Re: networking woes with 2.4 kernel

[Donald R. Spoon]

Jeff Cours wrote:
> Hi, everyone -
>
> I'm in the process of building a new Windows/Linux dual-boot
> workstation, and I'm running into a problem with networking. The brief
> summary of the problem is that I can get Ethernet and TCP/IP working
> under the 2.2 kernel series, but not under the 2.4 kernel series.
>
> A Debian Woody idepci network install (2.2 kernel series) will find the
> network just fine. Windows ME also has no networking problems. However,
> a Woody bf24 installation off the official CD distribution fails when it
> tries to use dhcp. When I hard-code an address and try to ping, I get
> host unreachable messages. I get the same results under Mandrake 9.0
> (kernel 2.4.19).
>
> My first thought was that it might be a problem with the integrated
> RTL-8139 NIC, so I installed a new Linksys LNE100TX (a tulip chipset),
> disabled the 8139 through the BIOS, and got the same results with the
> Linksys. (One note, though, is that the 2.2 kernel network installation
> CD I was using noticed the 8139 even though it was disabled by the BIOS,
> so I'm not sure exactly what the BIOS did to "disable" the chip. It
> certainly didn't remove it from the PCI bus.) I've since pulled the
> Linksys card to try to simplify the system, but I've had no luck getting
> anything with a 2.4 kernel to work.
>
> If I have to, I'll run with a 2.2 kernel, but it'd sure be nice to be
> able to use an ext3 file system and get the fancy new USB support, and I
> don't want to be locked into the 2.2 kernel forever. Has anyone seen a
> similar problem? Are there any particular logs I should be paying
> attention to (syslog was pretty uninformative -- it just confirmed the
> dhcp failure), or boot parameters I should set for the kernel?
>
> I'm using an ABIT SR7-8X motherboard, which is a Pentium IV socket 478
> board with the SiS 648 northbridge and SiS 693 southbridge. The relevant
> NICs are the integrated RTL-8139 (module = 8139too) and a Linksys
> LNE100TX (module = tulip).
>
> If there's any other info that would be useful, please let me know.
>
> thanks,
> Jeff
>
>

I just took a peek at the bf24 "config" file to check and here is what I
found. The code for the 8139 chipset (the 8139too code) is compiled
into the kernel so there is no need to insert a module for most 8139
based NICs. There is also a "8139cp" support compiled as a module. If
your install is NOT recognizing your existing 8139 chipset, you might
try inserting this other module and see if it recognizes it. As I
understand it, there are a few "mfg mods" to the 8139 that require this... All of my 8139 based NICs (on cards on PCI bus) have been automatically picked up during install of the bf24 kernel. I didn't have to install any modules at all to get it going for a "network" install.

The same is NOT true of the "tulip" driver. It is only compiled as a
module in the bf24 kernel. You will have to install the "drivers" from either the driver floppies or from the CD, whichever you use, and install the "tulip" module before you can bring up the LNE100TX.

Finally, you can always upgrade to the 2.4.18 kernel via "apt-get" and
install the kernel-image package for that version. You would do this from a "working" 2.2.XX kernel. It is entirely modular, so you will have to insert ALL the modules you will need for your NIC(s) as well as for getting ext3 support. This is how I made my initial transition to the 2.4.18 kernel. There are a few "gotchas" in doing that... like using initrd and inserting the modules etc. It DOES work, but it might take a few tries, so keep your 2.2.XX kernel available as a back-up boot route... <grin>.

Cheers,
-Don Spoon-




--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]