Is it possible to disable and re-enable on-board PCI devices in Linux?

Insertx2k_Dev

11/17/23, 11:21 AM

So as the title suggests, Is there a way I can disable and re-enable PCI devices or on-board devices on Linux using Terminal like the disable and enable device functions in Windows' Device Manager. I want to do that everytime my PC boots up because there is an issue with the on-board ethernet controller causing it to stop working until I disable and re-enable it using Device Manager (that's on Windows), but for linux I have to boot into Recovery Mode and enable Networking for the on-board ethernet controller to work.
Here are some basic technical information about my PC in case they might be useful:
PC model: Dell Optiplex 7010 Mini-tower 3rd gen
Linux distro: ubuntu linux 20.04 lts booted in uefi boot mode.
ethernet controller name: Intel(R) 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (as reported by Windows' Device Manager)

Dmesg command returns "e1000e: device probe failed with error -3"

I have tried disabling and re-enabling the e1000e module with no luck, have also tried going to /sys/dev/pci/network/enabled (where network is the ID of the on-board ethernet controller) and echoing 0 and 1 but still no success.
I also have tried reinstalling Linux distribution and building drivers from source (The e1000e drivers from Intel website) but still with no luck. I also have tried many solutions written on Google but with no luck too.

lspci -vv command outputs the device information like this:

00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Lewisville) (rev 04)
    DeviceName:  Onboard LAN
    Subsystem: Dell 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Lewisville)
    Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx+
    Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
    Latency: 0
    Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 27
    Region 0: Memory at f7c00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
    Region 1: Memory at f7c38000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
    Region 2: I/O ports at f060 [size=32]
    Capabilities: [c8] Power Management version 2
        Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
        Status: D0 NoSoftRst- PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=1 PME-
    Capabilities: [d0] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
        Address: 00000000fee00298  Data: 0000
    Capabilities: [e0] PCI Advanced Features
        AFCap: TP+ FLR+
        AFCtrl: FLR-
        AFStatus: TP-
    Kernel driver in use: e1000e
    Kernel modules: e1000e

989

0 + 5

ubuntu

intel

drivers

dell

linux-kernel

Nikita Kipriyanov

11/17/23, 1:10 PM

If you are saying about Linux, better list how it is reported there, than in Windows: `lspci`; also `lspci -k` to see which driver it is using (though it is very likely that it is really `e1000e`). Also, I suspect the problem is with its *power saving* modes, so try to explore that. Do you see any settings related to this this in BIOS Setup? Does anything change in files inside `/sys/bus/pci/drivers/e1000e/PCI_BUS_ADDRESS/power/` before and after "disabling and re-enabling" the device?

Insertx2k_Dev

11/20/23, 8:41 AM

@NikitaKipriyanov No, Nothing actually changes in the `power` file after disabling and re-enabling the `e1000e` module, and I don't know how to disable and re-enable the device because that's why I am asking this question.

Grant Curell

11/26/23, 12:03 PM

(legally obligatory note: I work for Dell): Yes, this is done through udev. If I get a chance to go write up a proper answer I will, but just Google "Disable device through udev" and that will put you on the track you want.

Insertx2k_Dev

3/16/24, 10:13 AM

@GrantCurell I tried searching on google for "disabling pci devices through udev" and ended up finding [this question on stackoverflow](https://superuser.com/questions/541854/disable-specific-pci-device-at-boot) but the selected answer doesn't seem to work as echoing the device PCI ID to the file `/sys/bus/pci/drivers/e1000e/unbind` just returns an **Access is denied** error. Here's the command I tried: `sudo echo 0000:00:19.0 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/e1000e/unbind`

Grant Curell

3/16/24, 8:57 PM

You need to create the udev rule that is going to match. I suggest asking chatgpt about it - I just tried it and it gives a pretty comprehensive answer. Right now what you're doing isn't going to trigger anything from udev because you don't have any udev rules set up for the device. I used prompt "How do you disable a PCIe device through udev"

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