I have been using a 10 MB hub to connect my linux to my pc's for years/ So I want faster connections so I went out and bought a cheap 30 dollar 10/100 switch. Now I can not get my pc or linux to talk to each other. There is no data transfer at all. Any ideas?

I havent rebooted linux yet, but I thought it would work by just plugging it in.

you dont have to reboot the machine, just do a network restart on all the machines.

Still doesnt work-I even re-booted. the light on the switch comes on for a few seconds then blinks off for a few seconds(referring to the light corresponding to the cable connected to my linux). I can use the switch to FTP to my XBOX and another PC, just linux is the problem.

I am using the tulip driver. Is there anything I have to configure?? Like on my pc, I have autosense on my NIC. Is there such a thing for linux?

Sounds like a problem with auto-negotiation of 10 or 100 Mbps. Sometimes if a card and a switch/hub are both set to autosense for 10/100, they can't figure it out. Try setting your switch or NIC to 10 or 100 Mbps and see if that helps.

I actually had it hard set 100Mbs while ftp'ing to my xbox. When linux joins the party the party is over. I tried setting it to autosense and still no go. This is all in the pc. How do I set it in linux?

Take a look at mii-tool if it's available
It should tell you what speed you card is working at and allows you to mess about with it.

You should probably be running at 100baseTx-FD

ifconfig has a media type option aswell but Ive never had to use any of them

well here is the output:
eth 1 is connected to my 10Mb hub. eth0 to ISP.


I tried hard seeting eth1 but it still doesnt work(when connected to the switch). It says "no link".
I also tried -r to restart autonegotiation and both cards went down and I had to power off the box and pull th eplug to get it to work again.

Any other ideas?

eth0: negotiated 100baseTx-FD flow-control, link ok
product info: vendor 00:07:49, model 1 rev 1
basic mode: autonegotiation enabled
basic status: autonegotiation complete, link ok
capabilities: 100baseTx-FD 100baseTx-HD 10baseT-FD 10baseT-HD
advertising: 100baseTx-FD 100baseTx-HD 10baseT-FD 10baseT-HD flow-control
link partner: 100baseTx-FD 100baseTx-HD 10baseT-FD 10baseT-HD flow-control
eth1: no autonegotiation, 10baseT-HD, link ok
product info: vendor 00:07:49, model 1 rev 1
basic mode: autonegotiation enabled
basic status: autonegotiation complete, link ok
capabilities: 100baseTx-FD 100baseTx-HD 10baseT-FD 10baseT-HD
advertising: 100baseTx-FD 100baseTx-HD 10baseT-FD 10baseT-HD flow-control
link partner: 10baseT-HD

64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=3 ttl=128 time=0.343 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=4 ttl=128 time=0.336 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=10 ttl=128 time=0.341 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=11 ttl=128 time=0.345 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=14 ttl=128 time=0.342 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=26 ttl=128 time=0.343 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=33 ttl=128 time=0.338 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=35 ttl=128 time=0.342 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=36 ttl=128 time=0.336 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=48 ttl=128 time=0.341 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=51 ttl=128 time=0.345 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=61 ttl=128 time=0.335 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=66 ttl=128 time=0.339 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=67 ttl=128 time=0.356 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.9: icmp_seq=69 ttl=128 time=0.334 ms


take notice of the icmp_seq. It skips alot of pings..Basically there is no reply.

So it connects but it is intermittent.

--- 192.168.0.9 ping statistics ---
365 packets transmitted, 95 received, 73% loss, time 364135ms

Hi,
I had a very similar problem. Try the following
Switch off the linux machine (not just reboot, the power should be totally off), then turn on, if you have a dual boot system, go first to linux. See whether the connection works. If it works now, your problem could be due to autosense.
Set your network card's speed to 100 mbps full duplex, switch off totally and start once again. It worked for me.

Try not to mix the 10 mbps hub with the 100 mbps switch. In my case I just had to take out the hub from the network (used another switch instead) and forced 100 mbps full duplex