slackware network complain. again...

1:In my slackware (aquarius) I don't have rc.netdevice in my /etc/rc.d directory. Slackware book says I should have it. What's wrong?

2:I read somewhere in lq.org forum that slackware 10.2 kernel 2.4.31 has somekind of a latent network problem (bug?) but I forgot what kind of the problem and the title of the thread. Can anyone give more info about this? I use kernel 2.4.31.

yes the slackbook talks about the 'rc.netdevice' and i too don't have it. but my slackbox network runs fine without it and so i am not complaining.
more about this: i have installed slack 10.2 in 5 different machines in the past and none of them have this file present but all of them run fine. so i guess its just a mistake in part of the book. maybe it was present in 10.1 (i wouldn't know abt it since i began using slack from the current version) but the point is it should not affect your network connectivity if you setup your network card and settings right.

Originally Posted by hottdogg 1:In my slackware (aquarius) I don't have rc.netdevice in my /etc/rc.d directory. Slackware book says I should have it. What's wrong?

Your book. Which version of Slack was that for?

Originally Posted by hottdogg 2:I read somewhere in lq.org forum that slackware 10.2 kernel 2.4.31 has somekind of a latent network problem (bug?) but I forgot what kind of the problem and the title of the thread. Can anyone give more info about this? I use kernel 2.4.31.

None that I'm aware of, just use the search. I won't.


Cheers,
Tink

Originally Posted by hottdogg I don't have rc.netdevice in my /etc/rc.d directory.

rc.netdevice is a two line script:

#!/bin/sh
/sbin/modprobe your_network_card_kernel_module

That's all.

It has been redundant since Slackware started using Linux 2.4 & hotplug, because most NICs are auto-detected by hotplug at bootup.

Older versions of the Slackware setup utility used to create this file for you. I don't know if it still does.

Your book. Which version of Slack was that for?

I don't know. I use 10.2. Downloaded the book from slackware.com.
Well, I hope my system fine. Forget my worries!

Tnx.

The rc.netdevice is only created when during the install you let Slackware search for a network card. If a card is found, Slackware installer will ask if you want a modprobe command for the card's driver written to /etc/rc.d/rc.netdevice .

Eric

Originally Posted by Alien Bob The rc.netdevice is only created when during the install you let Slackware search for a network card. If a card is found, Slackware installer will ask if you want a modprobe command for the card's driver written to /etc/rc.d/rc.netdevice

so did slackbook forget to talk about it or is it we who just got lazy to not read the whole thing?

Originally Posted by prozac so did slackbook forget to talk about it or is it we who just got lazy to not read the whole thing?

Eric recently taught me about rc.netdevice in a LQ thread, too.

You'll find it in the new Slackware Linux Essentials in these locations:

4.1.3.1 System Startup
5.2.1 Loading Network Modules
5.2.2 LAN (10/100/1000Base-T and Base-2) cards

I think it has turned into a redundant file, like an appendix. Yeah, it's there, but we don't use it anymore...

4.1.3.1 System Startup
Loads kernel modules. Things like your network card, PPP support, and other things are loaded here. If this script finds rc.netdevice, it will run that as well.

5.2.1 Loading Network Modules
If you open rc.modules and look for that section, you'll notice that it first checks for an executable rc.netdevice file in /etc/rc.d/. This script is created if setup successfully autoprobes your network device during installation.

5.2.2 LAN (10/100/1000Base-T and Base-2) cards
This heading encompasses all of the internal PCI and ISA networking cards. Drivers for these cards are provided via loadable kernel modules as covered in the previous paragraph. /sbin/netconfig should have probed for your card and successfully set up your rc.netdevice file. If this did not occur, the most likely problem would be that the module that you're attempting to load for a given card is incorrect (it is not unheard of for different generations of the same brand of card from the same manufacturer to require different modules). If you are certain that the module that you're attempting to load is the correct one, your next best bet would be to refer to the documentation for the module in an attempt to discover whether or not specific parameters are required during when the module is initialized.

all my pc's network runs fine. if its an incorrect paramater during module initialization i don't know of it and i didn't manually modprobed the modules, they were auto loaded. I don't know what to say.

No, it's not a redundant file at all. I have it on this box from a NFS install -- my Marvell Gigabit Yukon NIC uses the sk98lin module.

And no, it has nothing to do with an incorrect module parameter.

If your card (as yours and mine obviously are) is found, then the install doesn't probe and no file is created. But if your card is not found, you can probe for the driver. This saves that person from not having network support on the install. I wish it worked back in Slackware-9.1 for my Broadcom Gigabit NIC ... back then I just didn't get on, until I uncommented "tg3" in /etc/rc.d/rc.modules or rebuilt the kernel afterwards.

I see it all the time now that I am doing NFS installs.

Thank you for clearing that up (I think)

So it is only used (or created)if the normal install does not work?

Yes, sorta. I thought Alien Bob was clearer. If Slackware does not happen to find your NIC while it's installing, then you can "modprobe" for other NICs. If you know what module your NIC uses, then you can enter it and it will create the rc.netdevice file. This presently happens with nForce chipsets for, I believe, forcedeath (whatever it's called).

It also happens on a NFS install because that's the way NFS installs work ... after logging in as root, you enter "network" before setup, and the network installer probes for NIC modules. So this is another script. I just woke for a nature call and posted ... hope Eric will show up and clear up any entropy ... zzzzzzz

Well. I see no reason to repeat myself. Both my post in this thread and prozac's have everything that you need to know about the how and why (and why not) of rc.netdevice.

Eric