I just installed Debian 3.0r1 (my first linux box) but my 3COM 3c905-TX ethernet card will not let me get onto the net. When the system boots up, I see eth0 is set as I would expect, "3COM 3c905 Boomerang 100baseTX", and its using IRQ 9. Using "lspci" I get, "00:0D.0 Ethernet Controller" which I assume is ok. In my /etc/modules.conf file, the alias "alias eth0 3c59x" is present. No other ethX references are present. All the above tell me that my NIC is doing something. Now, when I type "lsmod", I dont see the 3c59x.o file displayed. Should I? When I run a "modprobe eth0", I get the following
errors:

Warning: /lib/modules/2.2.20-idepci/net/3c59x.o: Symbol for param debug not found
/lib/modules/2.2.20-idepci/net/3c59x.o: init_module device or resource busy
Hint: insmod error can be caused by incorrect mod parameters, including invalid io or irq
insmod /lib/modules/2.2.20-idepci/net/3c59x.o Failed
insmod eth0 Failed

In desperation, I formatted my HD and reinstalled hoping debian would catch my card. When I got to the "Configure Drivers" screen of the install, I selected 3c59x from the driver list and received the same error as above. It also said that the installation of the driver failed, suprise suprise. So, Im out of ideas. Do I have a bad card? Is there an additional parameter I should set when prompted by the Configure Drivers screen?
I just dont know. Thanks

You aren't going crazy. As far as i can tell from my extensive installations with debian using the full range of 3com cards, the 3c905 is one of the few that the install automagically recognizes and compiles into the kernel. take the next step in the install and try to configure your network. If it works as expected then I am right and support for the card if included in the kernel (not modularized). If it doesn't work, then maybe I'm going crazy with you. Give it a try and let me know, I would appreciate the input. Good luck.

Ah success!! I did as you recommended and moved past the ethernet driver selection to the autoconfig of the DHCP server. Everything was found successfully and I was able to pull updates off of secuity.debian.org.

This hole episode brings up some questions. Part of the problem I may have had is that my connection may not have been active during the first install process. If this is the case, and assuming that the card was installed correctly from the beginning, how would I have gone about turning the ethernet card on? I am assuming that there are some parameters in some files that would have fixed the problem as well.

Second, is there a way to see what drivers have been complied into the kernel before I ever get my little fingers on it (either in doc's or live on the PC)?

Thanks for your help.