Mac OS X on x86 Hardware 2008–2024 Technical Archive
InfiniteMac OSx86 › OSx86 Core & 10.X › Realtek PHY RTL8201CL ID 0x03EF no connection
34,304 reads · 2008-04-07 – 2010-02-16
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Realtek PHY RTL8201CL ID 0x03EF no connection

I have a ALiveNF6P-VSTA motherboard (after my last amd board died) and i have installed rev 2 and im having problems getting my lan to connect. Its a Realtek PHY RTL8201CL. Iv tried the drivers on the dvd to no avail and getting a lan card…

Primary Author
@gully666uk Published 2008-04-07
Collection
OSx86 Core & 10.X
Archival Footprint
34,304 historical reads · 42 curated field notes (from 66 dispatches) · 2008-04-07 – 2010-02-16
Credited Voices (14)
@gully666uk (19)@naquaada (18)@smileyme (6)@harryleon (5)@WinLinMac01 (4)@ermitttanyo (3)@Puttabong (2)@deadalus (2)@nfoav8or (2)@bhast2@demigod@pαuℓzurrr.@cgsheen@nosiae

I have a ALiveNF6P-VSTA motherboard (after my last amd board died) and i have installed rev 2 and im having problems getting my lan to connect. Its a Realtek PHY RTL8201CL. Iv tried the drivers on the dvd to no avail and getting a lan card isnt an option as i have no spare pci slots.I also have a wireless dongle its a belkin wireless g usb dongle if that can be used to connect.
Anybody help?

Author Updates & Technical Revisions

Follow-up dispatches by @gully666uk

Author Update #1 @gully666uk 2008-04-08

im stuck and with no lan i will have to leave my amd leopard to gather dust

Author Update #2 @gully666uk 2008-05-05

i tried the common forthdeth driver to no avail it doesent recognise the device as being there in profiler,i have tried leo for all and other installs all no good

Author Update #4 @gully666uk 2008-05-06

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03EF&SUBSYS_03EF1849&REV_A2
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03EF&SUBSYS_03EF1849
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03EF&CC_068000
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03EF&CC_0680
i got this under hardware id in control panel

Author Update #5 @gully666uk 2008-05-06

im posting from my hackintosh, many thanks for all the help… now on to my 7600gs 512 mb problems

Author Update #6 @gully666uk 2008-05-06

Device ID: 0x0392
Revision ID: 0x00a1
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
thats what it tells me in the about this mac section , not sure how to edit kexts yet

Author Update #7 @gully666uk 2008-05-06

i wil try this when i get home later im off out to enjoy the nice weather, thanks for the help to get me up and running.

Author Update #8 @gully666uk 2008-05-07

no change with the graphics and it keeps telling me now i need to shut down my mac

Author Update #9 @gully666uk 2008-05-11

its pci-e , my lan has stopped working now aswell, im not having the best of luck with this motherboard

Author Update #10 @gully666uk 2008-05-13

The one on page 2 it shows up as being there but wont connect no matter what settings i put.

Author Update #11 @gully666uk 2008-05-14

I havent got any space pci slots i have an esata card in one and the graphics card leaves no room for any other

Author Update #12 @gully666uk 2008-05-14

I got so annoyed i yanked out my esata card and went to the local pc store and got a lan card that works.But im still stuck on the same annoying screen size with my graphics.

Synthesized Community Field Notes

42 technical responses curated from 66 original dispatches

Field Note #1 @smileyme 2008-05-04

I had the same problem, and installed a Belkin 10/100 NIC. Realtek chipset also works with XP and Ubuntu. <$10

Rick

Field Note #2 @naquaada 2008-05-04

I have an Asus board with nForce 4 chipset and RTL8201C LAN chip. Works w/o problems except transferring large files in networking use.

Field Note #3 @smileyme 2008-05-04
[cite] naquaada:I have an Asus board with nForce 4 chipset and RTL8201C LAN chip. Works w/o problems except transferring large files in networking use.

naquaada,

Can you tell us what you did to get your LAN working? I tried several suggestions without success.

As my main board only has 2 PCI slots, I would love to get the onboard LAN working.

NVIDIA MCP61S(GeForce 6100/nForce 405 chipset and Realtek RTL8201CL PHY LAN chip.

