Linux NewB with weird problem ?
 

I have tried for years to get this damn OS working with my system , I upgraded the computer which costed over $300 and when I installed Redhat 9 , I get this "eth0: Operating System Error" looping constantly when first booting into Redhat Linux , what can I do to fix this , I know the card supports Linux because it says that it does so why do I see this never ending looping error , Im willing to try any linux that will succcessfully install , is their a way I can skip the detect network card at start up , this is weird.

you could try putting the network card into another slot, just to see if it is conflicting with other hardware. Also, try any "live cd" distribution like knoppix or slax, it's quicker if you have a spare cdrw lying around.

I doubt that will work , I had a professional install the parts to this computer. The sad part is
that I am expect to pay more money just to get my linux installed from them , I guess I give up.

I tried Knoppix , I want the real thing , Knoppix works fine , what will more
than likely support my computer , is slackware good to use. Help Please :(

Slackware releases are always insanely stable, so if your card is supported by any Linux distros, it's supported by Slack.

However, before you install it, you should know that by using Slackware, you don't have all those gui config tools that you get with distros like Mandrake and RedHat. Many see this as a plus, as they say "When you learn Red Hat, you know Red Hat. When you learn Slackware, you know Linux." or something to that effect, but it often scares the shit out of newbies. I suggest hitting up the alt.os.linux.slackware group. They all went through the same learning curve, and can help you out.

I also hear Debian's good (powerful, but without so bad a first couple weeks as Slack), but I don't know a whole lot about it. (Knoppix is based on Debian)

Also, professionals installing hardware components won't keep you from having a bad PCI slot sometimes.

Well , the sound card was removed , I doubt the slot was bad because im sure they tested it.
I don't even know if Knoppix will work , if Knoppix works on this with the new card , I guess I
will try out debian but if it doesn't , I don't know what I will do. I guess linux is for newer PC's.

Not really. Linux has been around since the 386 (it was Linus's project to teach himself about his new processor), and I believe has even been backported to the 286. The problems are when you try to run programs that have come recently on an old machine. They may run slower or not at all.

Also, have you been running another operating system up until this point? If so, did your network card work then? If it did, then it was a problem with Red Hat, probably supporting your card. If you do get Knoppix working, run lspci and either look up known issues with your card, or print it out here, and we'll work with you.

I appreciate you helping me , I shouldn't really be seeing any problems , I have the following...
I really do hope this information helps you to help me , im about to try Mandrake Linux soon :)


Intel Celeron Processor
ATI All In Wonder Radeon
256 MB SDRAM (Memory)
80 GB Hardrive (Brand New!)

Linksys EtherFast 10/100 PCI Network card. The
model for this card is LNE100TX , Linux Tested!

Note: I am never even able to get to the login prompt , it loads all the stuff
and then shows an error while trying to load the settings for eth0. LateR!

Alright, you've got a card that requires Tulip drivers. Now these can be built into the 2.6 kernels, but I don't know about earlier.

I myself have a Davicom NIC that requires Tulip, so I can tell you for certain that we could get you connected with Slack, if you so desired.

However, using Mandrake should work fine (though I don't really like Mandrake as when I used it, I found myself sitting there not knowing what to do with it), because it uses standard Linux kernels, and if nothing else, we can compile you a 2.6 with Tulip drivers.

So what do you want to do?

(I will say, though, it's very odd that you can't get to a login screen without good drivers. Seems like a bug in RedHat to me. Slack just couldn't connect until I twiddled about in rc.modules)

Im afraid this was the case but its not , I found out that my Processor is 366 MHZ where Redhat
required at least 386 MHZ so that explains why the graphics was unable to load , its not just my
network card , I will try some other time with a newer PC some day with linux again. Thank You!

I have some very good news , my system fully supports linux I found out. The problem was that
I didn't set the X Configuration right so that explains the Monitor shutting off at startup , some
dude at my local computer store is installing it for me , the driver I may need help with later.

Note: I will post the information if you need to compile me a driver later. Thank You!