Dennis HilkLinux diagnosticsDE

Ethernet & networking

Marvell Yukon 88E8056

This Yukon generation uses sky2. The distinct driver family matters on older motherboards where similar Marvell names can otherwise be confused with skge or newer high-speed controllers.

Editorial source review: Share public profileOpen in the identification tool
On this page
  1. Overview & identity
  2. Driver & binding
  3. Firmware
  4. Read-only diagnostics
  5. Limitations & related issues
  6. References

Overview & identity

The sky2 PCI table annotates 11ab:4364 as 88E8056. It does not identify the motherboard model or prove that an adjacent PCI function represents a second network port.

Curated identifiers
pci 11ab:4364

A numeric match establishes a candidate family within the reviewed evidence. Marketing names, board variants, subsystem conditions and successful operation remain separate questions.

Driver & binding

The exact entry is under sky2, with the configuration describing the Yukon 2 driver. A module named skge is not the candidate established by this identifier.

  • sky2 — kernel driver/module candidate

Detected, bound, operational: learn the difference

Firmware

No host payload established here

No host-loaded firmware filename was established for this profile in the reviewed driver sources. EEPROM/NVM on the adapter is separate from files installed in the operating system.

Inspect firmware packaging on your distribution

Read-only diagnostics

Run one displayed command at a time. Replace uppercase placeholders with the affected device, interface or module from your own output. Commands are never executed here. Read-only output can still contain private identifiers.

Check the PCI function and bound driver

lspci -nnk -s BDF

Replace BDF with the domain:bus:device.function address. Look for [11ab:4364] and Kernel driver in use. sky2 in Kernel modules is only a candidate, not proof of binding.

Identify the network interface driver

ethtool -i INTERFACE

Replace INTERFACE with the real interface name. Driver and bus-info connect this interface to its device. A displayed firmware-version is adapter information; it does not prove a file was loaded. Candidate: sky2.

Compare supported modes with the current link

ethtool INTERFACE

Supported/advertised link modes describe capability or negotiation offers. Speed, Duplex and Link detected describe the current link, not measured throughput. An unsupported query is a limitation of the interface/driver.

Separate PCIe transport from Ethernet speed

sudo lspci -vv -s BDF

Elevated access may be needed. Root can expose the full PCI configuration. If PCIe capabilities exist, compare LnkCap with LnkSta: maximum and negotiated PCIe speed/width are different from Ethernet speed. Legacy PCI or virtual functions may omit these fields.

Limitations & related issues

Older PCIe platform power behavior and the copper link are separate from IP configuration. A working interface without an address is not sufficient evidence to replace the driver.

These guides are linked for relevant observations, not as known defects of every device in this family.

Choose a hardware diagnostic workflow · Inspect a log excerpt in Fix Lab

References

Source review records a checked implementation or document, not a reproduced hardware test. Version-specific tables do not establish a minimum kernel or guaranteed operation.