OK, I installed Red Hat 7.1, booted into it from LILO for the first time and it was fine until it got to the 'bringing up interface eth0'. It just froze up (I left it for five minutes, still nothing, so I had to switch off and start again). The only way to boot into Linux is to do an interactive setup and skip the 'Network Service' bit. That means that I can't access the internet, SSH or anything - Luckily Windows 98 boots fine.

I'm using an Allied 2500 Network card on my University LAN. I was told to use DHCP.

Can I just say that I've read about this problem, and have seen people reply by giving a bunch of code, but I have no idea where to enter it.... so could replies be in laymen's please!!

One other thing: when I expand windows in Linux the top part distorts with little mostly white random vertical lines about an inch long about, any ideas - I'm using an intel810??

Thanks in advance...

Please Help!!!

until you do get it fixed, you can stop the interface starting automatically on boot, by fiddling with

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
set
ONBOOT=no
after that check the boot messages in /var/log/messages to see if it says what's hanging it.

you can then try to start the interface with 'ifup eth0'
incidentally, make sure dhcp is set in that file too.

Try booting your system as you noted, then run 'netconfig' as root. That will do a modprobe to attempt to load and configure your system to use the proper modules and then you will be allowed to set your system for DHCP by simply checking your box.

It could be that your system is just waiting to time out for DHCP requests, indicating a network misconfiguration or problem, or that your system is not loading the proper modules for this card.

OR that the module it is trying to load is somehow hanging the machine.

If you are using the Allied Telesyn 2500, their website lists that device as only have "Limited Support" under Linux and they don't list a Linux driver for that card under their current drivers. I didn't find anything under their legacy section either.

However, the Redhat site shows that the Redhat v7.1 comes with a driver for your card (assuming its the AT-2500TX) and the proper module is 'rtl8139.o'

I have a RedHat v7.1 system here, but I don't see that module in '/lib/modules/2.4.2-2/kernel/drivers/net' which is where it should be. That could just mean that I didn't install it. I don't remember. Check that directory for the file on your system. If its there, an 'insmod rtl8139' should load it right up. But 'netconfig' should do that for you.

It appears that the driver is from Realtek and I found some info at http://www.realtek.com.tw/htm/downlo...?model=RTL8139(A/B/C/8130)/810X%20Family&category=2#Unix about it, but it might involve compiling the driver from source or recompiling your kernel or both.

Unless you are running a custom kernel, I think the install of RHv7.1 uses kernel-2.4.2-i386-smp. That kernel, according to the config file, has modular support for the 8139 card, so the module should load right up.. IF you can find it.

CORRECTION: Okay.. this is kind of weird, the Redhat page mentions the module I wrote above, but I found a module on my system called '8139too.o'
When I go to the kernel source and read the notes on this driver, it says that its the Realtek 8139 module. Hrmm... Look for that one too.

8139too is, afaik, a redesigned, much better driver that was kinda hacked into order, rather than the previous one rtl8139 which was teh erm.. boring(?!) version

Right. The rtl8139too.o module is included in newer distros; it seems that the original rtl8139.0 is somewhat deprecated.

BTW, I'm not sure that everyone finds the rtl8139too to be superior. This from the Scyld network driver site:

Can I also post a similar question. The server hangs at the Apache2 prompt. How can I get the server to skip the Apache2 boot up prompt and continue to the login prompt where I can sort out the problem?

It must some thing like this

#chkconfig httpd off
other wise if graphical mode needed

#ntsysv