>> >> so the question becomes why does eth0 >> >> appear under ifconfig on my laptop with net.eth0 stopped and the cable >> >> unplugged? >> >> >> >> I thought it could be wicd on my laptop but I shut down the daemon >> >> with no change. >> > >> > Try disabling the daemon from starting at boot 'rc-update delete wicd' >> > and reboot, then see if the interface is up. >> >> You nailed it. eth0 was being brought up on my laptop by wicd. >> Thanks a lot. Both systems have functioning NIC's now. > > Glad you got this sorted. > > Is there a conclusion if we should be planning to move away from x11- > drivers/radeon-ucode, net-wireless/b43-fwcutter, et al and use sys- > kernel/linux-firmware instead? > -- > Regards, > Mick
I'm not the right guy to make the call but I think the fact that the r8169 firmware exists only in linux-firmware (as far as Portage packages) says something. - Grant
