Why HCL says "We dont Support Linux O/S" when called for HCL Customer Care ??

chetansr · 04-24-2012, 01:18 AM

I need a LAN Card driver for Linux RHEL 4.8 installed to my HCL desktop PC. When I spoke to HCL Customer Care and when asked about the same, they say "HCL does'nt support Linux O/S" , though the Operating System is being commonly used at most of the places and till now HCL says that they dont support Linux O/S.

I have tried browsing the LAN card Driver for this Built-in LAN Card for Linux O/S, but still I am unable to get a suitable driver.

Is there anything that we can do on this.

Could anyone help us in getting LAN card drivers for HCL PC....??????

jschiwal · 04-24-2012, 01:25 AM

Run "sudo /sbin/lspci -v" and look for the entry for "Ethernet Controller".

Mine looks like this:

Code:

0e:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 47
        I/O ports at 4000 [size=256]
        Memory at f2010000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=4K]
        Memory at f2000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=64K]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at f2020000 [disabled] [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
        Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/2 Maskable- 64bit+
        Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 01
        Capabilities: [b0] MSI-X: Enable- Count=2 Masked-
        Capabilities: [d0] Vital Product Data
        Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
        Capabilities: [140] Virtual Channel
        Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 36-38-32-35-33-34-33-33
        Kernel driver in use: r8169

Note the last line. It mentions the kernel driver used.

You don't download driver programs in Linux. Sometimes, you do need to find the firmware. This is more common for wireless devices than NIC devices. Usually NIC cards are supported and any firmware is included with the kernel.

After running "lspci -v", also run "lspci -n" and post those results as well. The manufacturer's ID may be helpful in locate which driver handles the device controller.

Also post which Linux distro you have.
Post the result of "uname -r". This is the kernel version.