eth0 and netmout failure (Noob troubles - searched forums)

[Godvalve]

I've been reading many forum posts and realize that my question has been asked many times before. However, I was unable to find a definitive answer to my question.

First off: I am running a stage 2 Gentoo installation. I have a running kernel. My ethernet adapter is a Realtek RTL 8100BL. It is an on-board nic stock on the GA-7VRXP Motherboard. I understand that the driver for this adapter is covered by 8139too. When I boot off the live cd I have a functioning nic and I am able to connect to various URLs. lsmod off the live cd confirms I am running 8139too.

When I boot into my gentoo system /proc/pci lists:
Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+(rev 16) ..... etc . This is the exact same entry I find under the live cd.

When I boot I get the error:
*******************************************************
bringing eth0 up
failed to bring eth0 up
ERROR: Problem starting needed services
"netmount" was not started
********************************************************

Of course, when I get into the system I am unable to access the internet.

I went searching this forum for answers to this question (that other's have surely had) but found only replys to individuals who compiled their drivers as modules. Futhermore, I found the following advice in an FAQ (From https://forums.gentoo.org/faq.php#5):

"It is generally easier in the long run to compile drivers for network cards directly into the kernel, rather than as modules. Make sure the driver for your network card is selected as [*] when you configured the kernel. Also make sure you mounted the partition containing the /boot directory when you copied your kernel to it; otherwise your changes will not take effect."

Now the noob questions:

1) I'm pretty sure I compiled support for my nic into my kernel. How do I check or does it really matter if /proc/pci lists it?

2) What other steps must I take to setup my network card

3) How can I resolve the issue of a: eth0 not coming up and b: netmount failing to start


Here is some other information that you might find useful:
1) I have cable internet
2) I connect to a DHCP router (SMC Barricade Broadband router)
3) I have edited the file /etc/conf.d/net and the only uncommented line is:
iface_eth0="dhcp"
4)ifconfig outputs:
lo link encap: Local Loopback
inet addr: 127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0,0 b) TX bytes (0,0 b)


BTW: If this answer has been posted (And I obviously missed it), please post a link. Thx in advance for all your help.

UPDATE: I've continued to search these forums since posting this message and found the following link: https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=47746&start=17

My grub.conf file now currently looks like this:
**************************************************
default 0
timeout 10
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda3 noapic
***************************************************

However, on boot I get the following message(repeated about 30 times):

APIC error on CPU0: 40(40)

This is obviously not the answer for me. If anyone is wondering my compiled kernel reads linux-2.4.20-gentoo-r5

[Athrawn17]

Alas, the faq is correct except in this case.

I have had nothing but trouble when compiling network adapter code into the kernel.

The most luck I've had is by making it a module and then adding it to the /etc/modules.autoload file.
_________________
1 0
Just my two bits.

[puggy]

I've had problems with my NIC where compiled in or modulearised it refused to bring eth0 up. It's an onboard NIC as well but running a via-rhine. The problem seems to occur only in certain kernels. If I use an older version (linux-2.4.21-pre5-ac3) it works fine, but it refuses to work with anything newer. I'd try different sources but I'm rather limited as I need stuff for my RAID.

In the end I just put in a spare NIC I had and it works perfectly. I've been trying to see what's wrong and get it up and running as eth1 but no success so far. Will post back if I make progress.

Puggy
_________________
Where there's open source , there's a way.

[Godvalve]

Well, I now know why I have been unable to find a consistent answer to this question; There is no one answer. Turns out that even though my system was able to spit out all of the above info, I hadn't really compiled the driver into my kernel.

So listen up all future Guru's: make sure you have really linked in / compiled in the driver for your nic.


...."You've been living in a dream-world Neo. Welcome to the desert of the real world...."

[linux_weenie]

i'd recommend modularizing the nic driver unless you've already got it working. don't fix it if it ain't broke right?

-will

[ginji]

if only all the newbs posted like this it would be much easier...

looks like you solved the problem your self