Yep, I sure did. The realtek card worked in my other computer, and the network everywhere card is new. Both cards get detected in my os, whether I use Win 2k, Fedora, or College Linux; the send light on my cable modem does not ever blink with the non-working system (internet wise) as it does occasionally with my working system. I know it is not the cable because it is the same cable I'm using to use the internet right now. The internet status of the non working computer is the same whether the plug and play bios is on or off.

"In windows 2000, I got a couple of unsupported devices- an ISA to PCI bridge. I tried getting drivers for them, but they were only made for windows 95 and therefore wouldn't install. This is an old motherboard (intel 440 chipset), and I think that may be where some of the problem lies. This is just a half baked theory, but I think it may have something to do with compatability of new NICs and old motherboards with the OS. Again, this is just a theory, but it's my best guess at this point."

Not likely to be a problem here. Windows is stopping support for older computers as the OS evolves. Linux will support stuff that would normally hit the landfill if Windows was the only choice (one reason for its popularity in 3rd world countries). I have a 440BX board. Its one of the most popular chipsets of the time and I am typing to you on it right now. The card I connect with is a Linksys Network Everywhere Fast Ethernet 10/100 model NC100 (rev 11). It ain't that old. It works.

" I'm reinstalling fedora and going to see if I can get her crankin'. If not, I'll try the mandrake I'm downloading (unless someone has a better idea)."

Of course, I endorse the use of a distro I have had such good luck with.


I wanna suggest something that nobody mentioned in this thread. I don't know if you tried this yet, but have you tried plugging the cable into a different port on the router??

I'm having the same problem with an Intel 440 chipset. I have tried multiple different NIC cards which all work Windows or other versions of Linux of than Fedora. I have also tried other cables and other ports on the Linksys router that I'm connecting to which is acting as my DHCP server.

One interesting note is I have booted off of the Fedora Core CD1 and did a 'linux rescue' and it will establish the network correctly without a problem at all. So I know it is possible to get an IP address with the Fedora distribution I just don't know what it is that is loading on the normal boot up off of my hard drive that is conflicting with any network card I put in my system.

Currently I am doing a yum update of the system after booting off of the rescue cd hoping that some random update might fix the problem.

Any ideas?

Fixed my own problem by trying some of your suggestions. I removed kudzu from detecting new hardware and magically the network initialized correctly for the first time. Thanks for all your postings.

Not the mobo. There are other reasons to be pissed at Intel on that chipset, like the ram limitation (can't see more than 16mb chips). Its a fedora hardware detection thing. Similar thing right now with Mandrake 10 beta. There's always a workaround.