Field Note #4 @naquaada 2008-05-04

I made a standard installation I'm using the common forcedeth driver for this board. Is your ethernet connector recognized in System Profiler?
Look in About this Mac -> More Information -> Network

Field Note #5 @bhast2 2008-05-05

if you have an nforce board
what is it
mcp61, 51 , 55
what is it
i could be reading all the post wrong but you have an nforce lan right

Field Note #6 @smileyme 2008-05-05
[cite] naquaada:I made a standard installation I'm using the common forcedeth driver for this board. Is your ethernet connector recognized in System Profiler? Look in About this Mac -> More Information -> Network

Not recognized; just the NIC.

[cite] WinLinMac01:Make sure your LAN is enabled in your BIOS.

LAN is enabled; works fine in Windows and Linux.

[cite] bhast2:if you have an nforce board what is it mcp61, 51 , 55 what is it i could be reading all the post wrong but you have an nforce lan right

The board is nforce; the LAN is realtek.

Rick

Field Note #7 @naquaada 2008-05-05

If it doesn't work at all, try to get an USB network card

Field Note #8 @naquaada 2008-05-05

I uploaded the driver here, so no Rapishare is neccessary anomore.

@demigod:

what's the difference to the original forcedeth? The version number is the same. And what are _nock and _nockd? no krackd?

You wrote in another thread that the RTL8201CL is Gigabit. Are you sure? My board also has an RTL8201CL and it has no Gigabit, it's also written in the manual.

Field Note #9 @naquaada 2008-05-05

have you deleted extensions.mkext and repaired the permissions? Did you get an message 'the extension was not installed properly' or something like this?

Another thing: try to get the network controller's Developer and Product ID from Windows, you'll find them in the device manager in 'System' (don't know the correct english name). Maybe these IDs aren't in the kext and must be added manually. This trick often works.

Field Note #10 @naquaada 2008-05-06

Try this one: naquaada.infinite mac.com/pub/drivers/RTL8201_03EF.tar.bz2

I added your controller's ID (0x3EF10DE) into the kext. Test if it works.

Field Note #11 @demigod 2008-05-06

i don't know exactly .but the original forcedeth didn't worked for me.i found this forcedeth_nock and nockd in insanelymac.The diff is nock floods the systemlogs.where as nockd limits it..

and my board (GA-K851GMF-9 ) is capable of Gigabit.it is also mentioned it manufacturer site GigaByte (tiny url.com/rtv2h)

Field Note #12 @pαuℓzurrr. 2008-05-06
[cite] naquaada:Try this one: naquaada.infinite mac.com/pub/drivers/RTL8201_03EF.tar.bz2 I added your controller's ID (0x3EF10DE) into the kext. Test if it works.

I got the same nforce lan with the same controller id, i've tried your modified kext.
It does recognize the nforce network controller but it doesn't get a IP, also when configuring the IP manually it doesn't work...

Field Note #13 @naquaada 2008-05-06

Have your configured the settings correctly:

IP-Adress: (your computer), f.e. 192.168.0.12
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Router: (your router's IP) f.e. 192.168.0.1 (standard for D-Link)
DNS-Server: your ISP's DNS server IPs, you'll get them from there (T-Online in my case). I have the secondary first.
Domains: empty

Is the LAN connection marker green, yellow or red?

Field Note #14 @naquaada 2008-05-06

I made a new version which supports your the 03EF controller ONLY. Try it.

naquaada.infinite mac.com/pub/drivers/network/forcedeth_RTL8201_03EF_only.tar.bz2

BTW: Please make not too often usage of Quotes. The threads will get too long with this.

Field Note #15 @naquaada 2008-05-06

so it works? fine... what's with your 7600? I think Puttabong has one and it seems to work.

have you tied the search?

Field Note #16 @naquaada 2008-05-06

Hm, you can at least update it to 1280x1024 by modifying the apple.com.boot.plist. Puttabong has a 7600GT I think. But I'm no nVidia expert, I have an ATI X1600 and it works great. What IDs has your card and are them in the appropiate kext? I had to add my ID (0x71c2) manually.

To test another graphic mode try booting with "Graphics Mode"="1280x1024" at the boot prompt.

Field Note #18 @naquaada 2008-05-10

Have you tried to swap the to DNS servers from your ISP? In Windows has the primary first, in MacoS is the seconday first.

Field Note #19 @naquaada 2008-05-10

@ deadalus:

No, in the DNS Servers you have to set in the Server IP's from your Internet provider, not from the Router. You'll get the server addresses from your provider. Use them in the settings that the secondary server if first, the primary server the second entry. You also should enter them in your Router, but there the primrary first, also in Windows.

