installing a pci nic with debain 3

race · 11-26-2003, 03:13 PM

im new to this whole linux thing..... how do you install the nic? i inserted it after install of OS.

i can ping the localhost so does that mean the network card is "installed". if so what are my next steps to get this thing on the internet

hw-tph · 11-26-2003, 07:59 PM

The Debian Reference has a whole chapter on networking.

Long story made short: You need to load the driver module for your card. If it's an Intel EtherExpress PRO/100 card you need the eepro driver, if it's a RealTek card you need the 8139too driver, etc.
To load the driver, do modprobe <modulename, like modprobe 8139too or whatever your driver is.

Then you need to check your configuration in /etc/network/interfaces and make sure eth0 is there and configured correctly. Here's a simple config for automatic (DHCP) configuration:

Code:

# The loopback interface

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The first network card
# auto means bring it online automatically

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

When done, try ifup eth0 to bring the card online. If you then do a ifconfig you should see an "eth0" part. The "lo" part in the ifconfig output is the loopback device. That's what you use when you ping localhost - you actually never use your real network card when accessing localhost, that's local loopback networking at work. If ifconfig shows eth0 having an "inet addr" set you should be online. ping any host you want to test it.

Håkan

race · 11-26-2003, 10:38 PM

ok ... so i found out the driver i need for a dlink is rtl8139... debian has it and when i run modprobe ("modprobe rtl8139") 0it says that the device / resource is busy.... i looked at the interfaces thing and it only has the loopback info in it. i tried to change it but i couldnt because of permissions. i can get root access through the command line but i cant open the file.. any suggestions??

race · 11-27-2003, 12:13 AM

i tried reinstalling the os and during installation (using woody 3.0) it still gave me that garbage about the device /resource is busy

race · 11-27-2003, 12:51 AM

i just got root permissions through a GUI.... YAY!!!

hw-tph · 11-27-2003, 05:53 AM

So...does this mean you solved it?

Anyway, to become root when logged in as yourself, just type su and hit enter. You will be prompted for the root password, type it in and hit enter. You will notice the prompt changes from $ to # to indicate you are root. When done doing root stuff, type exit to enter root mode. To execute something as root, and immidiately exit superuser mode and go back to your old self, use su -c <command>. Examples: su -c halt, or su -c "gvim /etc/X11/XF86Config-4".

Håkan

race · 11-27-2003, 09:34 AM

sounds good. but it is still giving me a hard time installing the nic. i am still not able to do modprove rtl8139 (it gives me the same errors as before). i went in and changed interfaces and then tried that ifup command and it said it was already configured. but if you do ifconfig it is still in loopback mode.