Yosemite - all Atheros AR8151 solutions are unstable

[mdjake]

OS: Yosemite 10.10.1
Board: Gigabyte Z77-DS3H rev 1.0
Ethernet: Atheros AR8151

AtherosL1CEthernet 1.2.3 (Multibeast)
Yosemite problem: gradual slowdown of network traffic during downloading with Safari
How to reproduce: download a bigger file from a fast server in Safari and look at the download speed - it starts fast then gradually slows down
Maverick: no slowdowns with the same file from the same server, very stable system (I've used this kext for my build)

ALXEthernet 1.0.2 (Multibeast)
Yosemite problem: well known system freeze during large file transfers between a Hackintosh and a NAS due to a memory leak in driver
Maverick: yes, there was freezing with this kext so I had to switch to AtherosL1CEthernet

ALXEthernet 1.0.3 (https://github.com/Dolnor/OSX-ALXEthernet) - changelog "Fixed memory allocation and which lead to freezing"
Built with XCode @ 10.10, kext installed with KextBeast
Yosemite problem: random KP e.g.:

Fri Nov 28 22:43:12 2014
*** Panic Report ***
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff8000352e83): "thread_invoke: preemption_level 1, possible cause: blocking while holding a spinlock, or within interrupt context"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-2782.1.97/osfmk/kern/sched_prim.c:2213
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff81101c3b40 : 0xffffff800033a811
0xffffff81101c3bc0 : 0xffffff8000352e83
0xffffff81101c3c50 : 0xffffff800035084f
0xffffff81101c3c90 : 0xffffff7f81619b77
0xffffff81101c3cb0 : 0xffffff7f83446611
0xffffff81101c3d40 : 0xffffff7f83440f67
0xffffff81101c3d70 : 0xffffff7f83440f1e
0xffffff81101c3db0 : 0xffffff7f8161a2a8
0xffffff81101c3df0 : 0xffffff80008d81de
0xffffff81101c3e40 : 0xffffff7f8161a388
0xffffff81101c3e60 : 0xffffff7f81619776
0xffffff81101c3ed0 : 0xffffff7f816196e1
0xffffff81101c3ef0 : 0xffffff80008d7162
0xffffff81101c3f40 : 0xffffff80008d507d
0xffffff81101c3f80 : 0xffffff80008d5248
0xffffff81101c3fb0 : 0xffffff80004192c7
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(3.2)[247581D8-DFC5-3AAE-B079-3D13F5514C2B]@0xffffff7f81608000->0xffffff7f8163afff
com.insanelymac.ALXEthernet(1.0.3)[6F03A008-9D7E-36EF-88F1-27D41AA8B29D]@0xffffff7f8343d000->0xffffff7f83454fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(3.2)[247581D8-DFC5-3AAE-B079-3D13F5514C2B]@0xffffff7f81608000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[766FC23F-452C-3B74-951C-598BB17BCF06]@0xffffff7f80b24000

 

[mdjake]

After some experimentation I've found something:

Clover - no ACPI DSDT fixes - Yosemite - AtherosL1cEthernet - network slows down!
but Clover - no ACPI DSDT fixes - Mavericks - AtherosL1cEthernet - network good

Chimera - Without DSDT - Yosemite - AtherosL1cEthernet - network good
Clover - ACPI DSDT fixes found in Clover's default config.plist - Yosemite - AtherlosL1cEthernet - network good

Finally, the solution was:
Clover - ACPI - FixHPET ticked, all others unticked - Yosemite - AtherosL1cEthernet - network good!

 

[xenophon61]

Thanks for taking the time to document this. Any version of the driver will do?

 

[mdjake]

I'm using AtherosL1cEthernet 1.2.3 from Multibeast.

 

[timsnart]

Hi, mine is Z77-DS3H rev1.1 with Chimera on Yosemite.

have experienced the same network speed slowdown so followed your direction but it seems AtherosL1CEthernet 1.2.3 doesn't recognize my built-in LAN chip. (only ethernet and serial modem port show up in network system preferences) so temporarily I had to roll back onto ALXEthernet 1.0.2...

any ideas?

 

[timsnart]

nevermind. just realized L1c driver only works with rev1.0 of Z77-DS3H.
any other solutions that work with rev1.1?

 

[Garfield]

nevermind. just realized L1c driver only works with rev1.0 of Z77-DS3H.
any other solutions that work with rev1.1?

http://www.tonymacx86.com/images/attach/zip.gif

 

[kryss05]

I confirm all version is unstable.

I use Clover last version and Yosemite 10.10.3

You can make a simple test on www.speedtest.net, when upload speed is more then a 20MB file, computer crash and rebooting.

ALXEthernet V 1.0.3 crash all time when upload a simple zip 14mb file
ALXEthernet V 1.0.2 don't crash when upload a simple large file, only on speedtest.net

 

[I_Need_A_Better_Name]

So... what to do now?
Is your best bet using a well supported external PCIe LAN adapter (in case such a thing exists)?

 

[Snowy]

So... what to do now?
Is your best bet using a well supported external PCIe LAN adapter (in case such a thing exists)?

Same mobo, different issue. Network constantly dropping out as if I unplug-replug the cable every few secs. Network even drops out when I unplug USB devices. Sometimes network is fine for a few hours, even days other times it's a constant issue.
I am now looking into PCIe adapters and want to buy the HP NC360T but not sure if this will run OOTB and without issues.
This issue has been driving me mad for the past few months. I am willing to buy a new mobo to solve the Ethernet issue (need it for work) but again don't know what works anymore.