Ethernet not working on Acer Aspire 5004 with SIS 900 based NIC

duryodhan · 11-25-2006, 07:19 AM

Hey,
After successfully installing Slack on my desktop I went and tried to install Slack 11 on my friends laptop. I used the default kernel. After installing the LAN was working fine, with ifconfig and dhcp correctly working and showing correct ip. I could even browse the intranet sites as well as the internet. But the display was screwed up (1024x768 max). I thought that before doing anything should upgrade to newer kernel cos it generally solves a lot of the problems.

So I installed the 2.6.18 packages from /testing directory of DVD. (using pkgtool).

Sure enuf after that the display started working but the (ethernet) LAN stopped working. The LAN is working just fine when I restart and test it on WinXP.

This is the first time I hrd of something not workin on upgrading kernel. Could anyone please tell me whats the problem?

Samoth · 11-25-2006, 08:25 AM

Maybe the kernel driver isn't loaded for your NIC. What does lspci say about your NIC? I find it somewhat odd that upgrading a kernel fixed a X11 problem.huh, odd things happen all the time I guess.

duryodhan · 11-25-2006, 10:08 AM

lspci gives:

Quote:

00:40.0 Ethernet Controller SIS 900 PCI Fast ethernet Rev. 91

Samoth · 11-26-2006, 07:26 AM

OK, after looking at all possible kernel ethernet modules I have found you need the module "sis900". Type

Code:

modinfo sis900

. If that returns that you have the module built then you can modprobe it with

Code:

modprobe sis900

. Check your kernel config file(you rolling your own?) and see if that is enabled.

duryodhan · 11-27-2006, 04:28 AM

I am not rolling my own cos I have recompiled my kernel only once... What I did was install the generic kernel 2.6.18 available in the Slack 11 DVD testing directory.

After doing modinfo sis900 it gave where the file is and full name of Module, authors etc.. I guess that shows sis900 module is there.

after doing modprobe sis900 , ifconfig shows my card.
Then I do :
dhcpcd
to get my ip but no ip get configured,
Doing
ifconfig
after that shows only the local loopback address 127.0.0.1

BTW, Sorry for the late reply, I was sick

Samoth · 11-27-2006, 02:07 PM

OK, modprobe the module

Code:

modprobe sis900

then send the interface up

Code:

ifconfig eth0 up

then apply dhcpcd to that interface

Code:

dhcpcd eth0

EDIT: Don't worry about not posting on this thread for awhile. I haven't checked it till now anyways.

duryodhan · 11-28-2006, 12:56 AM

that is exactly what I have been doing. See my previous post.

if I do

Quote:

dhcpcd eth0

processing takes place for some time and after that when I get my promp back, if I do

Quote:

ifconfig

then output is only

Quote:

lo 127.0.0.1

eth0 is not there.

Another thing, during booting the comp is stuck on IRQ#3 for quite some time.
And after booting I keep getting msgs .. like disabling IRQ #3 from kernel.

what does that mean?

IRQ3 seems to stand for COM2 or COM4 (wikipedia).

Samoth · 11-28-2006, 07:09 AM

Yes, but do you do

Code:

ifconfig eth0 up

? In other words, in order to apply dhcpcd to an interface, it has to be up.

What does "ifconfig" say immediately after loading the sis900 module?

Possibly, your IRQs are all messed up. Usually you can set that sort of stuff up in the BIOS, but you can also give linux the kernel option "noirqpoll".

Also, these cards seem to have other problems:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=309805
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=232877

onebuck · 11-28-2006, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samoth

Yes, but do you do

Code:

ifconfig eth0 up

? In other words, in order to apply dhcpcd to an interface, it has to be up.

What does "ifconfig" say immediately after loading the sis900 module?

Possibly, your IRQs are all messed up. Usually you can set that sort of stuff up in the BIOS, but you can also give linux the kernel option "noirqpoll".

Also, these cards seem to have other problems:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=309805
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=232877

Hi,

If you just issue the 'ifconfig' command without options then only active devices are displayed. From 'man ifconfig';

Code:

 If no arguments are given, ifconfig displays the  status  of  the  cur-
       rently  active interfaces.  If a single interface argument is given, it
       displays the status of the given interface only; if a single  -a  argu-
       ment  is  given,  it  displays the status of all interfaces, even those
       that are down.  Otherwise, it configures an interface.

