Internet dies after a few seconds

Good day,

I have had this strange problem with openSuse for a while: internet would randomly go down, getting back after unplugging and re-plugging the Ethernet cable.
I am positive it is not an hardware issue, because this never happens with Windows 7.

Since today my connection is not working anymore. I get a few seconds of web and then… nothing, not even the router admin page (192.168.1.1).

I was using ifup to connect, and the settings cannot be wrong, since I have another PC with the same hardware on the same network with same Suse version and same configuration working fine.
I’ve googled a few tests I could run by myself to see if something was wrong and I found this post. So I’ve tried.

# rcnetwork restart

Gets me about half a minute of internet connection, enough to load a page or download a few RSS feeds from Thunderbird. Then internet dies.

So I continued:

ifconfig -aeth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 14:DA:E9:CC:1E:E8  
          inet addr:192.168.1.100  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::16da:e9ff:fecc:1ee8/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:6574 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:7246 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:6689603 (6.3 Mb)  TX bytes:970977 (948.2 Kb)


lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:110 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:110 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:8052 (7.8 Kb)  TX bytes:8052 (7.8 Kb)

# netstat -rn
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags   MSS Window  irtt Iface
0.0.0.0         192.168.1.1     0.0.0.0         UG        0 0          0 eth0
127.0.0.0       0.0.0.0         255.0.0.0       U         0 0          0 lo
169.254.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.0.0     U         0 0          0 eth0
192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U         0 0          0 eth0

I don’t know what was I expecting, but I’ve done some pinging…


# ping -c1 130.57.66.6
PING 130.57.66.6 (130.57.66.6) 56(84) bytes of data.


--- 130.57.66.6 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 0ms


# ping -c1 forum.opensuse.org
ping: unknown host forum.opensuse.org

I wasn’t using any particular nameserver…


# grep -v ^# /etc/resolv.conf
search CASA
nameserver 192.168.1.1

After all this I’ve tried switching to NM (I’m on KDE). When I do rcnetwork restart I don’t even get enough time to log in to the router admin page, internet dies in a few seconds.

ifconfig

# ifconfig -aeth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 14:DA:E9:CC:1E:E8  
          inet addr:192.168.1.100  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::16da:e9ff:fecc:1ee8/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:52 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:119 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:6217 (6.0 Kb)  TX bytes:12465 (12.1 Kb)


lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:1400 (1.3 Kb)  TX bytes:1400 (1.3 Kb)

# netstat -rn
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags   MSS Window  irtt Iface
0.0.0.0         192.168.1.1     0.0.0.0         UG        0 0          0 eth0
192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U         0 0          0 eth0

The others are the same.

This is quite upsetting, I can’t spend my time restarting rcnetwork every 40 seconds. Any more tests I should run to get useful info?

Please help me get my internet back!

Sim

On 2013-05-28 16:26, simosito wrote:

> So I continued:

> I don’t know what was I expecting,

It looks correct to me.

> but I’ve done some pinging…

Ping your router first.

> This is quite upsetting, I can’t spend my time restarting rcnetwork
> every 40 seconds. Any more tests I should run to get useful info?

Have a look at syslog. Run “dmesg” and check at the last lines.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)

Pinging the router gave 100% package loss as I expected.

Full output of dmesg: nopaste.info - free nopaste script and service

# dmesg | grep "eth"   10.092087] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: RTL8168evl/8111evl at 0xf7a18000, 14:da:e9:cc:1e:e8, XID 0c900800 IRQ 42
   10.092093] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: jumbo features [frames: 9200 bytes, tx checksumming: ko]
   20.490674] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
   20.490682] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
   20.490714] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
   22.600297] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link up
   22.600316] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready


# dmesg | grep "r8169"
   10.091408] r8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver 2.3LK-NAPI loaded
   10.091611] r8169 0000:02:00.0: irq 42 for MSI/MSI-X
   10.092087] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: RTL8168evl/8111evl at 0xf7a18000, 14:da:e9:cc:1e:e8, XID 0c900800 IRQ 42
   10.092093] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: jumbo features [frames: 9200 bytes, tx checksumming: ko]
   20.490674] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
   20.490682] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
   22.600297] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link up

Anything unusual?

> Pinging the router gave 100% package loss as I expected.

Okay, but what message exactly? Destination Host Unreachable by chance?
If you start pinging as soon as you have a connection does it
spontaneously switch to these failures after some number of seconds?

I experience similar issues via my wireless card, but I’ve narrowed it
down to something correlated with signal strength; when I sit next to the
WAP I basically can’t cause it, and when I’m as far as possible in my home
then it happens kind of like yours, but not always that often… sometimes
I’ll get an hour of a working connection before it stalls. A reconnect
always fixes it, but I would not expect similar things with a wired
connection assuming your media (wires, switch, etc.) are all okay.

Good luck.

Ping says exactly the same as other:


PING 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.


--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 0ms

On 05/28/2013 04:26 PM, simosito wrote:
> I am positive it is not an hardware issue

just for fun:

  • power off the computer (not hibernate/sleep/etc)
  • turn off the router
  • replace the wire from computer to router (if wire does not go
    directly to router, then replace any box/switch/whatever and wires
    with alternate hardware)
  • power on router
  • boot computer

why? about 20 years ago an old gray haired IBM guy (with them from
the '50s) said to me: “Always check the cables first.” hmmmm,
maybe he said wires, leads or something similar…don’t exactly
recall just now)


dd

Second thing I tried… :\

Now just for fun I’m going to reboot one more time the router…

**APPARENTLY **completely resetting the router and doing once again rcnetwork restart has fixed the issue.

I’m guessing either the router is a racist or Windows 7 completely ignores some router-client standard which Linux finds fundamental to let people use the internet… Mysteries of the penguin.

