Intel N95 problems with Ethernet and GPU driver

Schmart

New Member
Jun 20, 2023
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I am using an Intel N95 as my proxmox server but Ive encountered weird problems on both 5.15 and 6.2 kernels.

On 5.15 kernel I have functioning ethernet but I can't get the GPU to run properly.
On 6.2 I have a fully functioning GPU but I lose ethernet ...

I tried installing both xserver-xorg-core and xserver-xorg-video-intel from xserver-xorg-video-intel but neither helped (I removed one before installing the other).
As for ethernet on kernel 6.2: I tried manually installing r8168-dkms after blacklisting and removing r8169 but it did not help either and I could not find any clues as to what else to do, especially since I dont have any ethernet problems with r8169 driver on kernel 5.15?

Here's lspci on 5.15 kernel
Code:
root@debian:~# lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Device 4618
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 7270
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IOMMU group 0
    Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information: Len=14 <?>

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    DeviceName: Onboard - Video
    Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 7270
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 255, IOMMU group 1
    Memory at 6000000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
    Memory at 4000000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    I/O ports at 5000 [size=64]
    Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [virtual] [disabled] [size=128K]
    Capabilities: [40] Vendor Specific Information: Len=0c <?>
    Capabilities: [70] Express Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00
    Capabilities: [ac] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable+ 64bit-
    Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
    Capabilities: [100] Process Address Space ID (PASID)
    Capabilities: [200] Address Translation Service (ATS)
    Capabilities: [300] Page Request Interface (PRI)
    Capabilities: [320] Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV)

01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
    Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18, IOMMU group 10
    I/O ports at 4000 [size=256]
    Memory at 80504000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
    Memory at 80500000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
    Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 01
    Capabilities: [b0] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=4 Masked-
    Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
    Capabilities: [140] Virtual Channel
    Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 01-00-00-00-68-4c-e0-00
    Capabilities: [170] Latency Tolerance Reporting
    Capabilities: [178] L1 PM Substates
    Kernel driver in use: r8169
    Kernel modules: r8169

02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 16, IOMMU group 11
    I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
    Memory at 80400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
    Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
    Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
    Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
    Capabilities: [148] Device Serial Number 00-e0-4c-ff-fe-c8-21-01
    Capabilities: [158] Latency Tolerance Reporting
    Capabilities: [160] L1 PM Substates
    Capabilities: [170] Precision Time Measurement
    Capabilities: [17c] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0003 Rev=1 Len=054 <?>
    Kernel modules: rtw88_8821ce

Code:
root@debian:~# lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Device 4618
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 7270
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
    Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information: Len=14 <?>

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    DeviceName: Onboard - Video
    Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 7270
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 127
    Memory at 6000000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
    Memory at 4000000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    I/O ports at 5000 [size=64]
    Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [virtual] [disabled] [size=128K]
    Capabilities: [40] Vendor Specific Information: Len=0c <?>
    Capabilities: [70] Express Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00
    Capabilities: [ac] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable+ 64bit-
    Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
    Capabilities: [100] Process Address Space ID (PASID)
    Capabilities: [200] Address Translation Service (ATS)
    Capabilities: [300] Page Request Interface (PRI)
    Capabilities: [320] Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV)
    Kernel driver in use: i915
    Kernel modules: i915

01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
    Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
    I/O ports at 4000 [size=256]
    Memory at 80504000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
    Memory at 80500000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
    Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 01
    Capabilities: [b0] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=4 Masked-
    Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
    Capabilities: [140] Virtual Channel
    Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 01-00-00-00-68-4c-e0-00
    Capabilities: [170] Latency Tolerance Reporting
    Capabilities: [178] L1 PM Substates
    Kernel driver in use: r8169
    Kernel modules: r8169

02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 129
    I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
    Memory at 80400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
    Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
    Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
    Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
    Capabilities: [148] Device Serial Number 00-e0-4c-ff-fe-c8-21-01
    Capabilities: [158] Latency Tolerance Reporting
    Capabilities: [160] L1 PM Substates
    Capabilities: [170] Precision Time Measurement
    Capabilities: [17c] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0003 Rev=1 Len=054 <?>
    Kernel driver in use: rtw_8821ce
    Kernel modules: rtw88_8821ce
 
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Are you sure it isn't just a matter of interface names changing between kernels? Use "ip link show" to display all interfaces.
Hey, Thanks for the quick reply.

Kernel 6.12:

Code:
root@debian:~# ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp1s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 68:1d:ef:32:48:7f brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlp2s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state DOWN mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether a2:29:e9:2d:94:ab brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff permaddr 78:8a:86:1a:72:a9

Kernel 5.15

Code:
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp1s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 68:1d:ef:32:48:7f brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
 
How odd. I have the same NIC running fine under Debian 12 (not Proxmox). Apparently using the r8169 driver:

Code:
bobh@mini-s1:~$ uname -a
Linux mini-s1 6.1.0-9-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.27-1 (2023-05-08) x86_64 GNU/Linux

bobh@mini-s1:~$ lspci -v
...
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
        Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18, IOMMU group 12
        I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
        Memory at 80504000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
        Memory at 80500000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: r8169
        Kernel modules: r8169

Your "ip link show" indicates "no carrier". What is the port connected to? Maybe link negotiation isn't working or something like that. Or maybe a bug got introduced to the driver between 6.1 and 6.2?
 
