Strange behavior with my GB NIC

[Jorge Cocomess]

I am not able to set my BCM5700 GB NIC to run at speed 1000 - This is the command I tried to set with; ethtool -s etho / speed 1000

Does't matter how I do it, it continue to run at 100MBps Duplex_full & NO AUTONEG.

I do know this is a 10/100/1000 NIC and plugged in a GB HP Procurve Switch.

I am currently running RHAS 2.1 -

Thanks,
J

[Ivan Ferreira]

Check your /etc/modprobe.conf file to check if the module load parameters sets the autonegotiation mode. Also, check the port on the switch.

Normally, according to a standar, autonegotiation must be enabled for 1000 Mb/s.

See:
http://www.sun.com/blueprints/0704/817-7526.pdf

New technologies such as 1000BASE-T require autonegotiation.

The IEEE 802.3 standard default is to run with autonegotiation enabled. Technology improvements, and better interoperation of autonegotiation make it the preferred mode of operation, and is required on new technologies such as 1000BASE-T (802.3ab)

[Jorge Cocomess]

No modprob.conf in the /etc directory. However, I do have a /etc/modules.conf - alias eth0 bcm5700

Should I have modprobe.conf file? If not, do I need to setup this modprobe file" If yes, how do I do that?

Thanks,
J

[Vitaly Karasik_1]

You can add
"options eth0 line_speed=1000 auto_speed=0 full_duplex=1 "
line into your modules.conf file (BTW, don't worry, modprob.conf file used only with 2.6 kernels, RHEL2.1 runs 2.4 kernel)

But I suggest to check your switch settings - probably it works in 100Mb mode?

[Steven E. Protter · Accepted solution]

Shalom,

modprobe.conf is a later innovation, introduced with newer kernels.

I have a server, which Vitaly will be familair with where we both work. It was built on an early version of RHAS 2.1

ethtool shows that it is getting link at 1000 BaseT speeds. My research showed that early RHAS 2.1 kernels can't do 1000 BaseT speeds.

I tried the additional commands in ifcfg-eth0 and ended up with an unnetworkable (therefore useless) system. The recommendation is to upgrade the kernel to a newer version and reboot the system.

Take care that some applications are very sensitive to the kernel version and testing should be thorough prior to any upgade.

If you post the output of the uname -a command I can compare it in afew hours to an RHAS system at work and provide updated recommendations.

SEP

[Jorge Cocomess]

Greetings, Sep.

Per your request, here's the info:
2.4.9-e.3smp #1 SMP Fri May 3 16:48:54 EDT 2002 i686 unknown

Please let me know what you can find.

Thanks,
J

[Steven E. Protter]

Its confirmed then.

You'll need to upgrade the kernel to get 1000 Base T networking to work.

I would suggest a full up2date or binary update to update 6 if your applications support it.

copy all the rpm files to one directory.

Call it /var/update

cd /var/update

rpm -uvh *.rpm

It should do everything except the kernel. Do that by itself after the update.

SEP

[Jorge Cocomess]

Thanks, SEP!! Where should I go to get the update?

Regards,
J