Can't get network card to work!

Zulithe · n00b Joined: 12 Oct 2002 Posts: 12

Hi all. I saw Gentoo 1.4_rc2 released and wanted to give it a go! I have very little experience with Linux, i've tried installing Gentoo before but I could never get it to work (kept having problems with GRUB). However, I could ALWAYS get past this part of the install guide, but for some reason I can't in 1.4_rc2... please help.

Firstly I'm using the gentoo-basic-x86-1.4_rc2.iso LiveCD (My PC is running an AMD Athlon, but I opted to do a netinstall instead of download and burn a larger ISO, and so that I could possibly do the same on other PCs around the house that don't use an Athlon).

I boot the CD and see the pretty new blue Gentoo screen (nice, btw!). I get to the root prompt and change the password using passwd first.

Now I try to setup my network card. The ethernet card my PC is using is (according to Windows XP device manager, as the card has no distinguishing information on it) a SMC EZ Card 10/100 PCI (SMC1211 Series). I use this card in Windows XP every single day and it works perfectly, so I know it is not a direct problem coming from the card itself.

I know that it previously used the Tulip driver in Gentoo 1.4_rc1 but when I type:

modprobe tulip

it outputs an error saying:

init_module: No such device

I ran out of ideas, came back to the forum and did a serach on my card, some suggestions said to do:

modprobe pcnet32

or

modprobe ne2k-pci

I tried both and I get the same error.

When I type /sbin/ifconfig -a I see three listings. Here are those three listings and the first line of each

dummy0 Link encap: Ethernet
lo
sit0 Link-encap: IPv6-in-Ipv4

Is dummy0 my ethernet card? I think sit0 might be my 56k modem (but not sure, not that i would use it though) And lo...? It says it's Local Loopback. If I type ifconfig then lo is the only one listed (it says UP and RUNNING in the output under lo, could THAT be my ethernet card???) I am completely stumped here.

I try dhcpcd dummy0 and Gentoo freezes for about 2 mins, then goes back to the root prompt. I try this with lo also, I've tried many combinations of commands but anytime I try to ping a site, or launch lynx it always says it can't connect to anything (or in the case of ping, can't find host or something)

I am running behind a D-Link router DI-604, but if I use DHCP this shouldn't be a problem, right? It was not a problem in 1.4_rc1 I know that for a fact.

Sorry for the long post... but I do need help! Please respond. I will provide more information if needed.

BonezTheGoon · Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2003 10:13 pm Post subject:

Can you post the result of this command?

zhenlin · Veteran Joined: 09 Nov 2002 Posts: 1361

tulip modules usually have to be forced. But I think that the newer 1.4 CDs have networking built into the kernel without modules. I can never successfully load tulip through modprobe tulip... I always have to do insmod tulip.o

Zulithe · n00b Joined: 12 Oct 2002 Posts: 12

Thanks for your reply!

The results of that command are rather lengthly, but I'm sure this is the bit you wanted me to see:

Zulithe · n00b Joined: 12 Oct 2002 Posts: 12

rac · Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:05 pm Post subject:

I believe your card uses the Realtek 8139 driver, which I thought was included directly in the kernel in all 1.4 livecds, so no modules should be listed. What is the output of:

Zulithe · n00b Joined: 12 Oct 2002 Posts: 12

here is the output of dmesg | grep eth0 (from gentoo 1.4_rc1 livecd)

Zulithe · n00b Joined: 12 Oct 2002 Posts: 12

booted from gentoo 1.4_rc2 livecd again, used modprobe 8139too

it works! Thanks so much everyone