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How odd. I have the same NIC running fine under Debian 12 (not Proxmox). Apparently using the r8169 driver:

Code:
bobh@mini-s1:~$ uname -a
Linux mini-s1 6.1.0-9-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.27-1 (2023-05-08) x86_64 GNU/Linux

bobh@mini-s1:~$ lspci -v
...
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
        Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18, IOMMU group 12
        I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
        Memory at 80504000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
        Memory at 80500000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: r8169
        Kernel modules: r8169

Your "ip link show" indicates "no carrier". What is the port connected to? Maybe link negotiation isn't working or something like that. Or maybe a bug got introduced to the driver between 6.1 and 6.2?
Thats really weird...

I tried both debian 12 with kernel 6.1 and pve-kernel-5.19 and in both cases the igpu is working, ethernet isnt.

The link negotiation problem was something I tested by connecting it directly to the router, to switch nr.1 and kept it at switch nr. 2 (theyre connected in series) and I could not get a different result for any of them.

guess I'll try kernels between 5.15 and 5.19 to find the version where the switch between igpu or ethernet happens and report it to debian?

Kernel 6.1 lspci & ip link:
Code:
root@debian:~# lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Device 4618
    DeviceName: Onboard - Other
    Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 7270
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IOMMU group 1
    Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information: Len=14 <?>

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    DeviceName: Onboard - Video
    Subsystem: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 127, IOMMU group 0
    Memory at 6000000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
    Memory at 4000000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    I/O ports at 5000 [size=64]
    Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [virtual] [disabled] [size=128K]
    Capabilities: [40] Vendor Specific Information: Len=0c <?>
    Capabilities: [70] Express Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00
    Capabilities: [ac] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable+ 64bit-
    Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
    Capabilities: [100] Process Address Space ID (PASID)
    Capabilities: [200] Address Translation Service (ATS)
    Capabilities: [300] Page Request Interface (PRI)
    Capabilities: [320] Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV)
    Kernel driver in use: i915
    Kernel modules: i915

01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
    Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18, IOMMU group 10
    I/O ports at 4000 [size=256]
    Memory at 80504000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
    Memory at 80500000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
    Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 01
    Capabilities: [b0] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=4 Masked-
    Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
    Capabilities: [140] Virtual Channel
    Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 01-00-00-00-68-4c-e0-00
    Capabilities: [170] Latency Tolerance Reporting
    Capabilities: [178] L1 PM Substates
    Kernel driver in use: r8169
    Kernel modules: r8169

02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 130, IOMMU group 11
    I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
    Memory at 80400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
    Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
    Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
    Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
    Capabilities: [148] Device Serial Number 00-e0-4c-ff-fe-c8-21-01
    Capabilities: [158] Latency Tolerance Reporting
    Capabilities: [160] L1 PM Substates
    Capabilities: [170] Precision Time Measurement
    Capabilities: [17c] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0003 Rev=1 Len=054 <?>
    Kernel driver in use: rtw_8821ce
    Kernel modules: rtw88_8821ce
  
  
root@debian:~# ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp1s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 68:1d:ef:32:48:7f brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlp2s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state DOWN mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 36:84:72:4d:17:da brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff permaddr 78:8a:86:1a:72:a9

Edit:
Debian 11 backports only has kernel 5.18 and higher and its still gpu but no ethernet :/
 
Last edited:
Maybe poke it with ethtool and see what it reports for status.
I found a guide made by intel which has been validated for Ubuntu Server 22.04.1 (5.15 LTS kernel). So I installed ubuntu server, followed the guide and now I have GPU AND ETHERNET working on kernel 5.15.

So its not strictly a problem with the kernel but with the packages?

How good are my chances for it to work, if i were to follow the guide for ubuntu but install it on debian 11 and then install proxmox on top of debian?

Edit:
Guess I'll stay with ubuntu server, since i cant find a way to get both GPU and Ethernet working on my device.
 
Last edited:
I can report exactly the same issue. How did you make the switch to Ubuntu server with Proxmox? Since it's my udnerstanding that proxmox only runs on debian.

edit: Did you end up trying the intel guide on debian?
 
Last edited:
I can report exactly the same issue. How did you make the switch to Ubuntu server with Proxmox? Since it's my udnerstanding that proxmox only runs on debian.

edit: Did you end up trying the intel guide on debian?
Yeah I couldnt follow the Ubuntu guide on debian, since I wouldve needed to compile the packages and the dependencies for Debian myself, which I didnt even bother to try. You can't use Ubuntu packages on Debian for reasons unknown to me.

I am no longer using proxmox. I am running Ubuntu Server with docker. My webinterfaces are cockpit, for general setup stuff and portainer for everything docker related (both of which are inside docker container themselves).

