# No carrier on sky2 Ethernet 2.6.35, but 2.6.34 works?

## Krellan

Hi!

I'm running Gentoo, no real problems at all, using kernel 2.6.34-gentoo-r2.

I'm using an Asus motherboard (P6T Deluxe) with 2 onboard Ethernet ports.  They are sky2 driver (Marvell 88E8056).

CPU is an Intel Core i7 920.  Nothing's overclocked.

When I tried to upgrade to kernel 2.6.35-gentoo-r4, though, the Ethernet failed.  I used exactly the same .config file for the kernel, when upgrading (I did make menuconfig and then saved, so that it would pick up any changes from 2.6.34 to 2.6.35).

It boots normally, but then blocks for about 30 seconds when it reaches the Ethernet.  It says "waiting for carrier", but no carrier ever arrives.  Eventually, DHCP will time out, and it will give up, and continue to boot the system without Ethernet (making it pretty much useless).

I did "ethtool", and it does show that there is link detected.  I'm not sure why the Gentoo DHCP process wouldn't complete.

No hardware or cabling changes were made.  Just booted a different kernel.  So, it's most likely a software problem.  When I went back to kernel 2.6.34, it booted up quickly, found DHCP quickly, and got online without a problem.

Has anybody else ran into this problem?  It seems to be a regression in the sky2 driver, between 2.6.34 and 2.6.35.

Josh

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## d2_racing

Hi, try this instead :

```

# cd /usr/src/linux-2.6.34-gentoo-r2

# cp .config /usr/src/linux-2.6.35-gentoo-r4/

# cd /usr/src

# ln -sfn linux-2.6.35-gentoo-r4 linux

# cd /usr/src/linux

# make oldconfig

# make menuconfig

```

I always use make oldconfig when I update my kernel.

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## Krellan

 *d2_racing wrote:*   

> I always use make oldconfig when I update my kernel.

 

Thanks, I tried that as well.  It gives me pretty much the same results, when I take the defaults with oldconfig, as when I do menuconfig and then save.

I also did "eselect kernel set" to set the symbolic link to 2.6.35 before compiling it.

There were no options I could find, in either, that would affect how the sky2 driver is compiled.

Anyone else have sky2 hardware, and are running 2.6.35?

Josh

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## d2_racing

One thing for sure, can you try the vanilla-sources with the kernel 2.6.35.

If it's not working, then you will need to investigate with Pappy_Mcfaee I think.

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## quarksoup

Hi, the new kernels need an updated DHCPCD client. You'll have to unmask and update. This worked for me using both *.35 and *.36 kernels.

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## chithanh

A workaround would be to disable carrier detection in dhcpcd.

```
dhcpcd_eth0="-K"
```

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## Krellan

 *chithanh wrote:*   

> A workaround would be to disable carrier detection in dhcpcd.
> 
> ```
> dhcpcd_eth0="-K"
> ```
> ...

 

Nice, this WORKED!

Thank you very much for posting this... it would have taken forever for me to find this option on my own.

Now, I can run the 2.6.35 kernel  :Smile: 

Josh

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## enaut

Hey,

for two days now I'm at this problem and the simple newer dhcpcd solved it clean and simple.

for those still trying  :Smile: :

```
ifconfig eth0 up #start the interface

dhcpcd eth0 #get IP and stuff

autounmask net-misc/dhcpcd-xxx #unmask the newest dhcpcd

emerge --ask -v dhcpcd # Install it

reboot # To try out
```

so thanks again

enaut

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## RedSquirrel

 *enaut wrote:*   

> for two days now I'm at this problem and the simple newer dhcpcd solved it clean and simple.

 

baselayout-1 is not 100% compatible with the latest dhcpcd. Bug #262097 It may work for you, though, depending on which options you are using in /etc/conf.d/net. (If you are using baselayout-2/openrc, then there is no issue.)

edit: typo

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