RTL8125 sudden link up/down & packet loss; FINALLY after 2 years of testing I present a PERMANENT fix for both Windows AND Linux!
Posted by Some_Cod_47@reddit | hardware | View on Reddit | 109 comments
I shared these findings with Realtek 22/11/2024 nicfae@realtek.com on their Windows driver issues.
I replied to that no-response email thread on 12/12/2024 - ZERO response.
They do NOT care that they've caused so much frustration to everyone who bought motherboards with RTL8125 in the last half a decade for 5 whole revisions!! Rev5 (latest afaik) with no fix in sight.
That they call it a "2.5Gbe GAMING" adapter is laughable.. Nothing is "GAMING" about an adapter that disconnects and have extreme persistent and constant packet loss with ESPECIALLY UDP (multiplayer, voice chat, screen sharing).
So in 2 simple statements all you gotta do to fix your RTL8125 adapter with 0% packet loss and no disconnects for days is this:
Windows
Download: https://github.com/spddl/GoInterruptPolicy/releases
Find Realtek network adapter, right click, Set Device Priority to "High"
Linux
Download: r8125 (official) realtek linux driver.
IMPORTANT: Load with
modprobe r8125 aspm=off
Thats it! Enjoy! You can finally enjoy your PC build with a stable network adapter without loss and disconnects!
szyzk@reddit
I've wanted to set up a simple 2.5G LAN at home but everywhere you turn you read horror stories about RTL8125 and i-225/226-V. I hope this is an actual fix, because if so I'll finally bite the bullet.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
i225 and i226 SHOULD be fixed afaik. Initially it seemed hopeless, but Intel came around and fixed both adapters afaik with a simple eee feature disabling.
Not sure if there is a particular buggy revision of that, but I have an opnsense n100 chinese router from aliexpress and it also has i226v with no issues in a long time.
ElementalParticle@reddit
I have i255 on my motherboard (Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER) and there problems with disconnections. No settings helped so far. I am about to try this.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Remember that if you have defective RAM, CPU or overclocked PC you can also experience this. afaik the solution on windows for the Intel drivers is disabling eee, which should be default in latest version. Download the driver from Intel themselves instead of motherboard manufacturer.
ElementalParticle@reddit
I tried every tip including this one. It started right after installing new motherboard, processor, and RAMs. Lastest BIOS & drivers, RAM checked...
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Try
ycruncher vt3
Try
occt avx2 extreme
both for 24 hrs
CeeeeeJaaaaay@reddit
Running same setup and can confirm
Tasty_Toast_Son@reddit
Aliexpress I226-V here too, zero issues on my desktop and home server.
PolarisX@reddit
No name i226-V here too, no problems.
szyzk@reddit
That's good to know! Last time I looked I didn't see any updated info, but to be fair Google isn't reliable and I didn't dig deep. I may have just skimmed over the same complaints about problems maintaining speeds & dropping connections that I previously skimmed over without realizing they weren't new search results.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
I steered clear of the i226v at first because I heard rtl8125 was better. I was wrong though.. I wouldn't have spent these 2 years if I went the other way, it was fixed around the time I built but I didn't initially believe it.
czrocklee@reddit
My i226v shipped by x870e MB still suffers from random disconnection with latest driver installed. Tried all the workaround without luck. Will see how this Device Priority trick works.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Be sure to check with stock settings no OC and no RAM OC. There are a few overclocking youtubers I think it was Buildzoid or another dude that shared some settings that mitigated the Intel CPU issues before they released the microcode fix. I'm sure it would be worth a try, because not all CPUs with that microcode are permanently fixed- but those settings presented by the unnamed youtuber might.. I think its lower clock freq iirc..
czrocklee@reddit
Thank you so much, I will try it as the last resort. All my OC seems pretty stable so far. If this could be the case, I would recommend Intel NICs to all the overclockers as it is more effective at detecting instability than any other tools like Prime95 and y-cruncher.
akshayprogrammer@reddit
Aquantia?
szyzk@reddit
Huh, Marvell AQC107.
Amazon search is amazing. At various times in the last 14 months I've looked for 2.5, 5, and 10G PCIE adapters, NICs, ethernet cards, and LAN controllers -- using a variety of terms to bring up as many products as possible -- just to see what's popped up and it's never returned that chipset.