Honestly, I like this setup even more, since portainer seems to be more user friendly and most of the stuff I want to do requires docker/docker-compose either way.
 
I was brazen and followed this Intel guide for Ubuntu on Debian(proxmox) and ended up also nuking my network connection on the 5.15 kernel, so now I have no installations with working network left. Time to completely rebuild :-(
 
I reinstalled proxmox VE 7 with kernel 5.15, iGPU does not work (no /dev/dri present).

If I install kernel 6.1 or 6.2 my iGPU works, but my network is borked with the following errormsg on boot:
rtl_ocp_gphy_cond == 1 (loop: 10, delay: 25)

Curiously enough if I boot back into 5.15 it's still borked, only when you completely switch it off and boot into 5.15 it works again. I would like to try pve kernel 5.19, but don;t know how to do that since it is deprecated. I did manage to install debian kernel 5.9. Still no iGPU and the network functions well.

Seems the N95 is a real problem child, or mybe it's just the crappy mini pc (GK3 plus) that I bought.
 
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I reinstalled proxmox VE 7 with kernel 5.15 iGPU does not work.

If I install kernel 6.1 or 6.2 my iGPU works, but my network is borked with the following errormsg on boot:
rtl_ocp_gphy_cond == 1 (loop: 10, delay: 25)

Curiously enough if I boot back into 5.15 it's still borked, only when you completely switch it off and boot into 5.15 it works again. I would like to try pve kernel 5.19, but don;t know how to do that since it is deprecated. I did manage to install debian kernel 5.9. Still no iGPU and the network functions well.
If you also have a N95 with a realtek ethernet chip I wouldnt suggest wasting more of your time here. It sounds a lot like the problems I've had.
The ethernet problem is a driver problem that happened somewhere between 5.15 and 5.19.
5.15 on the other hand is too old to have kernel driver for the GPU and you would need to install the GPU drivers yourself, which I cant find any that work on debian.
IMO Ubuntu Server+Docker+Cockpit docker+portainer docker and the intel guide for the GPU driver is the way to go currently. Maybe the ethernet driver problem will be solver someday but I wouldn't count on that.
 
Yeah I get that feeling as well. I figure we have the exact same problem, the output from lspci -v is almost exactly the same. I just kind of like proxmox and have a complete home assistant VM in my backup that I don't want to lose.
 
Just tried to install Proxmox 8 on Firebat AK2 Plus with N95 and RTL8169 and seems that I have the same with networking. Led light is on, but there is NO CARRIER state for internal NIC.
 
Yeah that's just a rebrand of the same shit I bought. Let me save you some time: Ubuntu server install either fails (22.04.2 and down) or has no network issues (kernel 5.19 and up). I'm sticking with proxmox 7 and will have to accept that there will be no GPU transcoding of media for now. I hope that'll stay my only use case for the iGPU.

edit: Not super sure about my statement because of the weird listing on amazon that has both N95 and N5105, which I believe is impossible. Anyway, the box looks the same.
 
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Yeah that's just a rebrand of the same shit I bought. Let me save you some time: Ubuntu server install either fails (22.04.2 and down) or has no network (kernel 5.19 and up). I'm sticking with proxmox 7 and will have to accept that there will be no GPU transcoding of media for now. I hope that'll stay my only use case for the iGPU.
Which exact version of Proxmox 7 you are succeeded with? Tried 7.4, 7.2, 7.1 with no luck. 7.4 and 7.2 failed to start install due to graphics issue. 7.1 installed, but has the same rtl_ocp_gphy_cond == 1 (loop: 10, delay: 25) error.
Networking works fine on Debian 11.7, but not on any of Proxmox versions I've tried. GPU is not critical for me at the moment.
 
Which exact version of Proxmox 7 you are succeeded with? Tried 7.4, 7.2, 7.1 with no luck. 7.4 and 7.2 failed to start install due to graphics issue. 7.1 installed, but has the same rtl_ocp_gphy_cond == 1 (loop: 10, delay: 25) error.
Networking works fine on Debian 11.7, but not on any of Proxmox versions I've tried. GPU is not critical for me at the moment.

Yeah that's a good point. Proxmox installation fails too, I forgot to mention that. This can be easily fixed though, just requires a bit of typing.
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/generic-solution-when-install-gets-framebuffer-mode-fails.111577/

To answer your question: I'm on 7.4
 
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Yeah that's a good point. Proxmox installation fails too, I forgot to mention that. This can be easily fixed though, just requires a bit of typing.
https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/generic-solution-when-install-gets-framebuffer-mode-fails.111577/

To answer your question: I'm on 7.4
Thanks. Finally got 7.4 with networking.
There is a bug created already for rtl8169 https://bugzilla.proxmox.com/show_bug.cgi?id=4806
Also saw some instructions to replace rtl8169 driver with rtl8168. Haven't you try to do this with kernel 6.2?
 
Yes, the issue is not with the driver. It works in 5.15. The 8168-DKMS did not work at all for me.
 

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