Broadcom - no network/internet
 

Hi All,

I have a Knoppix install on my hard drive, which as I understand it, is basically Debian. I've asked this question at Knoppix.net but so far no-one has been able to help me. Or at least if they can, they are keeping it secret, so I thought I would post it here as well.

Everything appears to be running fine, and it's very quick. The ony problem I have is that I can't get anything to go out over the network to other local machines, (even the ADSL router), and therefore no internet .

The interface has been detected. If I do an lspci -v it detects the Broadcom 4400, without any problems. I've tried the mii-tool and that doesn't show any errorrs. Running netcardconfig works OK , but obviously if I choose DHCP it times out. Setting static details update /etc/network/interfaces OK with the correct settings, but nothing appears to be going out over the card.

It appears that the interface is up. I've tried it with static info and dhcp. I can ping the locallhost so it seems that TCP/IP is working correctly. The only 'error' I can see (including in dmesg) are timeouts.

I know that the hardware is fine as on the same computer I also run Slackware, XP and SuSE, all of which have no problem with the network.

My reason for installing Knoppix was to create my own version so that I can use it on a CD with some software I need for college.

I decided to try the latest Broadcom drivers. They installed OK, but it made no difference.....

Anybody come across any problems with Broadcom cards under Debian?


Thanks

Not familiar with the modem router but usually they have network addresses. Mine uses 10.0.0.0/15. Below is what my /etc/network/interfaces looks like;
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.0.2
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.0.1
broadcast 192.168.0.255

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address 10.0.0.10
netmask 255.0.0.0
gateway 10.0.0.2
Usually the problem is not telling the system what the gateway is.

Thanks. I'm pretty sure that my interfaces settings are OK. I use the 192.168.x.x subnet similar to yours I guess.

My default gateway is set to the router, as is the nameserver settings as it will pass on DNS requests. Works on any other distro (so far) but just can't get it to happen on Knoppix/Debian.

I will triple-check the settings though.

Thanks

Just to clarify. You must regard the router as a separate entity. The router is actually negotiating with the ISP. The router will then connect to the ISP network and you must connect to the router and set the gateway via the router. The first diagnostic is to be able to ping the router. Generally the router uses a web interface for setups etc. In my settings above the connection with the router is via the 10.0.0.0 range via eth1.

My settings are definitely OK as far as I can tell. I can't ping the router at the moment, or any other devices, only localhost when running Knoppix.

Knoppix has the address 192.168.1.16/24 with the default gateway set o 192.168.1.1, which is the router. The router then gets an ip address for the internet facing side from the ISP. Other devices have no problem contacting the router or getting out to the internet. The same PC running SuSe or Slackware is fine also. I even tried Morphix last night and that worked fine as well.

The problem seems to be exclusive to Knoppix.

dmesg shows no errors no startup. lspci shows the NIC. ifconfig settings look fine. Just nothing goes out. Very bizarre....

If you can't ping the router then things are not fine. Check the manual for the router and determine what the configured address is Unless you have manually changed the settings with your M$ connection it should have the default settings set by the manufacturer. If you want to use dhcp then I think the /etc/network/interfaces is;
auto ethX
iface ethX inet dhcp
That should automatically detect the interface with the router.

UPDATE: This problem happens whether I run Knoppix from CD, or from the hard drive.

Wonder if it is worth getting another network card.....

I have just tried my Knoppix CD and connect very easily. Go to "K" (start) -> KNOPPIX ->Network/Internet -> Network car configuration -> select the relevant card . It sets it up with confirmation of status and I connect to the net immediately. To find out the settings go into the /etc/network/interfaces and see how it set it up.