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Having trouble installing a piece of hardware? Want to know if that peripheral is compatible with Linux?
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As I start my computer and boot into debian sid linux, the lights on the lan device connector turn on and the internet connectivity is there right from beginning. But today, I found that it was turned off (the lights on the connecter was off) and ping command gave output: "destination net unreachable". I tried rebooting to the arch linux installed on the same computer but there also it remained off. I rebooted into windows and it reported that the realtek ethernet controller was disabled. I enabled it and subsequently the network got connected and worked properly in linux also.
What would have happened and how could I have corrected the problem in linux itself? Thanks for your help.
What would have happened and how could I have corrected the problem in linux itself?
Since the adapter seems to have failed in both OS's, I would bet the problem was hardware related, and not some configuration problem. Things to look at, the ethernet cable is a good place to start. Then the ports on the switch ( router ) or modem it plugs into. Possibly the system itself, although since you didn't mention going into the BIOS to see if the hardware was still there; this is a long shot. Power outages can do some strange things also.
The command to activate an adapter is 'ifconfig'. To activated a deactivated adapter, as root, 'ifconfig eth0 up' would activate the interface called 'eth0'. ifconfig by itself will list all configred interfaces, and display their names.
Thanks for your comments. I know about ifconfig command, have used it earlier and should have tried it at that time. If I remember correctly, the ifconfig eth0 down command does not lead to LED lights being switched off at the lan connector. I will try it again tomorrow and let you know.
When I disable from network in windows, the lights on the connector go out. This would be a sure sign that the network is fully disconnected. Can I accompalish this on linux?
Is this a laptop? If the light goes out, I believe the adapter is powered down. Can you do it in linux? Don't see why not. It would have to be done with ACPI ( Advanced Configuration and Power Interface). I have little experience with it. Some of it is the BIOS on the system, the rest is software in the OS to interface with the BIOS to control the hardware.
The network was working all right all these days. Today, suddenly it stopped working and the LED lights at connector went off. Now the network is not working in any linux install (including live-usb) but works perfectly in windows. I have tried it repeatedly. As soon as linux boots, before the login prompt, the network connector lights go off.
How can I solve this problem? Thanks for your help.
You have the driver r8169.ko loaded. Run the command 'ifconfig eth1 up' and then 'ifconfig eth1' and post the results for both.
I had tried 'ifconfig eth1 up' but it did not work. I do not remember the exact output but it was as if eth1 was not there or not ready or not setup or not found. I will post the exact output tomorrow.
You might have a look at that, you may have a situation where the adapter was originally named eth0, now its eth1. What ever config you had for eth0 isn't being used for eth1. Try and config eth1, then give it a try.
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