Thanks for the tip. I'll read up tomorrow on the stability at the downgraded speed.
naicha15@reddit
It's been superseeded by the AQC113, which is a newer, lower power part. That's probably why you haven't heard much of it. I have also heard that some of the AQC113 revisions can be problematic.
If budget/space/power allows, just go with Intel X550 cards. They're rock solid and under $100 these days.
There's also a pretty good case for going straight to 10G with used enterprise hardware. Avoids all the headache of questionable 2.5G hardware, and old 10G-only NICs are dirt cheap.
GreatNull@reddit
x550s are also capable of multigig operation ,as long as latest drivers and firmware are installed. 90% sure on linux, windows drivers were delayed or tricky.
There were some issues in silicon that led to multigig support being quietly deleted from specs, but years later some workaround was found.
szyzk@reddit
I did consider that. The added cost of optics & a 10G switch, plus the energy/cooling demands had me wondering if it was worth it when all I really wanted was 2.5 to start with. That said, I could go direct between the two most important machines now and worry about adding a switch when I find one at a good price.
Ploddit@reddit
I have Win 11 gaming PC and Linux server with 8125-based NICs and a firewall with 5 I225-based ports. All work flawlessly.
Shrug.
gran172@reddit
Mine was on "High" by default, I wonder if the implementation difers from vendor to vendor
Lincolns_Revenge@reddit
Yeah, my MAG B550m Mortar which is a "RTL8125B" was already set to high, also.
Kind of disappointed because that means it's probably my AT&T Fiber router that only allows a limited number of connections when it comes to certain types of traffic.
Got to put that AT&T router into bridge mode and buy another router to truly enjoy all aspects of this asynchronous fiber connection, I guess.
PolarisX@reddit
As someone who deals with way too many ATT gateways - get that thing in bridge mode and get something else in it's place. Those things make so many untraceable problems.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Interesting. What exact motherboard and RTL8125B/G(?) and REV?
gran172@reddit
My motherboard is the ASRock's B650M-HDV/M.2, the site says it's "Dragon RTL8125BG", can't seem to find any info about the REV, where should I look for that?
xHakua@reddit
got the same mobo and had it set as undefined, purchased almost 2y ago
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
On windows this is listed deep in the driver properties you know the long tedious property list inside the driver dialog.. look thru those entries for REV05 or whatever
gran172@reddit
Yup, it's REV05
Out of curiosity, what exact mobo/adapter/rev you got?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
MSI B650I Edge.
RTL8125 REV05
I had another motherboard of same kind with REV04 at launch basically.
GOMADGains@reddit
MSI MEG X570 UNIFY (MS-7C35)
Realtek8125-CG 2.5G LAN
AMI BIOS 7C35vAI
Msi mode was on with high already
alexsteh@reddit
Can confirm, my MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk with latest bios has \Device\NTPNP_PCI0045 RTL8125BG/Rev_05 Realtek Gaming 2.5GbE on High
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
If this changed in the official driver recently they probably copied this from my statement.
ultrahkr@reddit
So it boils down to a broken ASPM implementation?
Nothing new, many NIC's seem to have that problem...
I wonder if turning off all the power saving features of the adapter would fix it...
AreYouAWiiizard@reddit
They literally offer a driver with power saving features disabled, would that not fix it in that case?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Of course I tried that, it changed absolutely nothing. It must be the device priority that is the upper control to this. This is why I think it is lack of care or communication between Microsoft and Realtek to fix this.
AreYouAWiiizard@reddit
Ah well that's weird, anyway it was already set to high for me on Windows 10 but an older Realtek chip.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
I did reinstall Windows at least 3 times while debugging this. First time it was for good measure because i had OC'ed the PC and if you get errors during OC chances are it could have corrupted/written bad data to the operating system files.
I take zero chances when it comes to this- I test my system with AVX2 stresstest for 14 days+ and ycruncher VT3 memtest for 14 days+ when doing PBO offfsets. They always catch a few unstable cores failing in very rare scenarios and this i what you want to avoid completely- otherwise you're in for FAR harder to diagnose issues if you assume the software is the problem when it fails. This is also the reason I absolutely despise and completely discredit the odd idea that "All Core" offset should work, because if you have spent time dialing in "Per Core" offset you know how little it takes on the weakest cores - and if you use "All Core" to dial them all down -15 you might actually be hurting boost clocks on half or more of them which nullifies the point of OC'ing in the first place.
