If I understand this correctly I can uninstall r8168 and reboot, what will restore the r8169 … ?!?
previous drivers is shipped with the kernel so uninstalling the one that is blacklisting the kernel one should work… If it doesn’t work the blacklist might remain in place in a config file ( probably under /etc/modprobe.d/ or /usr/lib/modprobe.d/ )
there’s also a kmod-r8169, but from the long thread and past lspci outcome I’m lost at what cards you have and what drivers you need. I assume other helping members have checked the right one at the time of providing an answer.
By the way, just stumbled across a post of an old friend of the community (@mark_nl ) who at some point also hit a similar issue with realtek:
While I was at it I installed the latest r8169 driver (from 2018) for my PCI NIC from coreix.net and it looks like that at least improved my interruption issues.
I didn’t realize that a PCI NIC with the right driver, could outperform a PCI-Express NIC (with a driver from 2024), so probably I will keep it and return the PCIe NIC.
It will take some more testing before I can confirm if this definitely solved my problem, but so far it looks good.
I am now at least able to download, stream and copy without interruptions
At least I now realize that with your help I was looking in the right direction.
I will let you know when the time is right, so I can finally mark this thread as solved.
Occasionally the interruptions return and because of it’s low frequency it’s acceptable, but I decided to test a few older drivers for the r8168 because a driver from 2018 doesn’t sit well with my expectations and future plans.
One of the reasons is because I would like to be able to download torrents from my LAN and a PCIe NIC should be able to handle more connections, so this case is still not closed until I reach 100% stability and -performance.
[EDIT]
After unsuccessfully attempting all drivers from 2018 until 2024 for the r8168 I have come to terms with the fact that, even when I never get 100% stability and performance from the r8169, at least this PCI NIC is working most of the time.
Whenever the time comes that I will update to NS8, I might consider buying an expensive PCIe Intel NIC, so as far as I am concerned this case can be considered solved.