Realtek RTL8153 Ethernet Doesn't work on Arch Linux

Question

I'm trying to use one of these to boost my networking speed on a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B.

Arch Linux ARM correctly detects the USB hub, but fails to detect the Ethernet port. ifconfig does not show any new interfaces (It should show eth1).

This adapter works on Raspbian!

How can I get it working on Arch Linux?

Kernel version

Linux rpi2 3.18.14-2-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu May 28 07:19:33 MDT 2015 armv7l GNU/Linux

Output from lsusb

Bus 001 Device 005: ID 067b:2773 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2773 SATAII bridge controller
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2109:2812  
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMC9514 Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Output from dmesg

[  208.996060] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, device number 4
[  209.002444] usb 1-1.3.3: USB disconnect, device number 6
[  216.399329] usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 7 using dwc_otg
[  216.513179] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=2109, idProduct=2812
[  216.521315] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[  216.530324] usb 1-1.3: Product: USB2.0 Hub             
[  216.536647] usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: VIA Labs, Inc.         
[  216.552291] hub 1-1.3:1.0: USB hub found
[  216.558958] hub 1-1.3:1.0: 4 ports detected
[  216.858855] usb 1-1.3.3: new high-speed USB device number 8 using dwc_otg
[  216.989200] usb 1-1.3.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8153
[  216.996777] usb 1-1.3.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  217.006738] usb 1-1.3.3: Product: USB 10/100/1000 LAN
[  217.012873] usb 1-1.3.3: Manufacturer: Realtek
[  217.017589] usb 1-1.3.3: SerialNumber: 00E04C680219
[  217.159217] usb 1-1.3.3: reset high-speed USB device number 8 using dwc_otg
[  217.340472] r8152 1-1.3.3:1.0 eth1: v1.07.0 (2014/10/09)

Answer 1

From man ifconfig:

NOTE

This program is obsolete! For replacement check ip addr and ip link.

Although that's not the problem here (it still works fine), I thought I'd point that out. The issue is:

If no arguments are given, ifconfig displays the status of the currently active interfaces [...] if a single -a argument is given, it displays the status of all interfaces, even those that are down.

Unless the system is configured to do otherwise, a newly attached interface is down. To change that:

ip link set eth0 up

Or the obsoleted ifconfig eth0 up.

why doesn't it show normally, like it does in Raspbian?

Again, that has to do with your network configuration.

Answer 2

Apparently, the solution is to make a new network config file in /etc/systemd/network containing:

[Match]
Name=eth1

[Network]
DHCP=both

This will make netctl go and fetch an IP.