Only explanation must be that they changed this later, because if you download the official driver it will default to "Normal" priority. I did actually try the NDIS driver as well as per recommendation by one of the actual Realtek devs who had a reddit account - neither did this change anything.
AreYouAWiiizard@reddit
Huh, shouldn't the NDIS driver always be the preferred driver? When you say official, do you mean the motherboard driver or the one from the Realtek website (https://www.realtek.com/Download/List?cate_id=584)?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
The one from Realtek of course. The motherboard manufacturers rarely do anything to the drivers except they occassionally take the official Realtek driver and put it on their website.
NDIS is the old (legacy) network driver framework from Microsoft and NetAdapterCx should be the replacement.
AreYouAWiiizard@reddit
Oh I see, I haven't been paying attention, is it legacy for Win10 or just Win11?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Not sure, look it up :)
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
I wonder if there is some mismatch somewhere between the framework Realtek uses on Microsoft Windows both the NDIS (old, legacy) and the NetDriverCx framework. It seems like Realtek is literally in their sample code so they are likely the beta tester of that library.
I'm thinking either Microsoft does something weird with the interrupts or too aggressively power manages it running under those frameworks.
Or there's simply a bug in RTL8125 driver.
runwaymoney@reddit
hey, thanks for posting about this particular issue. it has been a problem for ages for probably millions of people.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Totally.. And despite what others claim Realtek has not cared.. I feel bad for any person who isn't as technically capable, maybe spent all their savings on a new PC and struggling with this constant lag without knowing where to start..
I am disgusted by how the retailers and the motherboard manufacturers have come together to literally reject warranty claims on these issues. It MUST and can ONLY be the motherboard manufacturers who DENY these claims.
I think of the status quo of the motherboard manufacturers as the "broken NIC" cartel, because this is literally what it is and has been for half a decade! They should take responsibility instead of making up excuses and deny WARRANTY!
ultrahkr@reddit
Many, many NIC's have power saving and ASPM features either in driver or at HW level...
Some features for example: HW offloading work in windows but are broken on Linux... There's always something going around...
It's not just Realtek, it's Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Mellanox, etc... Almost everyone, it has been a long standing issue...
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Intel very rarely, that i225/i226v situation was very unique, although there have been instability issues at i219 or i211 as well - I own both these myself in my previous 6th gen build. The history I believe is that Intel bought that "killer" NIC company and continued it which was the source of their issue.
Its funny that the worst NICs always ends up with the DIY builders. For as long as I've built PCs since I was a child this has been one of the most discouraging outcomes of building a PC.
Patterns that have always been true;
Intel network adapters more reliable.
Apple devices (shipped with Intel NIC) and Lenovo/Dell laptops has always been a stamp of approval.
GreatNull@reddit
They have had massive fuckups even in enterprise grade sector, intel x710 series NICs very completely and dangerously unstable. I don't understand how they passed vmware validation in that state.
All that were shipped with our then brand new virtualization hosts were pulled in favor x550, what good is 10gbe/multigig nic that randomly drops dead during operation?
ultrahkr@reddit
Intel on the network space has been very hit or miss...
The erratas are not public information (they use to be) what's the purpose of a NIC when it does not forward UDP packets...
Even worse unless you were specifically hit by that bug you wouldn't even know or search about it...
And it didn't matter if they were desktop or server class some affected entire generations of products...
That's why on DC some enterprises buy mixed brands (OEM1 + OEM2) so you have some chance of still being up, even when one set of NIC's was acting up...
GreatNull@reddit
Say what? Now thats new low I never even considered, that must have been hell to experience and debug.
ultrahkr@reddit
Not mine... But whoever had to do it... Respect
I read on arstechnica.com, if not mistaken...
ultrahkr@reddit
Look at E1000 driver reports for the Intel 8255x Gigabit ethernet chip family...
They're well past 15 years old, one still has to fix the driver by disabling every powersaving and offloading feature otherwise you get consistent frequently rebooting server...
On Win and ESXi it just works, on Linux it took me a while to learn what was going on and how to deal with it... What a piece of pain ...
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Afaik the E1000 is also a branch of the killer NICs.
GreatNull@reddit
Later killer nics were just rebrand of existing hardware from intel and qualcomm with some unknown firmware tweaks and bullshit software package on top.
Original idea was something akin to physx accelerator used to be, but for networking and targeted at normal desktop client use instead.
