Problem Starting Ethernet Connection - SOLVED

[Martin109]

I have a laptop with an ethernet connection.

If I use the command:

Code:

lspci | grep Eth

I get:

00:09.0  Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro 100] (rev 09)

The cable is plugged in and showing constant green and amber lights.

I used Netconfig to set up the controller with the default 'Netconf' suggested settings, using DHCP

When, as root, I type:

Code:

/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 start

I get:

Starting network eth0 as 192.168.0.1/255.255.255.0...
SIOCSIFADDR: No such device
eth0: ERRORwhile getting interface flags: No such device
SIOCSIFBRDADDR: No such device
eth0: ERRORwhile getting interface flags: No such device
SIOCSIFNETMASK: No such device

If I look in VASM under NETWORK, INET, SET (just to see without modifying), I see:

inet1 DEVICE=eth0, DHCP
inet2 DEVICE=eth1, DHCP
inet3 DEVICE=eth0, DHCP

So why is eth0 not being recognised or started?

[toothandnail]

Has the network driver loaded - try lsmod and look for ee100pro or e100. In the past I've found the e100 driver to be more reliable, so you may need to blacklist ee100pro (in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist) to force the e100 module to load.

If neither are loading, you may have a bit more of a problem. On one machine, I ended up having to manually load the mii driver, followed by the e100 before I could get the ethernet to work.

paul.

[caitlyn]

I've run into the same problem.  There's nothing wrong with the eepro100 module.  There is something wrong with the boot process not loading the card.  It's easy to fix.  During your current session, as root, the following commands will get your network going again:

Code:

/sbin/modprobe eepro100
/etc/rc.d/rc.network restart

To fix the problem permanently you need to edit /etc/rc.d/rc.modules.  In the file you'll find a commented out line (starts with a #) for the eepro100 module.  Remove the leading # and save the file.  That will force loading the eepro100 module at boot time.  No need to fall back to the older module.

-Cait

[Martin109]

Thanks for those replies!

I'll try this out when I'm next in front of that machine next week.  (Sorting a problem in weekly visits IS a  bit slow!)

[nightflier]

No need to fall back to the older module.

I had similar problems a while back, and from what I found, eepro100 is the older of the two. Using e100 solved my issues.

[Martin109]

I've run into the same problem.  There's nothing wrong with the eepro100 module.  There is something wrong with the boot process not loading the card.  It's easy to fix.  During your current session, as root, the following commands will get your network going again:

Code:

/sbin/modprobe eepro100
/etc/rc.d/rc.network restart

To fix the problem permanently you need to edit /etc/rc.d/rc.modules.  In the file you'll find a commented out line (starts with a #) for the eepro100 module.  Remove the leading # and save the file.  That will force loading the eepro100 module at boot time.  No need to fall back to the older module.

-Cait

I tried entering:

Code:

/sbin/modprobe eepro100

and

Code:

/sbin/modprobe e100

but both times got the result:

FATAL: Could not load /lib/modules/2.6.20.3/modules.dep

[caitlyn]

2.6.20.3???  Which version of VL are you running?  Is it a release candidate or a beta?  All of the VL 5.9 versions have 2.6.22 or higher kernels.

[Martin109]

I'm running VL 5.8 Standard.

[caitlyn]

OK, well... you're missing some of the standard (installed by default) kernel modules.   Rather than trying to fix that in an old release my advice would be to install VL 5.9.  It's much improved in a number of areas.

[Martin109]

OK, thanks Caitlyn - I think I'll do that.

[Martin109]

Thanks, Caitlyn - sorted, as you said, by upgrading to VL 5.9!