Enable Motorcomm YT6801 driver with Linux 7.0+

Author: FabsgregCreated Aug 14, 2026Updated Sep 19, 2026

Describe the issue you are experiencing

On a mini PC whose only wired NIC is a Motorcomm YT6801 Gigabit Ethernet controller (1f0a:6801), Home Assistant OS creates no Ethernet interface at all. The board has no other onboard wired NIC, so the machine is unreachable over Ethernet after a fresh install and cannot be set up headless.

The controller produces no netdev whatsoever, so this is not a driver failing to bind.

HAOS 18.2 (kernel 6.18.39-haos, generic-x86-64) - no Ethernet

# ip link
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 ...
2: wlo1: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 ...
    altname wlp0s20f3
3: hassio: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> ...
4: docker0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> ...
5..10: veth* ...

Only the Intel CNVi Wi-Fi and the Docker bridges are present. ha network info likewise lists a single wlo1 interface, and Supervisor /hardware/info reports no net subsystem device for the onboard NIC.

Ubuntu 26.04 live USB, same machine, same cable - works

$ ip -br link
lo               UNKNOWN        00:00:00:00:00:00 <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP>
enx00e04c65xxxx  DOWN           xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP>
enp1s0           UP             xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP>
wlo1             DOWN           xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP>

$ lspci -nn | grep -iE 'ethernet|network'
00:14.3 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH CNVi WiFi [8086:54f0]
01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Motorcomm Microelectronics. YT6801 Gigabit Ethernet Controller [1f0a:6801] (rev 01)

enp1s0 comes up with LOWER_UP, so the hardware and the BIOS configuration are fine (OnBoard LAN1 Function = Enabled). The difference is purely kernel-side.

Upstream status

Support for the YT6801 MAC landed in Linux 7.0; it is not present in 6.18. The controller pairs a DesignWare-derived MAC with a Motorcomm YT8531S PHY, whose support went in through the same series.

What is already in the HAOS tree

The DesignWare core is already enabled for x86:

buildroot-external/kernel/v6.18.y/device-support-pci.config
    CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_STMICRO=y
    CONFIG_STMMAC_ETH=m
    CONFIG_STMMAC_PCI=m

The Motorcomm PHY driver is enabled, but only for arm64:

buildroot-external/kernel/v6.18.y/kernel-arm64-rockchip.config
    CONFIG_MOTORCOMM_PHY=y

So when HAOS moves to a 7.x kernel, both the YT6801 MAC glue and CONFIG_MOTORCOMM_PHY will need to be enabled for generic-x86-64, not just for Rockchip.

Request

Please consider enabling the YT6801 driver and CONFIG_MOTORCOMM_PHY for generic-x86-64 whenever HAOS moves to a kernel that carries it. Filing this ahead of that move because these Motorcomm NICs are increasingly common on low-cost N100/N150 mini PCs, which are a popular HAOS target. On such a board there is no wired networking at all out of the box.

Workaround

A USB Ethernet adapter works fine. A Realtek RTL8153 (0bda:8153, r8152) gives full Gigabit and has been stable since installation.

What operating system image do you use?

generic-x86-64 (Generic UEFI capable x86-64 systems)

What version of Home Assistant Operating System is installed?

18.2

Did the problem occur after upgrading the Operating System?

Hardware details

Mini PC: GEEKOM Air12 Lite
CPU: Intel Processor N150 (Alder Lake-N)
RAM: 8 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM
Storage: Lexar SSD NM100 256GB (SATA M.2, shows up as /dev/sda)
Onboard NIC: Motorcomm YT6801 Gigabit Ethernet [1f0a:6801] (rev 01) - NOT detected by HAOS
Wi-Fi: Intel Alder Lake-N PCH CNVi WiFi [8086:54f0] - detected as wlo1
BIOS: AMI Aptio Setup 2.22.1293, OnBoard LAN1 Function = Enabled, Secure Boot disabled
Workaround in use: USB Realtek RTL8153 adapter [0bda:8153], driver r8152

Steps to reproduce the issue

Install Home Assistant OS 18.2 (generic-x86-64) on a mini PC whose onboard NIC is a Motorcomm YT6801 (e.g. GEEKOM Air12 Lite, Intel N150)
Connect an Ethernet cable to the onboard RJ45 port
Boot HAOS and look at the HDMI console
At the ha > prompt run network info, or run ip link after login

Expected: an Ethernet interface with an address obtained by DHCP.

Actual: only wlo1 (Wi-Fi) and the Docker bridges are listed. No Ethernet netdev exists at all, host_internet: false, and Home Assistant Core stays stuck at landingpage because it cannot download.

Booting Ubuntu 26.04 from a USB stick on the same machine, with the same cable, brings up enp1s0 immediately with LOWER_UP.

Anything in the Supervisor logs that might be useful for us?

txt

Nothing relevant. The Supervisor reports no error: from its point of view the interface simply does not exist. `ha network info` lists a single interface (wlo1, wireless, enabled: false), and `/hardware/info` contains no net subsystem device for the onboard NIC.

Anything in the Host logs that might be useful for us?

txt

Nothing relevant either. There is no driver probe failure to log, because no driver in the 6.18 kernel claims PCI ID 1f0a:6801. The device is simply never bound.

System information

Additional information

Upstream references

The YT6801 driver is absent from Linux 6.18; support landed in Linux 7.0 (released 2026-04-12).
Related PHY work went in through the same series: net: phy: motorcomm: Support YT8531S PHY in YT6801 Ethernet controller.
Out-of-tree drivers exist (the official Motorcomm one, plus community forks patched for recent kernels), which confirms the hardware is otherwise perfectly functional under Linux.

Scope

Everything else on this machine works out of the box under HAOS: Wi-Fi, USB, the SATA SSD and the HDMI console. Only the onboard NIC is missing, and on boards where it is the sole wired interface that is enough to make a headless install impossible.

Source: home-assistant/operating-system

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