But that was what < 2010? Even low tier network hardware made leaps and bound since then, so any reason for overpriced and overpriced custom networking stack and offload evaporated as bad fart.
alexandreracine@reddit
mmmm, it's actually double click?
Maybe because of this new version? 1.7.1?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Np I will edit that note! Thanks for correcting. I was simply not booted in Windows at the time of writing, I thought there was no mistaking because if you aren't in the right dialog you can't set it :)
pppjurac@reddit
And I idiot was thinking that only solution is to buy Intel or Broadcom NIC and be done with it.
It was software issues all the time ....
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Granted you probably still will get a better avg ping and exp with stability with Intel NIC.. Most likely.. Only network adapters that can do hw offload correctly and is reliable across operating systems.. But I'm glad we can finally use the shipped builtin 2.5Gbe for many of us with ITX systems its not a solution to dedicate only GPU PCIe slot to a silly NIC replacement
runwaymoney@reddit
what is the hw offload you speak of and how is that better?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Its better implemented in Intel NICs. They most likely have better R&D and history on this subject.
bad1o8o@reddit
seeing this makes me wonder if you could fix the issues with the steam decks adapter (Realtek RTL8822CE)
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Check which module it has loaded in the terminal.
lsmod
Shows actively loaded modules in the linux kernel.
modinfo -p r8125 # shows parameters for the r8125 module, replace with yours.. r8169 is the opensource driver, which isn't the best option for this particular adapter (r8125)
If there's other parameters listed on the driver you could try to change those one by one until you get zero loss..
bad1o8o@reddit
thanks for the reply!
Module Size Used byrtw88_8822ce 12288 0rtw88_8822c 483328 1 rtw88_8822certw88_pci 32768 1 rtw88_8822certw88_core 290816 2 rtw88_pci,rtw88_8822cthis is what come up when i search for "8822" in the results of "lsmod" and i guess "used by 0" means "not in use"? so it should be the "rtw88_8822c" but then it is used by "rtw88_8822ce"??? i can't make heads or tails of this...
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
yes disable_aspm is a good first try.. I pasted it above here it is again:
first unload
modprobe -r rtw88_pcithen load with parameter (Im unsure if =y is the right way, try it out)modprobe rtw88_pci disable_aspm=ybad1o8o@reddit
thanks again! is there a way to read its state to confirm it worked?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/1jp560a/comment/ml1xil9/
Nope, you gotta test it like that for fallouts.. Combine that with using your PC meanwhile lightly with light CPU load (browsing and such) and if it doesn't get any packet loss congrats you have stable LAN connection..
bad1o8o@reddit
thanks, the problems are only on wlan, i am using lan as workaround and it works flawless. could this still be the problem?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
This post is for a LAN adapter
bad1o8o@reddit
oh, well i gonna try it anyways. i guess there's no harm in it as it's easy to revert back
DKlurifax@reddit
How do I know if my motherboard is affected by this? I've been having SO many issues with package loss for years.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
First thing is establishing a baseline (Excluding other issues), this should be done on LAN of course (its a LAN adapter we're referring to here) Try running;
ping -i 5 10.0.0.1 # or whatever your router is
And also from router to client, to see the packet loss or unavailability from the routers point of view;
ping -i 5 10.0.0.99 # your IP
To exclude your own PC also start a pingtest like that from/to another device on your network.
If you run that for say 1 hrs - 24 hrs and get a significant packet loss (shouldn't really happen on LAN anyways in a simple setup I wouldn't aim for less than 0-1 packets lost, it only really happens if the device processor or network adapter is under significant load and starts dropping packets)
If you experience lag during gaming, drop outs during voice chat there's a good chance you're affected.
DKlurifax@reddit
This exactly what I am experiencing. Is it as simple as looking up my motherboard to see if it has this chip?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Yes or find it in the device list and check the name.
DKlurifax@reddit
Thanks alot. 🙏
Noobiix007@reddit
Hi! Which driver version are you using? Also, any changes on the advanced settings tabs of the driver? (on Windows that is) thanks in advance, I've been plagued with these issues ever since I bought my 550 Tomahawk. Online gaming is a fucking choir with the issues from this trash adapter.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
None of the settings in the driver settings worked.. I can't deny some of them will have a minor impact, but the fix is the one above..
SimpleNovelty@reddit
Does this issue affect the 8126 also (5GBe variant)? I get wonky network disconnects all the time but I'm never sure if it's just my computer or my shitty internet router (my phone takes a while to connect to wifi so I can't cross reference always or forget).
