I am having problems starting netatalk on my RedHat 7.2 system. When I start atalkd i get the message
eth0: disabled
atalkd: zero interfaces, exiting


If I 'force' it to use eth0 (my interface) by explicitly setting this in atalkd.conf (something I think should not be necessary according to the doc) I get the same result.

I have tried several versions of netatalk - all give the same result.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Does eth0 actually work?
Can you ping a remote station using it?
Do you have appletalk loaded?

Hi Jon
Thanks for your reply.

eth0 seems to work fine - I can ping, ifconfig seems to give the correct output etc.

I have subsequently installed RedHat7.2 and netatalk 1.3.5 without problems on another PC.
I therefore suspect the hardware on my origional PC (A laptop with Xircom Cardbus Etherenet 10/100 +Modem56 card). I have even tried building and installing updated drivers (netdrivers 3.1) but am really just stumbling around in the dark

Thanks in advance for any more help you can give me.

Ok, is appletalk loaded?

dmesg | grep -i apple

I've had problems in the past with certain ethernet cards + hubs/switches where when I attempted to load atalkd, the protocol would stall. Changing to a different port fixed this. But, even then I never received a message saying "zero interfaces, exiting."

When you type ifconfig, do you just have lo0 and eth0? Are there any errors on eth0?

Hi Jon-
Thanks for your prompt reply.

dmesg tells me I have AppleTalk 'installed',
ifconfig gives me lo0 and eth0, both without errors
See below for details.




