Linux Networking

[Paul Hinchman]

Folks,
I'm having a problem with Redhat Linux 6.1 and 6.2, wherein no matter what box or how many times I install the OS, my NIC's aren't recognized - ever. I use NE2000 nic's, and I can manually set up an eth0 "interface" but it never gets activated. The activate on boot never works, initial install of the OS never detects that hardware. It should be noted that among all the different boxes I installed the OS in, a different NIC(s) was in each. I'm new to Linux, and would dearly love to know what I'm doing/not doing to screw this up. Thanx to all who reply...

Paul Hinchman

[Jiri Furst]

In my opinion your question belongs to the LINUX forum.

The problem is that linux is not able to recognize the IRQ and IOADDRESS for NE2000 cards. You should
specify irq and ioaddress in /etc/conf.modules.
It should contain line like:

alias eth0 ne
options ne irq=5 io=0x300


There is also a possibility to specify the io and irq using
linuxconf (it does actually the same thing...)

[Rick Garland]

Check to make sure you are using the correct driver. Have seen instances in which the NIC brand/model doesn't inituitively match the drivers you think you need.

[f. halili]

Search from the network card's manufacturer's web site for their linux driver.

Once you have this file you may load the driver via:

#insmod name_of_driver.o

[Mark Fenton]

Echo the concerns expressed above.

1) It is not always clear which driver should be used for a given nic, especially the older types like ne2000 compatibles.

2) Assuming ne2000 is the correct driver: what is the output from ifconfig, netstat -rn etc.?

3) Verify the contents of /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0. Do they match what you expect?

4) What error do you get when you issue

# ifconfig eth0 up

5) Assuming these are not plug and play nics, have you verified that the jumper settings correspond to the irq and base address you have plugged in for them?

Sorry if this isn't a direct answer, but I hope it provides a starting point for your investigations.

(If you're out of patience, you could just get a newer nic. I've always had good luck with eepro100's ...)

Mark