BPI-R3 Mini Ethernet Port not properly working

I installed OpenWRT 23(SNAPSHOT) on my BPI-R3 and having problems with the ethernet port. It comes up on boot for a short time and then goes off. The only thing that helps is to execute via serial console: ifconfig eth0 down ifconfig eth0 up And this partioally several times. I also have the problem that the Bootloader is having problems to get the ETH interface working.

Anybody having similar problems? Is it an “SNAPSHOT” issue? Or a hardware defect?