Field Note #20 @naquaada 2008-05-11

Look here: rob tex.com/dns/slt.lk.html
here are also server adresses: zon ecut.net/dnsgeo/index_big.htm
some more: ipp ages.com/us/?ip=220.247.193.250

I have no exacct idea, but try 203.115.0.0 as primary server and 203.115.63.255 as secondary. Enter it in your router and test in Winows first. But check in the Windows network settings if there are already DNS server adresses entered in the LAN connection. It looks that you needed a software to finish the installation. If it's so, send a message to your ISP that you are using a Mac and you can't use the software.

Tip: I can always recommend D-Link routers. I have a D-Link DI-707P (and two in reserve They have 7 ports, a printer server and costing about 7 Euro on ebay. It's cable only, no wireless.

Field Note #21 @Puttabong 2008-05-11

did you try the Nvidia Universal Installer by Zephyroth for your 7600 gs? Is it AGP or PCI-E?

This mpkg contains all NVidia kexts from 10.5.2 (9C20). GeForce kext contains all dev-id for NVidia devices. It gives support for GeForce 5/6/7, 8800GTX/GTS/GT 8600/8500/8400 GT/GS, GeForceGO and GeForceGO-512 (with LaptopDisplay.kext).

mega upload.com/fr/?d=SWC1S2D9,
mirror: save file.com/files/1462373

Field Note #22 @Puttabong 2008-05-11

Regarding your Realtek RTL8201CL LAN Controller:

[cite]Common SenseTry downloading this driver: send space.com/file/hdckvv Scroll down and you will find the download link right under the google ads (with a red arrow pointing at it). After downloading it and extracting the file you will see a directory containing a couple of files, one of them is a kext file (actually a directory).…

You could also use Kext Helper b7 (che etha.net/Kext_Helper/Software.html) instead of using the Terminal. Good luck!

Field Note #23 @smileyme 2008-05-13
[cite] gully666uk:its pci-e , my lan has stopped working now aswell, im not having the best of luck with this motherboard

This is disheartening, as I just got mine working with naquaada's fix. I guess I'll give it a few days to see if it holds.

Rick

Field Note #24 @naquaada 2008-05-13

@ deadalus:

Actually have no idea. I'll ask the masters in another channel that they should look in here.

@ smilyme: (and others)

which driver were u using? The driver which has the ID added (page one) or the one which has only the specified ID (page 2).

Field Note #25 @deadalus 2008-05-13

My RTL8201 LAN only works with this kext
naquaada.infinite mac.com/pub/drivers/network/forcedeth_RTL8201_03EF_only.tar.bz2

Even with this Internet will not work except occationally which is wiered but true!

Field Note #26 @smileyme 2008-05-14

The only way I was able to get things going was to use the Forcedeth-nockd.kext. Unfortunately, this causes syslogd to run erratically and cripples Console. I tried adding my device ID to the original Forcedeth and this gives me a connection but no internet.

Field Note #27 @cgsheen 2008-05-14

I still sctrach my head about all the posts I see where people are still fighting with RTL8201's... Why go through all that when you can install a $5-$10 RTL8139 or RTL8169 PCI LAN adapter that's supported natively by OSX. There are many PCI cards that work ...

Field Note #28 @smileyme 2008-05-14
[cite] cgsheen:I still sctrach my head about all the posts I see where people are still fighting with RTL8201's... Why go through all that when you can install a $5-$10 RTL8139 or RTL8169 PCI LAN adapter that's supported natively by OSX. There are many PCI cards that work ...

I did that, right from the start, when the LAN didn't work. I picked up a Belkin NIC for $7. The problem is I only have 2 PCI slots, and hate wasting one if I don't have to. I've gone back to the NIC.

Field Note #29 @WinLinMac01 2008-05-14

Have you tried a USB connection instead? Also, there are other working kexts out there to make your realtek device connection working. Doesn't hurt to try, =).

Field Note #30 @deadalus 2008-05-14

Guys, I came to a sad realization. Seems like RTL8201 is not a very good solution in Mac. I sincerely thank guys who wrote the kext for it. I really appreciate your work. However, RTL8201 is a 'piece of shit' lan adaptor used in 'piece of shit' cheap mobos like mine... So i finally sacrificed a PCI slot for a D-Link PCI Lan adaptor which works seemlessly with Vista and Mac. Problem bypassed! (Not solved). Anyway, i learnt a lot by trying to make it work so i have no regrets.

For onboard VGA with only 1024x768 res. like my NVidia GeForce 6100 in NForce 405, there is no working kext yet... I highly doubt that there will be ever since there are very few cheap-ass fellows like me who will suffer and have the need So i'm intending to upgrade my onboard VGA to a PCIe VGA later if i have some extra cash. Till then, i'll be ok with this default settings...

