Hello,
I got a brand new PCIexpress 3.0 x4 (x2 electrical) card based on RTL8127 , specifically ATF chip with SFP+ port. I played with it for couple hours in Unraid 7.3RC1 - completely fresh install with temp license on a spare machine. I can't get it to work. Unraid keeps saying - Ethernet is down. Check cable!

From @JorgeB on another thread, I learned that the driver in use is r8169. And I am seeing the same thing as he shared in the Settings/Network: 0x8127(r8169)

Suspected it could have been layer1/2 problem, I shutdown the same hardware, downloaded Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Linux kernel 7.0), booted form installer and without even installing Ubuntu I got ethernet thru the rtl8127atf card with same exact cable&switch. 10G link, iperf3 tests over 8Gb/s. Tested 2 different layer 1 options - DAC cable and copper media converters - both options worked plug and play.

I am attaching anonymized diagnostic hoping someone could take a look at it. I am eager to help. Thanks.

tower-diagnostics-20260424-1912.zip

Edited April 24Apr 24 by OrdinaryButt

What is this E1000 on eth0? Is it an antique Management Interface? (these often cannot be used for "normal" LAN activities)

You should switch the cards by changing the entries in this very menu of your screenshot. Just click on the MAC of eth0 and select the other card from the opening dropdown menu.

This will make the r8169 eth0, the default card. Maybe turn off the e1000 completely afterwards.

The NIC is being correctly detected and initialized; the driver is just reporting no link. There's not much you can do on the Unraid side, either the NIC is not fully supported by the in-tree driver, missing some firmware, or the link is actually down. Testing with another OS/driver like Windows, should confirm where the issue is.

4 hours ago, JorgeB said:

The NIC is being correctly detected and initialized; the driver is just reporting no link. There's not much you can do on the Unraid side, either the NIC is not fully supported by the in-tree driver, missing some firmware, or the link is actually down. Testing with another OS/driver like Windows, should confirm where the issue is.

You missed the part of my post where is stated the card works flawlessly with Ubuntu USB install media?

I did, but then it's this:

4 hours ago, JorgeB said:

the NIC is not fully supported by the in-tree driver, missing some firmware

Ubuntu may be on a newer kernel or have the missing firmware; you may be able to check the logs/driver version on Ubuntu to look for the difference.

7 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

I did, but then it's this:

Ubuntu may be on a newer kernel or have the missing firmware; you may be able to check the logs/driver version on Ubuntu to look for the difference.

Yes, it is on a newer kernel, also stated in my original post (kernel 7.0). I see you are a moderator, how does someone get official support/log a ticket with Lime tech? My previous attempt years ago was "open a forum post".
While I was trying to disable the motherboard's intel I-219V (this is the e1000 @MAM59 ) was asking about, I noticed that the RTL 8127 card has 2x green LEDs (presumably one is power, the other is link light). But at about 70% of boot time to Unraid, the second green LED turns off - seems like link goes down by software.
And btw, disabling the i-219v in BIOS didn't make a difference.

Edited April 25Apr 25 by OrdinaryButt

20 hours ago, OrdinaryButt said:

Yes, it is on a newer kernel, also stated in my original post (kernel 7.0)

LT is limited to using LTS kernels because of ZFS, so they cannot update to 7.0

LTS kernel is typically the last stable Linux kernel released that year, 7.3.0 uses kernel 6.18, which is last year's LTS kernel, next LTS kernel is only expected in December of this year, so I'm afraid it will take a while.

Maybe the plugin could support it before, though it's also possible, that if they were just patches to the drives, they could make it to future 6.18 LTS patch releases, LT should keep updating the kernel (in the 6.18 series) until the last rc releases, so it's worth retesting once rc.2 is out.

3 hours ago, JorgeB said:

LT is limited to using LTS kernels because of ZFS, so they cannot update to 7.0

LTS kernel is typically the last stable Linux kernel released that year, 7.3.0 uses kernel 6.18, which is last year's LTS kernel, next LTS kernel is only expected in December of this year, so I'm afraid it will take a while.

Maybe the plugin could support it before, though it's also possible, that if they were just patches to the drives, they could make it to future 6.18 LTS patch releases, LT should keep updating the kernel (in the 6.18 series) until the last rc releases, so it's worth retesting once rc.2 is out.

We/I don't know what the issues is, so speaking of kernel 7 etc is vague. Let me ask you again as you are a moderator - are you a volunteer or LT employee/contractor? If the later, how can I officially log a ticket so my voice can heard beyond the "open a forum post" that I got last time. Am I wrong to expect some sort of a support for a product I paid for?

40 minutes ago, OrdinaryButt said:

how can I officially log a ticket so my voice can heard beyond the "open a forum post" that I got last time. Am I wrong to expect some sort of a support for a product I paid for?

https://unraid.net/support

You can create a ticket or add to the existing bug report here https://product.unraid.net/p/rtl8127-10gbe-nic-shows-interface-ethernet-port-0-is-down-check-cable-on-unraid-7-3-beta-1-2, but since that is dependent on kernel driver support, and the current driver on 7.3 already supports that controller, at least for most users, not much LT can do for now; you may need to wait for the kernel to be updated.

@OrdinaryButt - I just attempted to install a RealTek 8127 SFP PCIe 4.0 x 1 NIC in my Unraid server (7.3.1) and appear to be having the exact same issue as you. Unraid reports the interface is down, although my UniFi network switch seems like it is ready to go (i.e. no errors or warning from it, once I managed to configure it for normal traffic, instead of as an uplink port ;) )

I was just wondering if you have been able to figure out a solution, yet? Thanks!

1 hour ago, ogiewon said:

@OrdinaryButt - I just attempted to install a RealTek 8127 SFP PCIe 4.0 x 1 NIC in my Unraid server (7.3.1) and appear to be having the exact same issue as you. Unraid reports the interface is down, although my UniFi network switch seems like it is ready to go (i.e. no errors or warning from it, once I managed to configure it for normal traffic, instead of as an uplink port ;) )

I was just wondering if you have been able to figure out a solution, yet? Thanks!

Never mind. I was able to get it working using one of the custom plug-ins for the RealTek 8127 drivers. Took a few iterations, but all is well for now.

16 hours ago, ogiewon said:

Never mind. I was able to get it working using one of the custom plug-ins for the RealTek 8127 drivers. Took a few iterations, but all is well for now.

I am curious, can you do iperf3 bidirectional test ("--bidir" tag at the end of the client command line) and report if what you are getting for TX and RX? With my version, which is PCIe3.0 x4 (x2 electrical), I am getting about 10500mbps max combined (if I limit the bandwidth, I can get 5.250 up and down, if I don't limit it, usually around 9G up and 1G down). Can't figure out if its the card, PCIe overhead (PCIe3 x2 should have more than the required) or my other 10g card that is the issue (AQ103). Thanks in advance.

On 5/29/2026 at 7:32 AM, ogiewon said:

Never mind. I was able to get it working using one of the custom plug-ins for the RealTek 8127 drivers. Took a few iterations, but all is well for now.

Hey, are you able to share how? I would like to get my RTL8127 SFP+ card working in unraid.

On 5/30/2026 at 8:26 AM, hoeman said:

Hey, are you able to share how? I would like to get my RTL8127 SFP+ card working in unraid.