i am unable to configure my eth0 card in fedora core 1. i am not able to activate my card at all. it fails to determine the ip address of eth0 both while booting and in network setup. i tried installing the module rtl8139 using modprobe command. but i get a error message saying the module cannot be found. is there a specific path from which i should install the module? i viewed the modules using modprobe command and found out that only 8139too is installed and nothing else. can someone please help me? i am kinda new to linux....

no, there's no particular path from which to install modules. you do need to be root, however, so try that if you have been doing it as user.

rtl8139 sounds like a pretty common chipset, but it's possible that it's not built into the kernel. if not, you'll have to recompile it to include the module.

lsmod is what lists the modules you have loaded, so look at that for anything with 8139. the one you listed sounds like it might be it, but maybe it's only one that's close, which often might as well be something totally different. if there is something in lsmod that looks like it, tell us what information you get from the ifconfig command.

The 8139too is definately the correct module. It can depend on others, though. Most likely, fedora has all this correctly setup and no need for further config.
But I fail to see how fedora didn't load the module by default when booting. The problem must lie somewhere else.

couple of points here... I know they are obvious... if you use a cable modem that has been connecting to another box or distro, restart it... for a new ip. I have to do this when switching between laptop and desktop.

Other one is what you get as output from ifconfig.

Regards
Richard