No Ethernet on Toshiba NB10-A

[Tiamat10]

Hi, I have installed MX18.2 on a Toshiba notebook (NB10-A) seems great for my first attempt at Linux
hoping to dump Win10.

Everything seems to work O.K except for the Ethernet port. I need this to configure/update my routers & wifi repeaters.

Here is what I have done/found out so far;-
MX18.2 lspci returns;

03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 07)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller [1179:fbb0]
Kernel modules: r8169

It seems that the Kernel driver module (r8169) is the same one used by someone who also had trouble with no Ethernet on an NB10 – from google search;-

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=208114

It appears that the above Debian based distro will only work with an old (about 2014) Kernel 3.13.0-100, but it does use the r8169 driver.

“Edit connections” in “Network Connections” does not show any Ethernet data.
Adding “em1” from the Device drop down menu produces a top rh corner msg when Network toggled;-

Disconnected
The network connection has been disconnected.
(an option box) Don’t show this message again. (but this has a wifi icon with a red X on it, as I turned off wifi to ensure that only Ethernet worked I’m not sure which network connection it means.)

As Ethernet works fine in Windows I know the Toshiba NB10 hardware is working O.K

I don’t know how to change to a very old kernel to try out the link above. Not that using an old kernel seems like a good idea anyway, want to use the MX18.2 kernels and any associated security updates that go with them.

I seem to be stuck at this point , so could anyone give me some pointer to try.

As I need the Ethernet port working I have gone back to Windows but using Clonezilla I can reinstall MX easily.

Many thanks for any replies.

[Eadwine Rose]

Please post the output of MX Tools - Quick system info.

Simply paste in a reply, the copying of it and formatting is done for you. :)

[Tiamat10]

Many thanks for the prompt reply.

I just noticed that I loaded MX18.1, must have thought it was 18.2 from reading the website. MX tools info;-

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System:    Host: mx1 Kernel: 4.19.0-1-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 6.3.0 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: MX-18.1.1.1.1.1_x64 Continuum Feb 9  2019 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: TOSHIBA product: SATELLITE PRO NB10-A-10P v: PU143E-00701MEN 
           serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: TOSHIBA model: MA10 serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: TOSHIBA v: 1.60 
           date: 07/15/2014 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 6.0 Wh condition: 22.0/24.8 Wh (89%) model: PEGA G71C000GN110 
           status: Charging 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Pentium N3510 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Silvermont 
           rev: 3 L2 cache: 1024 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 15993 
           Speed: 500 MHz min/max: 500/1999 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 500 2: 500 3: 1752 4: 854 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display 
           vendor: Toshiba America Info Systems driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.2 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Bay Trail v: 4.2 Mesa 18.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series High Definition Audio 
           vendor: Toshiba America Info Systems driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-1-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lite-On 
           driver: ath9k v: kernel port: f000 bus ID: 02:00.0 
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet 
           vendor: Toshiba America Info Systems driver: N/A port: e000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
           Device-3: Toshiba Atheros AR3012 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb bus ID: 1-4:7 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 115.52 GiB used: 22.8 MiB (0.0%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: SanDisk model: SDSSDHII120G size: 111.79 GiB 
           ID-2: /dev/sdc type: USB model: General USB Flash Disk size: 3.73 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 2.95 GiB used: 22.8 MiB (0.8%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102 
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 4.10 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 34.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list 
           1: deb http://iso.mxrepo.com/antix/stretch stretch main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ stretch-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/ stretch/updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ stretch main non-free
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
Info:      Processes: 188 Uptime: 1m Memory: 3.74 GiB used: 468.5 MiB (12.2%) Init: SysVinit 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 6.3.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.12 inxi: 3.0.29 

BTW ran this from the install USB stick I made of your .iso, was fastest way to do it at the time. No Ethernet available when "Live" iso run either.

[Stevo]

Does "rfkill list" show anything about it being blocked?

If your wi-fi connection works well, you can try switching to the standard Debian 4.9 kernel in MX package installer/Kernels to see if that helps.

[Tiamat10]

Ran rfkill which produced;-

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demo@mx1:~
$ rfkill list all
0: Toshiba Bluetooth: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
2: hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

Just to check I toggled off the wifi with the function key.

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demo@mx1:~
$ rfkill list all
0: Toshiba Bluetooth: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: yes

So yes it tells us that the physical layer 0 is hard blocked. No mention of LAN ? is that normal ?

Will have to test Kernel change by reloading the MX18 Clonzilla image then swapping back to Windows.

No time to do all that now, will get back with the result a.s.a.p

Thanks for the ideas.

[JayM]

No mention of LAN ? is that normal ?

Yes. rfkill is to enable or disable wireless devices like wifi and bluetooth. The "rf" stands for "radio frequency".

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lspci

should show your Ethernet LAN controller or "NIC" (network interface card) along with everything else on your computer's PCI bus.

[Tiamat10]

Hi JayM

Ha, I should have guessed that "rf" = wireless. Have already used "lspci" cmd result in first post, first para in italics.

Did not realise I should have posted as "code" until I saw the o/p from MX tools. Sorry, I could have made it clearer.

MX18.2 lspci returns; (MX18.1 not 2)

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03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 07)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller [1179:fbb0]
Kernel modules: r8169

[JayM]

Ah, that's why I missed seeing it. :)

If you disable wifi when you left-click on the network icon in the panel's Notification Area are you then able to enable the wired connection by doing the same thing? I read somewhere that some machines can connect using either wifi or Ethernet but they can't both be enabled at the same time, or something of that nature.

[Tiamat10]

Can disable wifi as hard, soft or hard and soft. Hard uses wifi keyboard special key, soft is when one disables wifi, as you suggested, by using the network icon.
None of the combinations makes any difference.

BTW I'm using a known good ethernet lead - in case anyone is wondering

When wifi is turned off there is no entry in network mgr at all - no Ethernet. Tried adding Ethernet and setting to the MAC address (entries separated with ":")
still did not work when wifi off and network toggled. Did this using demo iso. Will try again when I reinstall from Clonezilla img, just in case it needs a reboot to work.

[JayM]

I don’t know how to change to a very old kernel to try out the link above. Not that using an old kernel seems like a good idea anyway, want to use the MX18.2 kernels and any associated security updates that go with them.

Open MX package installer, expand the Kernels section on the Popular Applications tab and select one then install it. They've all been patched for Spectre, Meltdown and Zombieload. Sometimes newer =/= better. Personally I've had great luck with the antiX 4.9.176 kernel. It seems faster than 4.19 too.

After you've installed an older kernel go to MX Boot Options and check the checkboxes next to "Enable saving last boot choice" and "Use flat menus" then reboot. Select the kernel you've just installed using the arrow keys then press enter (but hurry, you only have 5 seconds.) Grub will use that kernel on future boots unless you select a different one.

I did a web search yesterday and some of the results indicated that starting with kernel 4.15 the driver module for your particular Realtek NIC no longer worked. so I would try an older kernel if I was you.