Hi,

Delete the file '/etc/udev/rules.d/75-network-devices.rules' or just move it to another file.
Now reboot. You should have a new '/etc/udev/rules.d/75-network-devices.rules' file

I still think you might have a bad install or a bad iso.


Edit: went back an look at the '/etc/udev/rules.d/75-network-devices.rules'posted file. Looks like you have a NIC that could be failing, the MAC address is changing for on-board device. You could disable the device and see what happens. If it is failing then you could replace with a pci NIC.

ok will deleting the rules file
I only have one box which runs kernel 2.6.n happily from the Mandriva partition so I would suspect the cd's
before the hardware. I am in the Slk 11 kernel 2.4 partition at the moment.
see ya after I do some reboots

Ok, on my computer (as I said, with ASUSTeK Computer Inc. K8N4-E motherboard) this combination between acpi and framebuffer is the fatal one:
my computer not even boot anymore, nor with install DVD in rescue mode. It hangs for ever with these errors in /var/log/messages
The only solutions was to boot with install DVD and type:
I'm pretty sure, your problem is acpi+fb. Try a little conservative lilo configuration, with vga=normal and append="acpi=off". Please don't forget to run lilo after these modifications in /etc/lilo.conf.

"Do you wan't the good news or the bad news?"
I renamed the 75-netwok file and rebooted and eth0 worked fine.
I re-rebooted and no eth0.
info from first reboot after deleting 75-network-devices.rules
from ifconfig -a
from dmesg
again it says no IPv6 - is that a problem?

75-networking-device.rules
info from second reboot
from ifconfig -a
from dmesg
75-networking-device.rules

Hi,

Before I continue with this problem. Please tell where you got your iso. Did you test the md5sum? I've asked this before. You seem to have several problems. Confirm your install cd is valid.

The increment of the network eth# device in the '/etc/udev/rules.d/75-network-devices.rules' is troubling. The nethelper.sh detects the devices an creates the '/etc/udev/rules.d/75-network-devices.rules' at boot time. Your device seems to be failing and the script sees the device as a new one therefore adding to the rules file. This is indicated by the changing MAC address for that device. Each device has a unique assigned MAC address by the manufacture ID.

You seem to have multiple problems. I would break the system down, remove all the network cards or just disable the on-board NIC to see if this changes the network problem. See if the machine becomes stable.

onebuck, the iso's came from HTTP @ mirrir.pacific.net.au
In the process of backing up before I started installing new versions I deleted all iso files.
How do I check the md5sum without the iso?
What is a NIC and how do I disable it? (I'm guessing it stands for network interface card)
From reading Slackware-HOWTO is seems I should be using dhcp as I am using a cable modem. However I have to setup a static ip to get any decent response time from Firefox. Although for some reason Konquerer will work.

Cheers

Hi,

Well, you would need to have the original iso to do the compare. You could create an iso file from your cd and see if that matches the original iso .md5 file. That assumes you have no padding errors on the cd. Look at 'Learn The DD Command Revised' to learn how use dd to copy. Very good reference.

You could also reference 'Slackware-Links' which was compiled from 'Slackware LQ Suggestions Links!' for some other good online reference.

NIC is a 'Network Interface Card'.

I prefer static IP. I disable all the dhcp servers on the routers/gateways except for the modem or file server. You just have to be careful with the range(s) of each.

On larger LANS DHCP would be a necessary evil. Small SOHO LANS really don't need it. Guest account can be setup without too much effort. Don't broadcast your essid and look at other security measures for the LAN.

As for the previous errors for MAC address changing, I did some experiments with the system. I was able to emulate a error close to yours and indeed the '/etc/udev/rules.d/75-network-devices.rules' does increment. I think some error checking should be done on the 'nethelper.sh' script to compare/check for this type of error. I will look into this.

edit: BTW, I prefer to use 'ftp' or 'wget' to get my iso files. You can use bittorrent but I have had better luck with 'ftp/wget'. I will use bittorrent to share my bandwidth for a while.

edit: clarity & grammar

onebuck, Well at least we have a (very ugly) fix. Deleteing the rules file in the network shutdown script.
Unfortunately the curiosty gene has kicked in and I want to know what is going wrong.
I am not sure about the ip address I use "192.168.1.100". Does it need to be unique or can I put almost anything in that field (upto 255's). This is not the address of my isp, which I put in the nameserver field.
ccheers

Hi,

Depending on the router/modem that you are using the DHCP pool usually starts at #.#.#.100 as a general rule. Not always, I have one that starts at #.#.#.30 of a pool.

The IP number is unique to each, if not then you will have a lot of problems. The assignments in each octet is 0-255 or 256 addresses;.

I'm not sure what you are speaking about? The '/etc/resolv.conf' contains the IP address of the DNS that your ISP provides for the entry 'nameserver'. Unless you use a third level DNS like Verizon at '4.2.2.1 4.2.2.2 4.2.2.3 4.2.2.4'. I use these as secondary.

