[SOLVED] At my wits end with nonfunctional network

y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

Hello all.

I'm a linux n00b trying out Gentoo for the second time. I am having a very difficult time getting any sort of communication to the 'net: every time I try to ping an internal or external IP address or host, I get an unknown host or network unreachable message.

First of all, I checked to make sure that I'm using the right module for my ethernet card: I booted up the LiveCD (which does connect to the internet correctly, btw) and did a lsmod, found that the driver was 3c59x. I'd been using this driver in the first place, and it's in my /etc/modules.autoload.d file, so this isn't the problem.

I've also made sure that I've typed "rc-update add net.eth0 default"...this does not help.

Here is other pertinent information:

/etc/hosts:

volumen1 · Guru Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Missoula, MT

As root, do an 'ifconfig' and see if your eth0 is showing up. Also, try an 'ifconfig -a' (the -a shows interfaces that are down).

Also, do an 'lsmod' and see if your 3c59x module is in that list. If not, then try to manually load it with 'modprobe 3c59x'. Then try and do an '/etc/init.d/net.eth0 start'.

If you wanted to try and do it all manually (for testing), then after loading the module (if it isn't loaded already) do an 'ifconfig eth0 up' and then do a 'dhcpcd eth0' and see if you are able to get an IP from the DHCP server.
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xianx · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 9:53 pm Post subject:

When i used dhcp with my cable Internet, i had to put in:

y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

As I'm a n00b, I'm not sure what responses to certain inquiries means in terms of teh existence of eth0.

When I do an "ifconfig eth0", I get the following:

y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

also tried xianx's suggestion to no avail
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volumen1 · Guru Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Missoula, MT

Sorry I didn't provide more information. It looks like your ethernet module is getting loaded and that is creating your eth0 interface. However, because you didn't see it in an 'ifconfig', that means it is not up.

A normal ifconfig result looks like this

y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

Not that I know of...I think they're pretty typical for a cable ISP. It's RoadRunner, of course...but I'm not 100% sure they don't use PPPOE. Is there any more information we can discover by looking at info when I've booted off the LiveCD? LiveCD does connect to the internet correctlyh.
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volumen1 · Guru Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Missoula, MT

What happens when you run this command? It should just return silently. Then you should be able to see eth0 in an 'ifconfig'. Then you should be able to do 'dhcpcd eth0'. Please send any errors that you are getting.

Also, what is your hostname? I ask because of something I read in this thread.

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=78336&highlight=roadrunner
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y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

oh! You're right. when I do 'ifconfig eth0 up,' it does run silently. Then, when I run 'ifconfig,' eth0 does show up. Finally, dhcpcd eth0 runs silently, as well. But then, when I go BACK to 'ifconfig' after typing in 'dhcpcd eth0,' only lo shows up.
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y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

I'm using "stephen" as my hostname and "midsouth.rr.com" as my dnsdomainname.
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y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

Changing my hostname to something even MORE obscure than "stephen" didn't help, as was suggested in the page you sent me.
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volumen1 · Guru Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Missoula, MT

for some reason you aren't getting an IP from the DHCP server. I did some googling and found this link http://people.qualcomm.com/karn/rr/linux.html

It seems like you might need an rrlogin utility to authenticate before you are able to get an IP. I'm not sure why this worked on the live CD, though, if this is, in fact, the problem.

I did an 'emerge -s rrlogin' to try find the client in portage, but didn't find it. It looks like a little .c file, though. I would try the above URL and see if it doesn't help.
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y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

thanks for the article. I'll check it out and see if I can get this up and running. But I really think I must be doing something incorrectly, for I was able to install Gentoo on another computer a while ago on this same network, and this worked with the LiveCD.
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volumen1 · Guru Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Missoula, MT

Do you have a link light on your ethernet card? What about the other end? Does it have a link light? Are you going from this computer to a hub/switch or some sort of router?

You might just double-check all connections and maybe try the liveCD again to see if it still works.

I think there is also a net-setup script that you might dork around with.
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jbiggs77 · n00b Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 38

I'm having the exact same problem, although not with Roadrunner. It is a cable connection though. Please let me know if you get it figured out.

-Justin

ctford0 · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 12:23 am Post subject:

There is something going on with the module that you are loading.....

Check out your hardware addy from ifconfig.

FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

There is no way that this is actually your hardware addy, something is wrong with your module or you need something else to help it out...

jbiggs77 · n00b Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 38

Try This:

dhcpcd eth0 -h "myhostname"

no " around your host name

-Justin

indros · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 27 Sep 2002 Posts: 139

ok.. you may have already covered this, but sometimes, the simple thing is oft overlooked...

Have you tried

labrador · Guru Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 316

First of all, do not assign an IP address in /etc/hosts
You certainly do not need to do this for a run of the Live CD.

Second, you cannot use a domain name that is public in your
hosts file and just expect it to work. Domain names are
resolved by the DNS server referenced in your resolv.conf
If you put some .com thing in your hosts file, you might find
that the real .com domain name becomes inaccessible.
For most home users, and 98% of newbies, you want to
use a private domain name in /etc/hosts and any DNS set
up you do on your private network. Assign yourself a domainname
ending in .domain and you can be sure it is not going to overlap with
an existing domain on the internet. But again, setting up
the /etc/hosts file is NOT required for the Live CD install.

It sounds like your problem is purely with getting DHCP to
give you an address. I'd focus on making DHCP work.
Check with your ISP about whether they require any
login information. You must know these things or you
are just groping in the dark.

Once you have an IP address showing up from a run of

ctford0 · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 3:16 pm Post subject:

HELLO????

IS THIS THING ON????

You are NOT going to get an inet connection with a mac addy of FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF period...

Boot the livecd and check ifconfig there, i know your mac there is not FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF. There is something wrong in your config. Your mac or hardware address doenst come from your isp it is in the hardware and it is always the same no matter what. Even if you never connected your computer to the internet you should see the correct mac address in ifconfig and sometimes, depending on the module, when the computer boots up and loads the ethernet module as well. I REPEAT THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS YOUR TRUE MAC ADDY.

Chris

y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

Just booted off the liveCD, and my mac addy is 00:00:86:4D:7F:CB. Can this incorrect mac addy on the hd boot tell us anything about which config file I've got wrong or where I've messed up in my setup? I'm assuming that I've either loaded the wrong module or perhaps compiled my kernel incorrectly, if this is a hardware problem...that's what you're saying, right?

Well, I did an lsmod while on the liveCD, and the module it said was loaded was "3c59x," which is the module I've got in the autoload file for startup, and which I'm using off the hd boot. And I used genkernel to compile my kernel, so it set up my card with modular support. Does anyone have a clue hwere I went wrong, here?
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y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

(my NIC is the 3Com PCI 3c556B Laptop Hurricaine)
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labrador · Guru Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 316

If that FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF HWaddr in your ifconfig eth0
output is incorrect, please run ifconfig eth0 again
and post the output here.

We want to see verification, because there are too
many different things being claimed and you need
one story to nail down what is happening.

y2kwizard · n00b Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 35 Location: here

ifconfig from hd boot:

volumen1 · Guru Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Missoula, MT

I'm just reaching here, but maybe support for that card is buggy under certain kernel versions. Boot from the liveCD and do a 'uname -a' and take note of what kernel the liveCD uses (I know I should know this). Then boot to your HD again and do a 'uname -a' and see what kernel you are running.

Which sources did you use?
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I was born with a freakin' dice bag on my belt.
-- www.howsyournetwork.com