So to show all devices then add the '-a' option to show all interfaces.

Edit: to OP, issue the 'ifconfig -a' and post the output. Also issue the 'lspci -vv' and post relative information. Meaning un-edited, to allow diagnosis.

duryodhan · 11-28-2006, 07:27 AM

yeah I do that.
immediately after loading the module,
ifconfig gives the name of the card, HW address, inet6 address. Basically everything except an ip address. TX|RX bytes are zero ofcourse.

duryodhan · 11-28-2006, 07:35 AM

Also , the card worked in 2.4 kernel. and as given ,in the other thread the PCI id has changed from 2.6.5. I am using 2.6.18. So there shouldn't be any problems.

onebuck · 11-28-2006, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duryodhan

yeah I do that.
immediately after loading the module,
ifconfig gives the name of the card, HW address, inet6 address. Basically everything except an ip address. TX|RX bytes are zero ofcourse.

Hi,

My crystal ball is cracked and looking over your shoulder, everything is blurry! Post the output!

Really, you need to provide the output to allow good diagnosis.

If you do see the eth device then possibly you are not getting a IP.

Try to issue a static IP;

Code:

#ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.12      # choose IP for your network
#ifconfig eth0 up
#route -n                        #make sure your route is correct

If you don't want to issue from the cli then edit /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf and restart the network.

Shooting in the air here!

duryodhan · 11-28-2006, 07:45 AM

Also , the card worked in 2.4 kernel. and as given ,in the other thread the PCI id has changed from 2.6.5. I am using 2.6.18. So there shouldn't be any problems.

duryodhan · 11-28-2006, 07:48 AM

Yeah I know I am sorry about that ...

But the thing is the comp with the prob is not on any network, I dont have any usb sticks lying around, how can I give you the output of each and every command?

Anyways ifconfig for my comp ( the one which is workingthru which I am chattin with you on forum ) gives

Quote:

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11

8:3D:10:6A
inet addr:172.16.&&.&& Bcast:172.16.16.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::211:d8ff:fe3d:106a/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:84511 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:52905 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:42532070 (40.5 MiB) TX bytes:11128549 (10.6 MiB)
Interrupt:10

The not working one has similar output .. only the inet addr is not there. And the RX and TX fields are empty.

onebuck · 11-28-2006, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duryodhan

Also , the card worked in 2.4 kernel. and as given ,in the other thread the PCI id has changed from 2.6.5. I am using 2.6.18. So there shouldn't be any problems.

Hi,

Your assumptions are not correct! The environment has changed!
Yes, problems have been created. You will need to diagnose with the current setup without reference to the old.

I would use the tools available to diagnose;

Code:

#lsmod                            #see what modules are loaded
#lspci -vv                        #devices, irq,memory etc.
#ifconfig -a                      #look at all network devices
#ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.12       #setup static IP
#ifconfig eth0 up                 #eth0 UP
#route -n                         #confirm route
#route add default gw 192.168.0.1 #set gateway
#ping 192.168.0.1                 #confirm 
#ping 64.233.167.99               #ping google.com static
#ping google.com                  #check DNS

This should get you network access. Once you confirm the device and network are functional then just change to 'DHCP'.

The 'lsmod' will allow you to see what modules are loaded and what modules are used.

The 'lspci -vv' will get you a very verbose output that can give you information for the devices.

The 'ifconfig -a' gives all devices that the kernel is aware of.

The 'ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.12' sets a static IP address for the eth0 device.

The 'ifconfig eth0 up' brings the device active.

The 'route -n' presents the current route.

The 'route add default gw 192.168.0.1' is issued to setup a default gateway for the device. You could issue another 'route -a' to confirm.

The 'ping 192.168.0.1' is issued to confirm the access.

The 'ping 64.233.167.99' is pinging the IP for 'google.com'.

The 'ping google.com' is used to check the DNS.

Don't take offense at the detailed post. It is for future user's not just you.

Edit: grammar