You should look at the network section of 'Slackware-Links' for some good reference.

onebuck,
I don't know what I'm talking about either (well partly).
When I install Slk 11 or Mandriva I only have to enter the DNS numbers 203.etc.1 & 203.etc.2 .
When I install Slk 12 it asks for my ip address, netmask, gateway & nameserver.
I know nameserver is my isp's number 203.etc. The others I dont know.
As I sit here (Slk 11 partition) KInfoCenter/Network Interfaces is telling me on eth0 I have ip address 192.168.1.101 and a network mask of 255.255.255.0 .
When I looked before installing Slk 12 the ipaddress was 192.168.1.100 so I entered that during the install.
Many installs later I found that the best entry for gateway was to let the install package default to 192.168.1.1
This is why I am unsure of using static ip. I feel that I will get something horribly wrong.

and as I now know I was only getting one shot at testing the connection without having to re-install

One difference I just remembered - Slk 12 install only asks for one DNS number not two.

knew I should have gone for recompiling 2.4 kernel but hey look at what I'm learning.

cheers
Col

Hi,

The '192.168.1.1' is your gateway (probably the modem). The ISP sets a dynamic IP for the Modem for the internet (unless you pay for the static IP). The '192.168.1.1' IP is the Local IP for the modem to your LAN.

I referenced several online reference in the previous post. Read them and learn something.

I know a fair bit about networks but not a lot about Linux networking so bear with me here. I do have a cable modem on Telstra and I have some friends on Optus I could ask about it too (noting that you're in Australia too :P).

But anyway I think something is not right here. This
in combination with the ifconfig output
suggests to me that your usb connected modem adapter (the one with the HW/MAC address starting with 00:30) has never been given a proper IP address. I suspect the reason it's behaving the way it is, is that your pc gets *an* IP address on one of the NICs, some of the time, which allows it to figure out which NIC that gateway (a typical Motorola Surfboard modem gateway, by the way) is *actually* on. And thus work. But it does appear to be a hardware problem with one of them too.

The reason it might be hardware even though it works on other distros is that Slackware 12.0 seems to do a lot of new things with hardware detection, compared at least to Slack 11... but again I'm not sure.

Also, what is the exact model of your modem, and your ISP?

I would suggest this to see if my hypothesis is correct...
Back up your network rules so you can fix it if I'm wrong :P
In your network rules, delete this line:
and change this line:
to this:
This renames your modem to eth0 so it will get the right address. By the way I'm also assuming you don't have anything connected to either of your network cards.

I would also suggest that specifying an IP with your modem, if it's set up anything like mine, is a bad idea, and DHCP would be the way to go... you can give that a try too by (after doing the changes to your network rules above) by making sure the line that has USE_DHCP[0] in it in /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf looks like this:
(again backing up)

By the way, don't worry about the "No IPv6 routers present" item- your computer is looking for an IPv6 router which you're pretty unlikely to have yet. Maybe one day, but not yet. It's just telling you, it's not a problem.

Good luck

Hi,

You could be onto something here. The on-board NIC has a changing MAC address. Rather odd. I hope nyloc tries the suggestions.

The increment of the network eth# device in the '/etc/udev/rules.d/75-network-devices.rules' is troubling. The nethelper.sh detects this as a new device an creates the addition to '/etc/udev/rules.d/75-network-devices.rules' at boot time.

I think nyloc should disable the on-board device and if possible replace it with a pci NIC. To see if this solves that problem.

A step forward!
I setup dhcp and after editing the rules file eth0 survived 2 reboots
but brought back the promlem I was trying to solve when I discovered eth0 dissapearing.
That is Firefox takes about 2 minutes to tell me it can't find any web site and stops whereas Konquerer works fine.
So far the only way I have got Firefox to work is setup as a static ip.
The modem :- the front says Netcomm NB% ADSL2+
underneath it says Firmware Version 62.51.1 & MAC 00300A447A13
That's 13 not 14 as I put in the rules file
my isp is Chariot who took over Satlink my original isp
I noticed the modem has a USB and Ethernet cable connected is that important ?
Ooops I have to to work if you want any more info I will send it tonight.
Cheers
Col

Ok first a few clarifications:
You have some form of ADSL, not cable. Probably ADSL2+, which is faster than old style ADSL.
Your modem is more than just a modem, it also has built-in NAT router features.
You mean NB5, not NB%

You only need to connect it to the PC via the USB *or* Ethernet. Make sure that only one is connected to your pc... Given that one of your Ethernet cards seems to be on the blink I'd go with the USB option. But, you can always try the non-onboard Ethernet too. Ethernet may be more stable due to being an older technology, not requiring special usb drivers (only special Ethernet drivers...), and I've heard people say it works better, but it's really up to you. Make sure you have the right one specified in your net config though- with that rule in the network udev rules file then the USB adapter will always be eth0, the offboard card will probably be eth1 or eth2, and the onboard card will probably still be being dodgy and changing all the time... which I think is a hardware problem that you've never noticed before because you've never needed to go looking.

The router part of it does have a DHCP server that defaults to on, so the reason it was not working might have been that you had it connected twice, or that it isn't on for some reason. When you have the static IP set up, you can make sure DHCP is on by browsing to http://192.168.1.1/ (which probably has the default username and password of admin and admin), clicking "LAN configuration" on the left and making sure that "enable DHCP server" is selected. The default start and end IP addresses are ok.

I would recommend using DHCP if you can, because it auto-configures everything- you shouldn't need to specify an IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, or anything... and if it *does* ask you for a DNS server, then 192.168.1.1 will do fine. It will automatically pick one of those DNS servers that your ISP gives it, and so if they change you won't have to change anything. I haven't used Slackware 12 yet though so I'm not familiar with its net config scripts, but I imagine they're roughly the same as Slack 11- and I've never needed to specify anything except that I want to use DHCP. If you want to set it up so that your computer always gets the same IP address, you can still use DHCP and poke around in your router configuration to set an IP address for the MAC address of your "card" (even if that is the USB adapter).

The MAC address sticker on the modem/router is probably referring to the Ethernet connector's MAC address, or the telephone line connector's address (if they have one, I'm not sure). It kind of makes sense that the USB adapter's address would be very close to it.