Unable to install driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B Ethernet

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aurelius

Unable to install driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B Ethernet

Post by aurelius »

Yes, this is yet another "Hey, I'm new to Linux, please help me!" topic. My apologies. I tried to fix this problem on my own, but things didn't quite work out.

I recently purchased all of the parts for a custom computer and a friend of mine built it for me. My Ethernet card/port (don't know the proper term) is a Realtek RTL8111/8168B. After doing all kinds of reading while trying to get my computer connected to the internet, I found out that my particular Ethernet card/port would probably cause my internet to lag and even stop working unless I installed the proper driver for it. I was able, after much searching, to find a site that explained to me how to do this. This is the link for that site: http://unixblogger.wordpress.com/2011/1 ... rnet-card/.

I attempted to follow these instructions multiple times. However, I was never to proceed past step 4, which told me to "Untar the archive". When inputting the command:

tar xfvj r8168-8.025.00.tar.bz2

... I was repeatedly given this message:

tar (child): r8168-8.025.00.tar.bz2: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

I figured that I was somehow not properly downloading the driver, so I tried to download it multiple times, alternating between the "open" and "save" options. Still, I was unsuccessful. I then attempted to read the "READ ME" file in the download and follow those instructions, with no luck. So, I tried to delete everything and start over, however, I am unsure if the previous "successful" downlaods are floating around in my computer somewhere.

I also attempted a bunch of goofy stuff (extracted some folder to my desktop, fooled around in the terminal and with the ArchiveManager, etc.), but I had no idea what I was doing. Eventually, I became afraid that I was going to mess up my computer, so I simply exited out of everything that I had open on the screen, came here, created a username, and started typing.

I would simply like for someone to explain to me how to download and install this driver. Also, any other tips/explanations about this driver stuff would be much appreciated.

As for the details I am supposed to provide, per the "READ: How to Get Help" topic, they are immediately below.

VERSION: LinuxMint 14 32-bit

HARDWARE (the readout from inputting "inx -Fc 0" into terminal):
System: Host: aurelius-desktop Kernel: 3.5.0-17-generic i686 (32 bit) Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 14 Nadia
Machine: Mobo: ASRock model: FM2A85X Extreme6 Bios: American Megatrends version: P1.60 date: 11/23/2012
CPU: Quad core AMD A10-5800K APU with Radeon HD Graphics (-MCP-) cache: 8192 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm)
Clock Speeds: 1: 1400.00 MHz 2: 1400.00 MHz 3: 1400.00 MHz 4: 1400.00 MHz
Graphics: Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Trinity [Radeon HD 7660D]
X.Org: 1.13.0 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@59.8hz
GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD ARUBA GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 9.0
Audio: Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Device 9902 driver: snd_hda_intel Sound: ALSA ver: 1.0.25
Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson Azalia Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
Network: Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller driver: r8169
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: bc:5f:f4:86:58:32
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (1.4% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST500DM002 size: 500.1GB
Partition: ID: / size: 456G used: 6.3G (2%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 3.71GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 3.2C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 165 Uptime: 2:45 Memory: 483.2/3476.5MB Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4

DISPLAY ENVIRONMENT: GNOME (I believe).



To whoever responds: thanks!
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Akiviri

Re: Unable to install driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B Ether

Post by Akiviri »

If you have a .tar.bz2 file, then you need bzip2 installed (/usr/ports/archivers/bzip2), if you don't have it (should be installed) it can be gotten here http://www.bzip.org/downloads.html and you issue this command:

Code: Select all

tar yxf r8168-8.025.00.tar.bz2
eanfrid

Re: Unable to install driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B Ether

Post by eanfrid »

I found out that my particular Ethernet card/port would probably cause my internet to lag and even stop working
Does it ? The correct driver is already loaded. If it is not broken, don't try to repair. I have the same ethernet chipset on one of my MB and never encountered this hypothetical trouble: LAN file transfers run steadily at 100-120MB/s without any problem :shock:
Last edited by eanfrid on Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
AlbertP
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Re: Unable to install driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B Ether

Post by AlbertP »

The r8169 driver support for gigabit ethernet has been fixed and you should no longer need r8168 with Mint 13 or 14. With Mint 12 and before gigabit ethernet was indeed unstable with r8169 requiring r8168 to be installed, that is why you might have found a website telling you that r8168 was better. I don't even know if r8168 can still work with todays Mint editions.

Also the commands for installation are intended to be run from the folder where the tar.gz file is placed, i.e. right-click in that folder > Open in Terminal. Instead of running tar you can just as well double-click the archive to extract it somewhere.
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aurelius

Re: Unable to install driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B Ether

Post by aurelius »

Okay, thanks a lot folks! My internet has been working fine for the past several days since I got my computer set up, so I guess everything is alright. I know, "If if ain't broke, don't fix it," but when I had read about the problem, other people had said that the internet had worked fine at first, but it had gotten laggy after a little while. Mines hasn't yet, so everything seems to be good.

One final question, is there any way for me to be sure that the stuff I tried to download is gone from my computer? I don't imagine it is doing anything since I never installed it properly, but I'd rather know for sure that I don't have anything unnecessary sitting in there. Thanks again!
eanfrid

Re: Unable to install driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B Ether

Post by eanfrid »

If you did never achieve to extract files from the archive you downloaded, it is quite certain you did not install anything :)
AlbertP
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Re: Unable to install driver for Realtek RTL8111/8168B Ether

Post by AlbertP »

You don't need to be worried about r8168 if you ethernet has continued to work after you messed with it. The file is less than 100 kB in size and after extracting it it's still less than a megabyte.
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