Thanks all the guys who tried to help me... Thanks a lot!

Show 12 additional community field notes (#31–#42)
Field Note #31 @WinLinMac01 2008-05-14

Its bad though that we have to depend on a PCI card. I do agree, lol. =D

Field Note #33 @ermitttanyo 2008-05-20
[cite] deadalus:My RTL8201 LAN only works with this kext naquaada.infinite mac.com/pub/drivers/network/forcedeth_RTL8201_03EF_only.tar.bz2 Even with this Internet will not work except occationally which is wiered but true!

forcedeth drivers are for nFORCE chipsets...The link that I posted which worked for me is used in my ASUS P5RD1-VM motherboard which has an ATi xpress 200 chipset. Others might want to try that with their RTL 8201CL LAN controller.

Field Note #34 @ermitttanyo 2008-05-22

I tried it into my mobo and it worked, i used kext helper in installing the kext

Field Note #35 @harryleon 2008-07-26

naquaada

i have a question to you:
i allready installed your kext, but this works only a few days. when i boot with windows immediately my internet conection disapear (not the conection ethernet).
What do yo think? is my configuration or what?

PD: I have two HD, One IDE 80 GB (OS X first boot) and the other one SATA 320 GB (Windows XP second boot)

Field Note #36 @naquaada 2008-07-26

What disappears exactly? The network device (hardware), the network settings or the LAN connection? Have you tried to disable/enable the LAN controller in BIOS or could you do a BIOS upgrade? Are you using a router?

Field Note #37 @harryleon 2008-07-26

Network Diagnostics:
Ethernet Green button
Network Settings Green Button
ISP Gren Button
Internet Failed
Server Failed

About the BIOS, nothing modified. And, yes Im using a router
Thank you, and sorry about my english

Field Note #38 @nfoav8or 2008-07-26

this sounds like nothing is wrong with your system setup. sounds like the server you receive internet from is rejecting your inquiry possibly because your two systems mimic each other when connecting and what the server is seeing are issues that routers should fix for you. Are your "DNS Server" and "Search Domains" set up correctly. Some ISPs will do this automatically with DHCP but some don't have that capability yet.

do you have any computers you could test your "network" out with? it sounds like it should work just fine.

Field Note #39 @harryleon 2008-07-26

nfoav8or
Thank you, i allready search about my rotuer and i find some info, let me try.
Actually im posting in Windows and its fine(Internet)
greetings

Field Note #40 @nfoav8or 2008-07-27

@harryleon
What I was referring to was while in OS X, under System Preferences > Network, when you select your connection to the Network (and ultimately to the Internet), there is a section referring to "DNS Server" and "Search Domains"

Just make sure those match what your ISP likes to see. Cheers.

Field Note #41 @naquaada 2008-07-27

For my ISP I have to use in System Preferences the Secondary adress first, then the Primary. Otherwise browsing is awful slow.

Field Note #42 @nosiae 2010-02-16 ↳ Re: @naquaada
@naquaadaTry this one: naquaada.infinite mac.com/pub/drivers/RTL8201_03EF.tar.bz2 I added your controller's ID (0x3EF10DE) into the kext. Test if it works.

hello to all...im new and but have made some experiences with osx86.
i ve installed a kalyway 10.5.2 on an Amd processor with the same moboi you re talking about...
so...can u post again the modified kext for rtl8201 ?
cause i can t find them anywhere else.
all thanks

Corroborated & Participated: @WinLinMac01 @harryleon @naquaada
Sources & Contributor Provenance (14 credited usernames · Thread #914)
UsernameDossier ContributionDispatchesActive Window
@gully666ukPrimary Author192008-04-07 → 2008-05-15
@naquaadaCore Contributor182008-05-04 → 2008-07-27
@smileymeCore Contributor62008-05-04 → 2008-05-14
@harryleonCore Contributor52008-07-17 → 2008-07-26
@WinLinMac01Core Contributor42008-05-05 → 2008-05-14
@ermitttanyoCore Contributor32008-05-20 → 2008-05-22
@PuttabongContributor22008-05-11
@deadalusContributor22008-05-13 → 2008-05-14
@nfoav8orContributor22008-07-26 → 2008-07-27
@bhast2Contributor12008-05-05
@demigodContributor12008-05-06
@pαuℓzurrr.Contributor12008-05-06
@cgsheenContributor12008-05-14
@nosiaeContributor12010-02-16