Support for RTL8125B 2.5GB Ethernet?

Hardware
1

Does anyone know if Rockstor’s OpenSUSE versions support RTL8125B 2.5GB Ethernet cards ? I gather Linux support for these chipsets is fairly recent, but I’m not sure exactly when it was added to OpenSUSE itself.

2

you might have to install the kernel backport on Rockstor (see help pages), depending on your version. I believe that card is supported for kernels >= 5.4. so, the backport might not be necessary.

when I run the below on my appliance (version 4.6.1-0 on Leap 15.4) with the kernel backport (currently 6.7.2-lp155.5.g321aeb9-default) installed, it seems to show up as available

modinfo r8169

filename:       /lib/modules/6.7.2-lp155.5.g321aeb9-default/kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/realtek/r8169.ko.zst
firmware:       rtl_nic/rtl8125b-2.fw
firmware:       rtl_nic/rtl8125a-3.fw
firmware:       rtl_nic/rtl8107e-2.fw
firmware:       rtl_nic/rtl8168fp-3.fw
[...]

Hope, that helps.

1 Like
3

Awesome, thanks for this - the cards are fairly cheap, so I’ll grab one and try it out. I’m also on 4.6.1 :+1:

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4

let us know, how you get on with those, please.

5

Installed today.
It works fine with no issue, at 2.5Gb link speed.
Hurrah !

The specific card I’m using is aliexpress.com/item/1005005686418462.html in the M.2 WIFI slot of a DELL 3050 Micro - the Ethernet port fits perfect into the Serial port blank on the back of the case :+1:

Note that the card has to go in the M.2 WIFI slot because this is a KEY A M.2 slot.
You cannot install this card into a normal M.2 SSD NVMe slot because those slots are KEY M M.2 slots. Even though both slots are PCIe x2 they are slightly different physically because the KEY A slot also has pins for USB.
I had to enable WIFI/Bluetooth in the BIOS to make the slot physically active, it didn’t detect anything with those settings disabled.

3 Likes
6

EDIT : Actually I’m on 4.5.8 not 4.6.1…

1 Like
7

@Nom great news! Glad to hear it worked, and interesting about the installation process for that.

I think between 4.5.8 and 4.6.1 nothing at the kernel level changed, only some code fixes a few levels up, so if your version works for that, the next one up should have as well.

1 Like