This is a continuation of my previous thread at http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=464322
but specific to the latest problem.

My eth0 is not active after startup (or during startup, for that matter). I have to set the card up after each fresh boot through the Mandy Control Center network wizard. These problems began after switching back to ethernet from wireless.

Some things I've tried, and places I've looked:

The card uses the tulip module, and this is does not show in lsmod after boot.

Removed an entry from /etc/modules.conf for eth1. eth1 may have been the second nic installed originally.

Commented out ndiswrapper entry in /etc/modprobe.preload

Commented out ndiswrapper entry in /etc/modules

Changed GATEWAYDEV in /etc/sysconfig/network to eth0 from wlan0

Here's my /etc/sysconfig/ifcfg-eth0 file:
I'm still digging, but some direction would be appreciated.

Some questions for you.

1) When you use the Mandy Control Center network wizard, it should create a config file somewhere. Is that file still there when you reboot?
a) if no, then you have a problem with the wizard and I can't help.
b) if yes, then there is no need to do it again at each boot. The problem lies elsewhere.

2) lsmod doesn't show the module as being loaded on boot. Have you tried simply "/sbin/modprobe tulip" from a console? Does that get the network up and running without first doing the wizard thing?
a) if no, then the problem is more than just the module not loading, and I can't help.
b) if yes, then find the script that lets you include modules to load at boot. Something like an rc.local script, and add "/sbin/modprobe tulip" to that script. Or, take the time to figure out what to put in /etc/modules.conf to load it.

Note: it might have been better to comment out the eth1 line in modules.conf instead to deleting it. That way you could restore the line by uncommenting it. It might also have been possible to get eth0 working by simply changeing the reference from eht1 to eht0.

Thanks for the reply!

Regarding Q-1, I'm not having any luck tracking down the exact config file where changes are made. Will try looking for info on that again.

Q-2 got me digging in the right direction, I think. Short answer: no, modprobe tulip does not bring the network up by itself. Longer answer: I tried doing 'ifconfig eth0 192.168.2.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 up' after the modprobe. That allowed me to ping the router, but not anything outside. However, I noticed ifup while digging through the network script in rc5.d and gave it a shot after a reboot and it works. So now I'm down to 2 steps to get it up: a) 'modprobe tulip', b) 'ifup eth0'. (The 'ifup eth0 boot' command also works.)

If I understand the boot sequence correctly, the 'ifup eth0 boot' command is run automatically during startup. So is the problem that the tulip module isn't being loaded where it should be? Seems like a good possibility since it isn't loading at all. I'll dig into the modprobe/modules side a bit more and see where it leads.

Thanks for the shove in the right direction.


By the way, I can reproduce the eth1 line in modules.conf as I have a backup. I wasn't sure of the proper comment character for the file, so I just removed the entire line. Here is the backup file:
The only difference between that and the live file is the eth1 line (note the different module).

Solved!

File /etc/modprobe.conf had the error. It contained the line 'alias eth0:9 tulip', but should not have had the ':9' component. After removing that and a reboot, network back as good as new.

Odd that those characters were appended. I also saw those occasionally in the Mandriva Control Center when having problems with the wireless (as in wlan0:9). Perhaps there is a purpose for them, but they seem to always mean error here.