Hi all,

I'm fairly new to the BSD world (been using Linux for about 4 years). I ran FreeBSD 4.8 for a while and then decided to try 5.1. I've been attempting to install 5.1 on my T30 and T23 laptops. I've had the same issues on both laptops. During install, it attempts to configure the NIC (same on both laptops) and start DHCP. It times out on both machines. It recognizes the correct NIC (Intel EtherExpress Pro/100B Fast Ethernet card) but just won't connect to the DHCP network. During the install of 4.8, it recognized the NIC and started DHCP with no problems. I know that 5.1 is still considered "unstable" so I thought that that might be the problem.

After completing the install of 5.1 (without network support), how would I check to see if the card is being recognized properly? I was thinking that maybe the card is being recognized and that maybe I just need to start DHCP?

Thanks for your help.
Chad

During the install, usually it asks how to configure networking. It should ask whether or not you want to use ipv6. You should say no to that, and tell it to use DHCP when it asks. It should come it with a screen showing the ip configuration (host name, ip adress, etc.). At what point is this failing? Are you getting any error message?

Thanks for the reply.

Yep, during the network configuration is when it fails. I say no to ipv6 and yes to dhcp configuration. It tries to configure dhcp for about 4 or 5 minutes and then it comes up with the IP configuration info but it's all empty. When I manually enter all the network information, it still fails to start the client. I don't receive any errors.

Thanks again.

hmm...

Have you tried another machine? Just trying to elimante all possibilities. From what it souds like, it doesn't seem like an error with the configuration itself. It sounds like there is no dhcp server present, or the machine just can't communicate with it. I'd try another machine in its place (same line, same port on the hub, etc) just to eliminate that possibility.

Yes, I've tried the install on my T23 laptop (same NIC) and had the same issue come up. I've also tried the install on different network connections at work and also at home on my cable connection with no success. After searching the net for answers, I've found other users of the T30 and T23 laptops experiencing the same problems. Unfortunately, no one seems to know what the heck is going on. I tried to submit this as a bug on the FreeBSD site but I receive an error that the submission form is not available. I've successfully installed 5.1 on multiple desktop machines at work and at home. It definitely seems to have something to do with the NIC (Intel EtherExpress Pro/100B Fast Ethernet card) in the T30 and T23 laptops. 4.8 successfully installed on these two laptops.

Thanks again for your help!

I have the same problem but with my workstation.

AMD 1 GHz Athlon
3com 905b
900+ RAM

and 5.1 version

Installing the same computer with
Linux Slackware 9.0 works well. The same with Win XP..

So I think it something wrong with the DHCP client in fsb 5.1.

Regards

Magnus

I have the same problem -- funnily, it started only a few days ago and had worked just fine previously for months.

It makes no difference whether I run FreeBSD 4.8 or 5.1. I've tried two different NICs and two PCI slots. dhclient still times out every time now, and I've tried MANY times. My Windows machine is immediately successful in getting an IP address whenever I connect.

I have found one answer to our questions... If I install a fresh Slackware dist and boot.. slackware stops at the dhcpclient discovery funcition.. it then says something with.. "could not get correct server response, assuming: 213.112.102.127"

After that line everything continues without any hangs...
I get an IP and slackware/linux is very happy..

I don't have the knowledge to understand linux way of dealing with the problem.. Linux seems to assume things.. for bad or for worse.

Can someone explain whats happening?

Happy surfing!

/kling