hi,
My pc config: P4 2.8HT, 512MB RAM, 120GB, realtek RTL8139 lan card.
Dual boot: Win XP/ Fedora 4
problem is- in windows, network is working but no matter what linux install--i can't get my network up. i have tried FC4, FC2, knoppix and using the same settings as in windows ie gateway address, etc.

output of 'ifconfig etho'
--------
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:C0:26:86:3D:E2
inet addr:172.26.117.62 Bcast:172.26.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:10 Base address:0xc00
------
what could be the possible problem?

According to your post, the network is up:


What exactly is the problem?

i can not ping any pc in the LAN.(in windows i can but in linux i can't)
Also, rtl8139 diagontistic program in windows says 'no LAN board' detected but windows xp runs it seamlessly without any probs.

Note these 2 lines:

RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

Check that your ethernet cable is plugged in. Also try another cable just in case the cable is faulty. Is your firewall running? Try disabling it if so and see if that makes a difference. Check that your IP settings are the same as the rest of the network - i.e. is the subnet & subnet mask the same.

I've got a big headache with the rtl8139. After a whole week of tests, I finally discovered that the pin-out of my network cable was incorrect. No prob in Windows, but cannot connect with Linux.... After changing the cable, everything was OK.... So verify your cable!!

I agree with cdhgee, that looks like a firewall issue! Take a look at iptables -L

firewall is disabled
same settings used as in windows
cable checked already

These two lines are never the problem. My lan is up and running and me too have the same two lines in #ifconfig eth0

can other systems on your lan ping yr machine when its in linux ???

regards

got it solved..there was some irq conflict from cmos setting..i just set it to default & now network is up
(strangely in windows it was was working but not in any linux distro)

Electricly speaking, I dont see how that is possible!! If the pin-out is incorect, the signals wont get to the RX pins. So what ever the OS is, there is no way you can make it work.
Maybe your cable was intermitently faulty. As in sometimes good sometimes bad.

not that's not the case.
to be precise: whenever i shutdown my windows pc (thru hibernation, not proper shutdown) i get network problem when i go to linux. I have to set the 'bios' settings to default to make it work in linux.
Though hibernation ins windows very well when i boot again from it.
I really wonder how it creates problem to settings in bios, that later on linux network dooesn't work.

My guess is the hibernation set the network card in some kind of power saving mode.
When booting linux, the drivers might not expect that state and not know how to recover from it.

What did you change in the bios?? Maybe you forced a reset of the card controller. Then your problem was solved. If it was the IRQ assignement, then you definatly caused the card to reset.

i just set bios settings to default. and it worked (i have tried and tested my times). strange with this problem no linux distro was working until i set bios settings to default
(damn m***osoft, they hide what ever they do. it took me 2 days to find the problem, grrr!!! )

Not that I want to defend them, but putting the card in power saving mode will usally be done by the driver. Not the OS.

Can you just confirm that you need to do that by reset thing every time you hibernate windows and boot back in Linux?

yes, i have tried twice..hibernate creates probs. :-(

Then its a hardware/driver problem. There is not really solution other than trying newer/better drivers for your card in Linux.
Or not use the hibernation mode.

I know its not really the answer you were hoping for.