dmesg gives me


Linux version 2.4.7-10 (bhcompile@stripples.devel.redhat.com) (gcc version 2.96 20000731 (Red Hat Linux 7.1 2.96-98)) #1 Thu Sep 6 17:27:27 EDT 2001
BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
BIOS-e820: 0000000000000000 - 000000000009fc00 (usable)
BIOS-e820: 000000000009fc00 - 00000000000a0000 (reserved)
BIOS-e820: 00000000000e9c00 - 0000000000100000 (reserved)
BIOS-e820: 0000000000100000 - 0000000007fe0000 (usable)
BIOS-e820: 0000000007fe0000 - 0000000007fefc00 (ACPI data)
BIOS-e820: 0000000007fefc00 - 0000000007ff0000 (ACPI NVS)
BIOS-e820: 0000000007ff0000 - 0000000007ff1000 (reserved)
BIOS-e820: 0000000007ff1000 - 0000000008000000 (usable)
BIOS-e820: 00000000fff00000 - 0000000100000000 (reserved)
Scanning bios EBDA for MXT signature
On node 0 totalpages: 32768
zone(0): 4096 pages.
zone(1): 28672 pages.
zone(2): 0 pages.
Kernel command line: initrd=initrd.img root=/dev/hda3 BOOT_IMAGE=vmlinuz auto
Initializing CPU#0
Detected 698.145 MHz processor.
Console: colour VGA+ 80x25
Calibrating delay loop... 1392.64 BogoMIPS
Memory: 125192k/131072k available (1269k kernel code, 4524k reserved, 90k data, 220k init, 0k highmem)
Dentry-cache hash table entries: 16384 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
Inode-cache hash table entries: 8192 (order: 4, 65536 bytes)
Mount-cache hash table entries: 2048 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
Buffer-cache hash table entries: 8192 (order: 3, 32768 bytes)
Page-cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 6, 262144 bytes)
CPU: Before vendor init, caps: 0383f9ff 00000000 00000000, vendor = 0
CPU: L1 I cache: 16K, L1 D cache: 16K
CPU: L2 cache: 256K
Intel machine check architecture supported.
Intel machine check reporting enabled on CPU#0.
CPU: After vendor init, caps: 0383f9ff 00000000 00000000 00000000
CPU: After generic, caps: 0383f9ff 00000000 00000000 00000000
CPU: Common caps: 0383f9ff 00000000 00000000 00000000
CPU: Intel Pentium III (Coppermine) stepping 06
Enabling fast FPU save and restore... done.
Enabling unmasked SIMD FPU exception support... done.
Checking 'hlt' instruction... OK.
POSIX conformance testing by UNIFIX
mtrr: v1.40 (20010327) Richard Gooch (rgooch@atnf.csiro.au)
mtrr: detected mtrr type: Intel
PCI: PCI BIOS revision 2.10 entry at 0xfd9ae, last bus=3
PCI: Using configuration type 1
PCI: Probing PCI hardware
Unknown bridge resource 2: assuming transparent
PCI: Using IRQ router PIIX [8086/7110] at 00:07.0
Limiting direct PCI/PCI transfers.
isapnp: Scanning for PnP cards...
isapnp: No Plug & Play device found
Linux NET4.0 for Linux 2.4
Based upon Swansea University Computer Society NET3.039
Initializing RT netlink socket
apm: BIOS version 1.2 Flags 0x03 (Driver version 1.14)
mxt_scan_bios: enter
Starting kswapd v1.8
VFS: Diskquotas version dquot_6.5.0 initialized
pty: 2048 Unix98 ptys configured
Serial driver version 5.05c (2001-07-08) with MANY_PORTS MULTIPORT SHARE_IRQ SERIAL_PCI ISAPNP enabled
ttyS00 at 0x03f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
ttyS03 at 0x02e8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A
Real Time Clock Driver v1.10d
block: queued sectors max/low 83082kB/27694kB, 256 slots per queue
RAMDISK driver initialized: 16 RAM disks of 4096K size 1024 blocksize
Uniform Multi-Platform E-IDE driver Revision: 6.31
ide: Assuming 33MHz PCI bus speed for PIO modes; override with idebus=xx
PIIX4: IDE controller on PCI bus 00 dev 39
PIIX4: chipset revision 1
PIIX4: not 100% native mode: will probe irqs later
ide0: BM-DMA at 0x1820-0x1827, BIOS settings: hdaMA, hdbio
ide1: BM-DMA at 0x1828-0x182f, BIOS settings: hdcMA, hddio
hda: HITACHI_DK23BA-20, ATA DISK drive
hdc: CD-224E, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive
ide0 at 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6 on irq 14
ide1 at 0x170-0x177,0x376 on irq 15
hda: 39070080 sectors (20004 MB) w/2048KiB Cache, CHS=2584/240/63, UDMA(33)
ide-floppy driver 0.97
Partition check:
hda: hda1 hda2 hda3 hda4 < hda5 >
Floppy drive(s): fd0 is 1.44M
FDC 0 is a post-1991 82077
ide-floppy driver 0.97
md: md driver 0.90.0 MAX_MD_DEVS=256, MD_SB_DISKS=27
md: Autodetecting RAID arrays.
md: autorun ...
md: ... autorun DONE.
NET4: Linux TCP/IP 1.0 for NET4.0
IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP, IGMP
IP: routing cache hash table of 1024 buckets, 8Kbytes
TCP: Hash tables configured (established 8192 bind 8192)
Linux IP multicast router 0.06 plus PIM-SM
NET4: Unix domain sockets 1.0/SMP for Linux NET4.0.
RAMDISK: Compressed image found at block 0
Freeing initrd memory: 323k freed
VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem).
Journalled Block Device driver loaded
