Here is the problem:

I have a Gigabyte GA-7VAX with an onboard Realtek RTL-8139 Network Adapter Card.

I can install SuSE 8.1 using the ftp method with absolutely no problem. I load the 8139too module and it picks up the DHCP. I go through the entire installation procedure and when it reboots...voila... I am connected to the internet.

So I get this grand idea (me being one who needs the latest and greatest of everything) to upgrade to SuSE 8.2. I decided to do a fresh install because I had heard that a straight upgrade makes for a buggy mess. I run through the ftp setup and again load the 8139too module. It connects and I proceed with the installation. However, when the machine reboots... I have a real mess. First of all it takes like 10 minutes to restart. It can't seem to pick up an IP address from DHCP at all...so it proceeds with the rest of the startup. Once the machine is started everything seems bogged down. Nothing works correctly. Starting Yast takes about 4 minutes. And I have no internet connection. Yast tells me the Network card is installed correctly however I can't even ping the gateway. If I remove the card with Yast then everything works peachy.

Why, if it works in 8.1 is it causing all these problems in 8.2? Does anyone have any ideas at all? I'm desperate here!

Thanks in advance!

I'm thinking you havn't got this fixed yet since there are no more post. I'm am having the exact same problem. Everything setup good. Just can't ping my other machine. Sucks having to dual boot two Linux Distro's just to have internet access.

I fixed the problem. I installed Mandrake 9.1. Some would say I took the lazy man's way out but who cares. I don't have time to mess around with something SuSE should have detected and set up.

set "acpi=off" (no quotes) in your grub (boot loader) menu. you can edit it from YAST. that made my network work with a built-in realtek 8139. there appears to be a bug somehwere in the suse kernel that effects this network card according to a post i saw somewhere else.

Thank You. I give it a try, now that I think about it all my other distro's have that in kernel parem. I just got a e-mail from suse and they said they same thing.

be warned, i sent the same thing to them yesterday. i have since discovered that it may be related to my motherboard/bios. i have a shuttle fx41 with a pheonix bios, and it does not support acpi. i don't know if the source i used had a similar configuration. hope it goes well for you...

to certfiableone...

i don't blame you for switching because of this. i have had one after another problems like this with suse since 6.4. they seem to make superficial m$-like changes without doing the testing of their 'wizards'. i did try mandrake 8.2 server, but it failed due to a non-free product that required a non-amd processor. i got tired of loading the patch everytime i tried to install. they also had suse's problem of not being able to handle two network cards without going into the config files and editing out the mishandling. it sure seem like linux is going the way of m$ in the pursuit of market share. i don't mind them telling me that they can't support my network hardware - but i do mind when they appear to and then fail behind the scenes.

I think we can all agree that Linux has its quirks in the distrobution packages.
Like I like SuSe for a worksation because it comes complete. It has wine and alot of other goodies that the other make you either pay for or go find 55 source files it needs in oreder to work.
I like RH for the server- it comes with what I need to get it going- but better the RPMs save time trouble most of the time. Support is there for it as well. It appears it will be the Busineeses choice for there servers in time.
I have heard alot about Gentoo which may or maynot be great but I have yet to get it installed to make a evealuation on it. everytime I try
crashes or locks up...

But in the end it really does not matter to any of us- what matters is we are free to inovate- do real work and not worry about if M$ is upset because they were stupid enough to price gouge and mucked everyone over for the last 10 years with promises and they inovating the NEW WHEEL-- who needs a new wheel when the soul purpose of a computer is to be productive and have fun.

No I will take Linux and the pains of learning than be a slave to the Empire ever again....

ciao
ikw38

ikw38,

i couldn't agree more - if it was just learning. being able to operate a software utility is only learning on the occasions when a skill is obtained. when that utility makes changes to the user interface, but does not add a corresponding change to its functionality - that ceases the learning and begins the mindless repition of following the vendor's motivations. my point was that several of the linux vendor's wizards seem to be following the m$ path of change for the perception in the marketplace, more than change for an improvement of functionality.

i would offer the significant changes in suse's interfaces, while they are just re-packaging existing functionality. YAST is a primary example. Yes, it could be said that a newby could possibly get further setting up their system since the days of character-based YAST1, but that is just a GUI perception. They have done little to add higher-level functionality to the installation/set-up process that documentation of YAST1 wouldn't improve (i will concede that X11 setup has improved however - when it works).

sorry to sound so negative, but i have just gone down the path of trying to solve many installation problems by switching to several distros only to find that there are many common problems that are sorrounded by unique problems. there is something to be said for the good-old-days when editing text files was the method of configuration instead of running mindlessly through screen after screen of wizards that do things behind the scenes - sometimes well - sometimes not.

it's not a sin to express an opinion about how software is developed - i ask my clients to do it all the time and respect their opinions. linux is not a religion that demands loyality or conformance. without critical analysis, it will not continue to improve. besides, i'm not about to wipe my hard drives and re-install windoze!

peace....

Hey man glad to hear we are of the same sprit.
There was a time when I was stupid enough and nieve enough to believe that M$ was it and there was no reason to change.

But today especially after last night I was given a gift- I had someone who is one of the pioneers of Linux help me get my PDC working. This guy took over two hours of his time to make sure things were right. He worked with me, stayed with me even in my mistakes. That to me is a community wanting to help one another.
He wanted none of my money- just a promise to pass the gift on.
We are a community dedicated to helping one another- weather it be for our jobs, or for our entertianment we will have to be there to help one another when we need it.

While I still have problems with somethings still, such as getting a printer share setup in Linux from Vendow$ - but it will come in time.

All good things that are worth anything have a price on them - this is how we apreciate them even more.
Good Luck and keep in touch,

ikw38-- Linux Rules

I don't really blame Suse for this. I'm in the process of trying a bunch of Distro's right now. And with every one something has to be tinkered with. RH9 was the easiest, but I didn't really care for it. Mandrake 9.1 was little hard to get the networking going. Mainly because I have dial-up on a XP machine with a crossover cable to my Linux box. Slackware 9 had a time trying to get alsa set up. But all of those distro's set the acpi thing up for me (except Suse). I didn't even know what acpi was. I think Suse should have auto configured a little better.