This hack (affecting the non-PCIe models only) was introduced in 2004
to deal with link negotiation failures in 1GBit mode. Based on a
comment in the r8169 vendor driver I assume the issue affects RTL8169sb
in combination with particular 1GBit switch models.

Resetting the PHY every 10s and hoping that one fine day we will make
it to establish the link seems to be very hacky to me. I'd say:
If 1GBit doesn't work reliably in a users environment then the user
should remove 1GBit from the advertised modes, e.g. by using
ethtool -s <if> advertise <10/100 modes>

If the issue affects one chip version only and that with most link
partners, then we could also think of removing 1GBit from the
advertised modes for this chip version in the driver.
Signed-off-by: Heiner Kallweit <hkallweit1@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>