**Motherboard: **Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P
Integrated NIC: RTL8111/81688 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
**Driver: **r8169
Description: For unknown reason my OpenSuse 11.4 Tumbleweed Samba server occasionally loses Ethernet connectivity. It acts as though there was a bad cable, but I swapped cables and even a switch with no resulting change.
Symptoms: TX Packets are transmitted while the RX packet count remains at 0. I can ping loopback and the NIC IP address, but nothing beyond can be reached.
This has been an occasional problem that I have unsatisfactorily resolved in the past by switching from YaST2 ifup to NetworkManager and/or back. Up until now each utility swap resulted in restored network connectivity. Most recently, however, this procedure did not work and connectivity could not be restored. I spent most of one day researching the forums and trying every suggestion without success.
Solution: Finally, I decided to run OpenSuse 13.2 Live DVD to check hardware; upon loading I immediately obtained connectivity to the network and all worked as it should. That confirmed the problem was not related to hardware. I then booted back to Opensuse 11.4 installed on the hard drive. Checking ifconfig, I found that both the RX and TX packet count were incrementing. I was able to ping other hosts, Samba was connecting to Windows workstations, and the server was online and fully functional.
The cause: I can’t say. But after booting to 13.2 Live, apparently something was reset, flushed, or otherwise fixed. Bottom line, if you experience this issue - as many have - try a booting Live version of your OS. I hope it will help you as it did me.