Hi everyone,

I am new to linux and this website as well and this is my first post.

I have linux(rhel 4) installed on my lenovo laptop y410 and using dual boot.While my intenet is working on windows vista but not when i am on linux.i have provided all the basic input required to connect to internet but when i try to activate that it throws an error "3c501 device eth0 does not seem to be present delaying initialization"..please help me on this....let me know if any driver needs to be installed and from which link i can download it with all the details.i have tried many thinghs but all failed.....help me

It seems that something screwy is going on with your ethernet connection. Are you trying to connect wirelessly? Can you give us a little more information on the NICs you are using?

The above will tell you which version of RHEL4.X you have (0-8). If you are running an older release(4.0 ?) your hardware may be newer than that release. You can fix this by upgrading your kernel manually. Log into the RHN(you have to have a paid subscription to run RHEL) and grab the newest kernel ( 2.6.9-89 or newer). Then install it with the rpm command (see man rpm). The newer kernels have a lot more hardware support.

you could findout which is your NIC (use lspci or even you may do that using your windoz distro) and then download the driver and install it for your linux distro.
that should be simple to do.
nishith

Actually, if this is a new install, can I recommend you use the latest RHEL/Centos 5.3 ?

Sorry for the delay and thanks a lot for your suggestions.


the o/p i get on cat/etc/redhat-release is : Redhatenterprise Linus WS release 4 (Nanhant)

on doing lspci it shows my ethernet controller as below:

ethernet controller : Broadcom Corporation : Unknown Device 1713 (rev 02)
i am not trying to connect through wireless but though lan.

Also let me know if i need to install new driver or update my kernel?

i am not sure about kernel version but i got this information from /boot directoey maybe its kernel version butr i am not sure.

Vm linuz-2.6.9-5EL and Vm linuz-2.6.9-5EL.Smp.

please provide me with all detalis and link from where i can get any downloads if i need to upgrade or install any drivers.As i am new so kindly give me all details so that i dont create any mess.

Thanks again for replying on this.Waiting for your kind sugeestions.

Yes, it appears you need to upgrade your kernel. As lazlow suggested, check out the man pages on rpm and you should be able to get it taken care of. If you still have issues, you may try downloading the drivers for your card from the web.

The only potential issue I can see is that you are running a customs (non RH made) kernel and it is tough to know the details of how that kernel was built or why you are using it rather than a stock kernel. Logging into your RHN account will allow you to manually download the most recent kernel. I am 99% sure that your nic will be supported in the current kernel.

thanks lazlow......so upgrading the kernel is the only solution?since i dont have an rhcn account,are there any other options or from where i can upgrade my kernel for free.....i surely dont have much idea as i am new to linux.....so any further details will be highly appreciated

Centos is RHEL with the logos removed. It is free to download/update (unlike RHEL) and is binary compatible with RHEL. I would strongly suggest you switch over. Centos builds their system using RH source rpms(sans proprietary stuff, mostly logos). One can use Centos RPMs on RHEL but there are a few gotchas, in the long run it is MUCH easier to just switch over.

Thats great....i have done some r&d on Centos....i am going to switch over that....thanks a lot for your help....