Hi,

I am new to Linux. I am using RHEL 5. How should I connect my computer to the internet? My ethernet card is not getting detected.

My ethernet card is: Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC. But, that driver is not shown in the list of available drivers for ethernet.

I am using broadband internet connection (PPPOE).
IP Address: a.a.a.a
Subnet Mask: b.b.b.b
Default Gateway: c.c.c.c
DNS Server: x.x.x.x / y.y.y.y

I have downloaded the driver for my ethernet card from the website of the manufacturer. Its "r8168-8.012.00.tar" file.

I am completely new to Linux.
Can anybody guide me step-by-step about this problem (with commands if any)? I shall be really thankful.

Thanks in advance.

What's the output of...

ifconfig -a
lspci
dmesg

-C

Ok, if you downloaded the .tar file, chances are there were installation instructions on the site where you downloaded it. That's a good first step. Second would be to uncompress that file (see the man page for tar...'tar xvf <tarfile name>'), and look in there for the installation instructions, and read them.

Thanks guys,

Thanks for your prompt reply. Yes, the tar file had instructions in it! I followed them but now my system is very very slow.

Kernel : 2.6.18-53.el5

Initially "lsmod | grep r8169" did not return anything.

The instructions and commands I typed in are as below:

#tar vjxf r8168-8.012.00.tar.bz2
#cd r8168-8.012.00
#make clean modules
#make install
#depmod -a
#modprobe r8168
#ifconfig -a
#ifconfig eth0 up

Then I entered my static IP addresses.

Upon booting, at one stage it says "bringing up interface eth0 [OK]"

But, then, the system sort of hangs at point,

starting cups (the print utility)
starting sendmail

The system hangs at this point. Although, after a long time, I get to the command prompt. But not the GUI.

Do I need a reinstall?
What should I do?

ravangrid..pls do the following:



1. To overcome the hanging while startup issue,

1.open the /etc/hosts file
vi /etc/hosts
2.enter the hostname of your system

127.0.0.1 <yourhostname> localhost.localdomain localhost

3.save the file, reboot and check.

Note: to give hostname to your system: open /etc/sysconfig/network and give the name
HOSTNAME=<yourhostname> and save it.

Hello Friends,

Thanks for your reply. I have installed RHEL 5.3 and the new kernel has detected my ethernet card.

I am a complete newbie to Linux. Now please tell me how to connect to internet. I have broadband connection. The service provider's name is "YouTele" and it provides installer for Windows only & does not provide support for Linux machines. (I want to completely shift to Linux).

In Windows, in Local Area Network Properties (TCP/IP Properties), I see that the "Obtain an IP address automatically" --> is disabled.
"Use the following IP Address" ---> is enabled with the following:

IP Address: a.a.a.a
Subnet Mask: b.b.b.b
Default Gateway: c.c.c.c

"Obtain the DNS Server address automatically" --> is disabled
"Use the following DNS Server addresses" --> is enabled with the following:

Preferred DNS Server: x.x.x.x
Alternate DNS Server: y.y.y.y

In Linux, I click on System->Administration->Networking. Now should I enter all these values? I tried but still its not getting connected to internet?

I am lost??

Still, thanks till this stage. I will proceed step by step.

I SELinux enabled? I've had trouble in the pass with the network and SELinux...

Try...

1.From Command line, type

1.adsl-setup
2.It would ask you some questions, which you would be able to answer.
remember the username is the username provided to you by your isp
3.Enter the demand value :no
4.Enter the DNS information here: server
5.enter the password assigned to you by yor isp.
6.allow normal users blah blah : default
7.firewall =0

now type adsl-start
and go to firefox.

Hello Friends,

I installed Fedora's latest version Fedora-11 (Leonides). It not only detected my hardware but I can use internet too.

Thanks to all you guys for helping me. It was a good learning experience trying out all the things you told.

I have 3 questions to ask you.

1. I am going to prepare now for RHCE. Can I practise for RHCE on Fedora? Or is it necessary to have RHEL installed? I would really like to hear your suggestions.

2. The fonts on my computer look really big. How should I resolve the screen resolution?

3. I guess that mp3 files and other wma files etc dont seem to work on Linux. The codecs are not supported. Are mp3 and other codecs copyrighted? What do Linux users generally do in such situation?

Thanks a lot for your support. Great help for a newbie!

Use CentOS

I used CentOS to study for the RHCE...and I passed. So you can definitely use CentOS to study for the RHCE.

-C