Built-in ethernet vanished
I've been using built-in ethernet since forever, including the last 2-3 weeks clean installed El Capitan without problems. Today, inexplicably while working all of a sudden I'm not connected to the Internet. Network panel says the cable isn't connected, and the usual troubleshooting ensues. I've deleted all connections in Network panel, and network items from /Library/Preferences and rebooted multiple times and now in Network there isn't even an ethernet interface. System Information > Network only shows: Bluetooth PAN, FireWire, Thunderbolt Bridge, and Wi-Fi. No ethernet.
OK so I boot a live image of Fedora Linux, it sees and uses the ethernet connection just fine. So the hardware is clearly OK, it looks like the OS has somehow face planted.
MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)