Forcing NICs on SecurePlatform full/half duplex or 10/100/1000 Mbps using ethtool

Network interfaces cards (NICs) on SecurePlatform are configured to auto-negotiate link speed and duplex settings with the device to which they are physically connected to. If a NIC interface is unable to auto-negotiate with the device, it is necessary to hard code the settings.

Solution:

In expert mode, use the 'ethtool' to hard code link speed and duplex settings of network interfacesNICs.

Note: Per the IEEE specification, gigabit speed cannot be forced. It can only be auto-negotiated.

Quick command syntax:

ethtool -s DEVNAME speed 10|100|1000 duplex full|half autoneg off|on

Example:

• ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full autoneg off
  (Will force eth0 interface to 100 MB link speed, full duplex).



• ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex half
  (Will force eth0 interface to 100 MB link speed, half duplex).



• ethtool -s eth0 autoneg on
  (Will force eth0 interface to auto-negotiate).



• ethtool -s eth0 autoneg off
  (Will force eth0 interface auto-negotiate off).

Commands can be put at the end of the /etc/rc.local startup script, to survive reboot.

m Wake on multicast messages.
b Wake on broadcast messages.
a Wake on ARP.
g Wake on MagicPacket(tm).
s Enable SecureOn(tm) password for MagicPacket(tm).
d Disable (wake on nothing). This option clears all previous options.

sopass xx:yy:zz:aa:bb:cc
(Set SecureOn(tm) password. Argument to this option must be 6 bytes in ethernet MAC hex format (xx:yy:zz:aa:bb:cc).

msglvl N
(Set driver message level. Meanings differ per driver).


Full options of command:
Example:

ethtool -s ethX [speed 10|100|1000] [duplex half|full] [port tp|aui|bnc|mii] [autoneg on|off] [phyad N] [xcvr internal|external]
[wol p|u|m|b|a|g|s|d...] [sopass xx:yy:zz:aa:bb:cc] [msglvl N]

OPTIONS

-s
Allows changing some or all settings of the specified Ethernet device; options only apply if -s is specified.

ethX
Device Name

speed 10|100|1000
Sets speed in Mbps; ethtool with a single argument will show supported device speeds.

duplex half|full
Sets full- or half-duplex mode.

port tp|aui|bnc|mii
Selects device port.

autoneg on|off
Specifies whether or not autonegotiation is enabled.

phyad N
Physical address

xcvr internal|external
Selects transceiver type; currently only internal and external can be specified.

wol p|u|m|b|a|g|s|d...
Sets Wake-on-LAN options; not all devices support this. The Argument to this option is a string of characters specifying the options to enable.


p Wake on physically activity.
u Wake on unicast messages.