Unrecognized ethernet card

dpeterson3 · 11-15-2009, 08:58 PM

I am trying to add a second NIC to my Debian (lenny) box. I found the NIC in an old computer someone gave me. My box doesn't recognize it, and lspci/lshw don't seem to know its there either. The card doesn't have a manufacturer's name on it. I guess it was very cheap. Any suggestions on how to figure it out?

Mr-Bisquit · 11-15-2009, 09:33 PM

You could try a BSD live to see if the card comes up in dmesg.

evo2 · 11-16-2009, 12:36 AM

Sounds like it could be broken or not fully inserted into the PCI slot.

- Does it have any LEDs? Do they light up?
- Does the bios see it?

Cheers,

Evo2.

dpeterson3 · 11-16-2009, 07:21 AM

LED's are on. Not sure if the BIOS sees it. There is not much in the BIOS setup on this machine. I have the ability to set power options, boot options, and view fixed disks. That is it. There is nothing about the PCI slots. Rather annoying. dmidecode is not much help. I can't tell if the card it sees is the onboard one or the added one.

onebuck · 11-16-2009, 07:53 AM

Hi,

What does 'lspci -vv' show for the device?

business_kid · 11-16-2009, 08:52 AM

It might be missing a chip. You're probably wasting time. Pull it and post the details on a few of the chips - we will need the big ones, every line. I'll be able to have a guess from there. I am/was in hardware. At least you'll get the age.

dpeterson3 · 11-17-2009, 06:19 PM

The number on the lone chip is SMC EN5251BE. I put it into google. There are many windows drivers, but I can't seem to find any references on Linux sites. I know there are ways to use Windows drivers under linux. Is that what I should do?

business_kid · 11-18-2009, 03:23 AM

There should also be a three or four digit number on it. That provides the date of manufacture.
The en5251 datasheet is elusive at best, meaning the device has been retired/obsoleted in most cases.
Is there a boot rom socket?
You can chase on www.smc.com for assistance, but as it is recent enough, you are probably looking at a dead nic. If you want a nic, I suggest you buy one.

EDIT: Found them. They seem to use Realtek cores, and that should probably identify as a Realtek 8139 or the like

dpeterson3 · 11-18-2009, 05:35 PM

I had to shut the server down again for some other issue. When I put the card back in and booted it back up, the computer not only recognized it, but was able to use it no problem. I don't think I have it seated properly either (set screw fell behind the desk and I was too lazy to go get it). Anyway, thanks for the help. I still have no clue what was wrong. I guess it just needed to be reseated.

onebuck · 11-19-2009, 07:37 AM

Hi,

As the OP you can mark the thread as solved via the 'Thread Tools].