Re: Weird issue with r8169: shutdown on carrier comeback

[Heiner Kallweit <hkallweit1@gmail.com>]

On 2/2/2026 6:00 PM, Tanguy Ortolo wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I am experiencing a weird computer issue that is at least partly linked to the r8169 driver: the computer shuts down when the Ethernet cable is pulled off and plugged again. Or when the switch goes down and up again.
> 
> To be more specific, the computer is a [Trigkey Key-N100][1] running Debian Trixie. That computer has two Gigabit Ethernet controllers:
>     $ lspci | grep Ethernet
>     01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
>     02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
> 
> [1]: https://devhome.corp.adobe.com/docs/default/component/ethos-flex/docs/devhome/prerequisites/
> 
> One of them is configured, and when I pull off its Ethernet cable and plug it again after a few seconds (or if I reboot the switch it is connected to), something simulates a power key press (log from systemd-logind: “Power key pressed short”). Even though I configured logind to ignore such events, one second after this, the computer shuts itself down brutally, as if experiencing a power loss.
> 
> After a few experiments, I determined that:
> * it happens on both Ethernet interfaces of that computer;
> * it happens only on _configured_ interfaces: in particular, it does not
>   happen if I unplug the Ethernet cable, run `ip link set enp1s0 down`
>   and plug the cable again;
> * it does not happen with the proprietary driver r8168.
> 
> I am not really sure the r8169 driver is at fault here; it sounds more like a very weird hardware issue in specific conditions, which are met when using it. Anyway, I though you deserved to know, in case it could be useful. Please tell me if there is anything else I could do to further diagnose that issue.
> 

Thanks for the report. Interesting issue .. The network driver (r8169) has no link to the input system.
Therefore it's likely your network manager which is causing this behavior. Maybe r8168 is different in what
network notifications it sends. But hard to say w/o knowing what the network manager looks at to detect
link-down/-up events.

> Regards,
>