right then, tried that and it seems to me i may have something missing, here is the output from the commands you posted...
[root@localhost steve]# ifup eth0
Determining IP information for eth0...SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
dhclient eth0
q
[root@localhost steve]# dhclient eth0
Internet Software Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.1rc13
Copyright 1995-2002 Internet Software Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit
http://www.isc.org/products/DHCP
sit0: unknown hardware address type 776
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
sit0: unknown hardware address type 776
Listening on LPF/eth0/00:0d:87:03:dd:2f
Sending on LPF/eth0/00:0d:87:03:dd:2f
Sending on Socket/fallback
receive_packet failed on eth0: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 10
send_packet: Network is down
[root@localhost steve]# pump -i eth0
bash: pump: command not found
[root@localhost steve]# dhcpcd
bash: dhcpcd: command not found
[root@localhost steve]# ifconfig eth0 10.0.0.5
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]#
[root@localhost steve]# ifup eth0
Determining IP information for eth0...SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
[root@localhost steve]# dhclient eth0
Internet Software Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.1rc13
Copyright 1995-2002 Internet Software Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit
http://www.isc.org/products/DHCP
sit0: unknown hardware address type 776
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
sit0: unknown hardware address type 776
Listening on LPF/eth0/00:0d:87:03:dd:2f
Sending on LPF/eth0/00:0d:87:03:dd:2f
Sending on Socket/fallback
receive_packet failed on eth0: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 10
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 21
send_packet: Network is down
[root@localhost steve]# pump -i eth0
bash: pump: command not found
[root@localhost steve]# dhcpcd
bash: dhcpcd: command not found
[root@localhost steve]# ifconfig eth0 10.0.0.4
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Function not implemented
[root@localhost steve]#
i agree the lan isnt up and the dhcp isnt getting through, but is this something to do with missing packages? last night i spent a couple of hours trying out slack (i have a couple of old hard disks i plug in to try out new distros) and that had no problems understanding my router or lan settings, mandrake is so much easier to install but for this prob i have at the end. anyway do you think i may have missed something out on install?
p.s. cheers for your much valued help