[RESOLVED] Linux not seeing my NETWORK card. Please help.

1. Am trying to convert from NT to NT-cum-Linux (have fought with Walnut Creek Slackware Linux and SUSE 6.0). Have a functional dual-boot working. X also works.

2. Major immediate problem is getting Linux to see my network card. This was put in by my cable company (Comcast@Home) which didn't leave any technical specs with me. Under NT network stuff does work fine though.

3. From "NT | Command Prompt | ipconfig /all" I got this about my network card:
Ethernet adapter SMCISA1:
Description . . . . . . . . : SMC Adapter.
Physical Address. . . . . . : 00-E0-29-20-38-53
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

(plus IP address, gateway, etc. While Comcast is moving to DHCP addressing in our area it's all still STATIC addresssing)

4. From one email from a Comcast Service person:

"The default Network Interface installed by Comcast is an Intel
EtherExpress Pro ISA card." The modem they've installed is a Motorola CYBERSurfr cable modem connected to this card (I've been told that no "modem driver" is needed, only a driver for the network card).

From ipconfig /all it seems clear it's an SMC card with a static address, but I can't tell what SMC card is in (though from NT Diagnostics, I get the following:

IRQ and Port Report
SMC8000N 3 3 0x00000000

Devices Physical Address Length
SMC8000N 0x00000240 0x0000000020

5. In xconfig (X version of menuconfig) I chose (among other things)

Y, enable modules
Y, autoload modules
Y, networking support
Y, network device support
Y, Ethernet (10 or 100 Mbit)

N, 3Com ISA, EISA and PCI card

Y, Western Digital/SMC ISA and EISA card

thenn all the "make ... make ..." to generate a new kernel, rebooted, but my card is not seen.

6. From ifconfig -a in LINUX, I get

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Bcast:127.255.255.255 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP BROADCAST LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:3584 Metric:1
RX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0

dummy0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet addr:24.3.186.94 Bcast:24.3.186.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 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
/proc/interrupts has no IRQ assigned to anything like a Network card.

Among choices available to me in SUSE for network cards I've tried "SMC Epic/100" and "Intel EtherExpress" but have been stumped with how to enter parameters, so merely said "eth0" and from the above "ifconfig -a" it's clear that that's not working.

I'm at a loss about what to do, or how to seek more information from my machine itself. Under NT all network things work fine. Under my newly installed Linux, NOTHING is happening. Please help. Thanks you.
Murgie

Only ever one 100% way to determine the vendor and model - crack the case and take a look. Then hit the vendors website to see if they have a driver download which will probably have a linux component - either that or go get an el cheapo NIC which is supported under Linux.

I had a similiar problem...The intel express cards that the cable company puts in are supposidly supported under linux but linux just dosn't accept the card 90% of the time.

Go to your neighborhood store and get a Linksys Etherfast 10/100 LAN card....Will detect EASILY in linux and will help you avoid HOURS of headache....cost - $30

It's a win win situation http://dev.discussions.virtualdr.com.../1998/10/1.gif


------------------
Michael Jarmark
Head System Administrator
Mydesktop Network


[This message has been edited by mj1 (edited 03-18-99).]

Thanks for above 2 responses.

1. I did open the case and look. It was SMC, and had many numbers on it, which after referring to the SMC website turned out to correspond to SMC EtherEZ.
From a link at http://www.cablemodeminfo.com/LinuxCableModem.html [very good site for cable modem under Linux issues] I learnt about another Comcast@Home customer with SMC EtherEZ, etc, and learnt a bit about why my efforts even after reading the Ethernet-HOWTO went nowhere: @Home apparently sets the EtherEZ card in plug-n-play mode. And EtherEZ under Linux needs pnp disabled ... and it goes on to explain how one might do that.

2. A friend loaned me a spare 3Com905B card, and so I've begun trying that out. It's automatically detected (boot-time messages refer to it) ... yet I'm still some distance from making everything work. Pinging, etc yielded nothing.
From the Ethernet-HOWTO I learnt that for 2.0.36 to support 3Com905B I need to download the newest version of the driver, and have just done that. Hopefully this weekend everything will pan out.

3. QUESTION about IRQ's: does a user always have some CHOICE in assigning these (i.e. will anything not taken up -- as per /proc/interrupts -- by another device do), or is the name of the game DETECTING what IRQ has been chosen by the machine itself, and trying to change it only if there is a conflict?

Thanks.
Murgie