KayakShrimp@reddit
We have 3 machines with RTL8126 NICs linked at 5GbE with zero issues. They're rock solid. Much unlike the flaky AQC107 NICs they replaced.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
I don't know, I don't own one, sorry.
Nicholas-Steel@reddit
You can also use MSI V3 to adjust IRQ Priority of devices.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
can you please explain this or reference a link?
Nicholas-Steel@reddit
I get my copy from https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/windows-line-based-vs-message-signaled-based-interrupts-msi-tool.378044/
it lets you toggle Message Signal Interrupt mode on/off as well as adjust IRQ Priority.
Jeep-Eep@reddit
RealTek shit is such dogshit; I remember their sound drivers corrupting as often as weekly at times.
Fwank49@reddit
Both my desktop with an MSI x870e carbon and my hyper-v server with a Minisforum BD790i SE have the 8125 Rev 05, and both were set to high by default. Both machines are running W11 IOT LTSC.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Was this official Windows realtek driver?
Fwank49@reddit
I think so, I'm pretty sure I didn't install anything manually and just let windows update download them automatically.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Maybe Windows Update shipped that change. If you're interested in trying try the official driver- but maybe the device priority is set permanently by the Windows Update driver, who knows.
https://www.realtek.com/Download/List?cate_id=584
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
This guy is a fantasist and is just repeating information from here.
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/fix-rtl8125-packet-loss-drop-outs-lags-general-failure.406338/
Its 2 year out of date information which is why everyone is finding out that their driver is already set to high. Guy didn't even bother checking before posting his fake "I'm a hero" fix.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Its me that started that post 😄 I am OP.
Idk what you have against me, I've simply tried to share the solution after also finding the fix on Linux knowing that the above linked forum post is easily missed if someone searches for a solution.
loozerr@reddit
Okay
joshman196@reddit
With aspm turned off though.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Realtek has not shown any interest whatsoever in working together with the users its been smoke and mirrors for years. If these are one of the first drivers for alinux that work with that setting over a long history of updates over several years that doesn't mean it has always worked.
loozerr@reddit
I guess they released them by accident.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
They are well aware of the issues and literally tried to hide it for several years coming up with the usual excuses like "Oh it must be something specific in your environment"
Don't try to come in here to give Realtek credit, they are the reason people have been stuck with these faulty adapters for half a decade.
imtheproof@reddit
I have an X570 Unify with RTL8125 rev 0, on Windows 10 latest update. It was already set to High.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Maybe they changed it since recently, I haven't booted in Windows since I figured that out.
GaudyBureaucrat@reddit
I checked my motherboard's website. Apparently it uses RTL8125BG. Is it affected by this?
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Can't say for sure, I don't own a 8125BG to test.
bibober@reddit
r8125 driver on Linux (unraid) causes my adapter to stop passing traffic after a few days. Kernel r8169 driver works fine. YMMV as always
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Try loading it as adviced with aspm=off.
With 1gbit link or with ASPM disabled in BIOS its still able to work, albeit lower than advertised.
Sopel97@reddit
It is on High for me already, however I have not experienced this issue in the last few weeks I think, so I can't say anything conclusive.
Spirited-Guidance-91@reddit
holy shit. realtek's drivers are absolute dogshit in general. thank you so much
dssurge@reddit
Weirdly, I have a Realtek 2.5GbE 'Family Controller' that already has the Device Priority as High in the tool without any modifications.
It uses the RTL8125B chip, which apparently fixes the issue. This is a somewhat older, budget B550m board, so I suspect there may be more flaws in the baseline RTL8125 chip than simply toggling a priority setting...
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
I wonder if someone updated their drivers from my findings... I had a post on MSI forums about this and shared it there first.
JapariParkRanger@reddit
Big if true. This instability drove me to buy an Intel x550t2 for multigig.
So far the 5gbe realtek chip has been behaving far better, however, in a 2.5gbe link.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
I'd love to hear if you have success with it. I can't guarantee this works for everyone with another model or potential overlocking settings interfering (check my post here before when I was on track to figure it out)
JapariParkRanger@reddit
It would be some time before I can test it; my x570 board was just replaced with an x870e last month. I haven't given it a new home yet.
Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Right on. Congrats on the new board!
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Some_Cod_47@reddit (OP)
Its not. Its an actual helpful post trying to spread awareness to a widespread issue.