE duplex=DUPLEX_MODE autoneg=NWAY_OPTION

	,where
		SPEED_MODE	= 1000	for 1000Mbps
				= 100	for 100Mbps
				= 10	for 10Mbps
		DUPLEX_MODE	= 0	for half-duplex
				= 1	for full-duplex
		NWAY_OPTION	= 0	for auto-negotiation off (true force)
				= 1	for auto-negotiation on (nway force)
	For example:

		# insmod ./src/r8168.ko speed=100 duplex=0 autoneg=1

	will force PHY to operate in 100Mpbs Half-duplex(nway force).

2. Force the link status by using ethtool.
	a. Insert the driver first.
	b. Make sure that ethtool exists in /sbin.
	c. Force the link status as the following command.

		# ethtool -s ethX speed SPEED_MODE duplex DUPLEX_MODE autoneg NWAY_OPTION

		,where
			SPEED_MODE	= 1000	for 1000Mbps
					= 100	for 100Mbps
					= 10	for 10Mbps
			DUPLEX_MODE	= half	for half-duplex
					= full	for full-duplex
			NWAY_OPTION	= off	for auto-negotiation off (true force)
					= on	for auto-negotiation on (nway force)

	For example:

		# ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full autoneg on

	will force PHY to operate in 100Mpbs Full-duplex(nway force).

Transmitting Jumbo Frames, whose packet size is bigger than 1500 bytes, please change mtu by the following command.

# ifconfig ethX mtu MTU

, where X=0,1,2,..., and MTU is configured by user.

RTL8168B/8111B supports Jumbo Frame size up to 4 kBytes.
RTL8168C/8111C and RTL8168CP/8111CP support Jumbo Frame size up to 6 kBytes.
RTL8168D/8111D supports Jumbo Frame size up to 9 kBytes.