On 2013-05-28 18:46, simosito wrote:
>
> Ping says exactly the same as other:

Can you try while it is working, just after network restart, and see how
it stops?

Changing the cable, as DD says, is a good idea. If you have another
computer that works, switch over the cables.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)

On 05/28/2013 07:36 PM, simosito wrote:
> resetting the router

some times (i have found on my routher) just pushing the little reset
button (or recessed inside that you have to push with a paper clip)
will not do the trick…same for the computer (and sometimes
monitor–now days a monitor IS a computer too, sometimes) on’t do the
trick…

it needs to be un-plugged…maybe a minute…

and, this phantom problem may return…or may not…


dd

Seems I might’ve spoken too soon, it’s doing it again…

I’ve seen this on a laptop where the user (according to his own statement) had plugged ethernet cables in and out thousands of times. The solder in the connector had worn. Our assumption was that the connection in the laptop would have worn out, so we tried a USB wired network card. Problem gone.

Wouldn’t that cause problem to Windows too?

Yup.

But: made a phonecall to my son, since he had this weird network problem some years ago, where networking would not work properly, loosing the connection on and off, a couple of seconds after a connection was reported. He couldn’t remember anything about the cause, but he did remember that setting both Windows and openSUSE to a static IP, different ones ( …102 and …103 on Windows and openSUSE. ) stopped the failure.
Use Yast to setup a static IP for openSUSE, use 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as DNS, your router’s IP as the gateway.
Please let know if this changes the behaviour.

On 2013-05-28 19:44, dd wrote:
> On 05/28/2013 07:36 PM, simosito wrote:
>> resetting the router
>
> some times (i have found on my routher) just pushing the little reset
> button (or recessed inside that you have to push with a paper clip) will
> not do the trick…

Careful. On some routers, like mine, using the paper clip thing resets
to factory settings; meaning the password is reset, wifi off, etc. Every
single config is defaulted.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)

On 05/29/2013 04:28 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> Careful. On some routers, like mine, using the paper clip thing resets
> to factory settings; meaning the password is reset, wifi off, etc. Every
> single config is defaulted.

i had not thought about that! GOOD input.

i always just unplug the power cord first (is easier than replacing
the cables)…i guess if pulling power didn’t make a router work as
it should then maybe a full reset and start over (with a paper clip)
might…or it was another, more simple problem (like a bad cable
or connector point)…

but, you are correct: it would be rude to have to start over with no
previous warning–other than in the user instructions provided by the
manufacturer–which we all read, right? :slight_smile:


dd

On 2013-05-29 09:18, dd wrote:

> but, you are correct: it would be rude to have to start over with no
> previous warning–other than in the user instructions provided by the
> manufacturer–which we all read, right? :slight_smile:

Yeah, right :slight_smile:

A friend of mine contracted an ADSL connection, and connected yesterday:
the router auto-configured completely on it’s own. It even checked for
updates to itself automatically.

And he got 8 Mbit/s! BUAAHHHH! I have only 1!

Sigh… (my contract is the same: both say “10 Mbit/s maximum”. They
don’t specify a minimum. :-/ )

I’m buying a new router, anyway. I’m waiting for it to arrive at the
shop. This one:


> http://www.tp-link.com/mx/products/details/?categoryid=219&model=TD-W8970


The reason is that two distinct wifi devices fail to keep connected.
They stablish a connection, start working for some seconds, then they
both fail and disapear from the router wifi tables. Previously only one
failed, my ebook, and as my laptop worked, I thought my ebook was to
blame. But my new smartphone fails too…

(in a way, I have a similar problem to the OP: my internet dies after a
few seconds. But his is cable, mine is wifi).

So new router.

I just have the faint hope that it will auto-configure to a faster speed
O:-)


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)

Thank you all, I don’t feel like switching to a static IP because we have far too many PCs at home that I would have to take care of.

Apparently resetting the router to factory settings was enough, and I’d rather do that every now and then than trying a major setting modification which might not work, and I might not be able to either do or revert properly…

On 05/29/2013 01:38 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> I’m buying a new router, anyway. I’m waiting for it to arrive at the
> shop. This one:
>
>> >http://www.tp-link.com/mx/products/details/?categoryid=219&model=TD-W8970

NO do not buy that one, almost every word on that page is
misspelled…i do see a few correct: Router ADSL Gigabit switch son
video USB multimedia a internet etc etc etc…all the rest are just
nonsense!!! :wink:


dd

Okay, I’ve actually tried on the PC with working internet…

Here’s what I did (names might be wrong since I have suse in Italian)

Yast > Network settings > Panoramic (second tab) > My ethernet card

Static Ip Address IP: 192.168.1.101 (the one I got from ifconfig whilst on dynamic IP) Sub-net Mask: 255.255.255.0 (from ifconfig, tried with empty too)

Network Settings > 4th Tab (Italian “Instradamento”, I’m guessing routing?)

IPv4 gateway: 192.168.1.1 (router ip, the one I use to get the admin page)

Network Settings > Hostname/DNS

DNS 1: 8.8.8.8 DNS 2: 8.8.4.4

And Internet worked fine on that.

Now on my PC I did the same, with Static IP 192.168.1.102 (from ifconf) and rebooted, just to be on the safe side.

At the moment is connecting. Hope it’s not like when I reset the router that pretends to be OK when it is actually not.

If this does work I’m buying you and your son a beer/coffee the first time you get to Rome, Italy.