kjournald starting. Commit interval 5 seconds
EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.
Freeing unused kernel memory: 220k freed
Adding Swap: 257000k swap-space (priority -1)
usb.c: registered new driver usbdevfs
usb.c: registered new driver hub
usb-uhci.c: $Revision: 1.259 $ time 17:36:49 Sep 6 2001
usb-uhci.c: High bandwidth mode enabled
PCI: Found IRQ 9 for device 00:07.2
usb-uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0x1800, IRQ 9
usb-uhci.c: Detected 2 ports
usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 2 ports detected
usb-uhci.c: v1.251:USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver
EXT3 FS 2.4-0.9.8, 25 Aug 2001 on ide0(3,3), internal journal
kjournald starting. Commit interval 5 seconds
EXT3 FS 2.4-0.9.8, 25 Aug 2001 on ide0(3,2), internal journal
EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.
parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [PCSPP,TRISTATE,EPP]
parport0: cpp_daisy: aa5500ff(38)
parport0: assign_addrs: aa5500ff(38)
parport0: cpp_daisy: aa5500ff(38)
parport0: assign_addrs: aa5500ff(38)
Linux Kernel Card Services 3.1.22
options: [pci] [cardbus] [pm]
PCI: Found IRQ 9 for device 00:0f.0
PCI: Found IRQ 9 for device 00:0f.1
PCI: Sharing IRQ 9 with 00:0d.0
spurious 8259A interrupt: IRQ7.
Yenta IRQ list 0cb8, PCI irq9
Socket status: 30000820
Yenta IRQ list 0cb8, PCI irq9
Socket status: 30000006
cs: cb_alloc(bus 2): vendor 0x115d, device 0x0003
PCI: Enabling device 02:00.0 (0000 -> 0003)
PCI: Enabling device 02:00.1 (0000 -> 0003)
ttyS04 at port 0x1c80 (irq = 9) is a 16550A
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 02:00.0 to 64
cs: IO port probe 0x0c00-0x0cff: clean.
cs: IO port probe 0x0100-0x04ff: excluding 0x118-0x11f 0x378-0x37f 0x4d0-0x4d7
cs: IO port probe 0x0a00-0x0aff: clean.
eth0: Xircom cardbus revision 3 at irq 9
xircom cardbus adaptor found, registering as eth0, using irq 9
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 10 mbit
PCI: Found IRQ 9 for device 00:0d.0
PCI: Sharing IRQ 9 with 00:0f.1
maestro: Configuring ESS Maestro 2E found at IO 0x1000 IRQ 9
maestro: subvendor id: 0x105310cf
maestro: not attempting power management.
maestro: AC97 Codec detected: v: 0x83847609 caps: 0x6940 pwr: 0xf
maestro: 1 channels configured.
maestro: version 0.15 time 17:36:52 Sep 6 2001
ide-floppy driver 0.97
hdc: ATAPI 24X CD-ROM drive, 128kB Cache, UDMA(33)
Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.12
cdrom: This disc doesn't have any tracks I recognize!
NET4: AppleTalk 0.18a for Linux NET4.0
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 0 mbit
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 0 mbit
tty04 unloaded
cs: cb_free(bus 2)
cs: cb_alloc(bus 2): vendor 0x115d, device 0x0003
PCI: Enabling device 02:00.0 (0000 -> 0003)
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 02:00.0 to 64
eth0: Xircom cardbus revision 3 at irq 9
PCI: Enabling device 02:00.1 (0000 -> 0003)
ttyS04 at port 0x1c80 (irq = 9) is a 16550A
xircom cardbus adaptor found, registering as eth0, using irq 9
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 10 mbit
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 0 mbit
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 0 mbit
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 0 mbit
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 0 mbit
tty04 unloaded
cs: cb_free(bus 2)
cs: socket c64e8800 voltage interrogation timed out
cs: socket c64e8800 voltage interrogation timed out
unloading Kernel Card Services
Linux Kernel Card Services 3.1.22
options: [pci] [cardbus] [pm]
PCI: Found IRQ 9 for device 00:0f.0
PCI: Found IRQ 9 for device 00:0f.1
PCI: Sharing IRQ 9 with 00:0d.0
Yenta IRQ list 04b8, PCI irq9
Socket status: 30000820
Yenta IRQ list 0cb8, PCI irq9
Socket status: 30000006
cs: cb_alloc(bus 2): vendor 0x115d, device 0x0003
PCI: Enabling device 02:00.0 (0000 -> 0003)
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 02:00.0 to 64
eth0: Xircom cardbus revision 3 at irq 9
PCI: Enabling device 02:00.1 (0000 -> 0003)
ttyS04 at port 0x1c80 (irq = 9) is a 16550A
cs: IO port probe 0x0c00-0x0cff: clean.
cs: IO port probe 0x0100-0x04ff: excluding 0x118-0x11f 0x378-0x37f 0x4d0-0x4d7
cs: IO port probe 0x0a00-0x0aff: clean.
xircom cardbus adaptor found, registering as eth0, using irq 9
xircom_cb: Link status has changed
xircom_cb: Link is 10 mbit



ifconfig gives me

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:10:A4:A2:0F:3E
inet addr:192.168.1.1 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:5298 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1120 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0
RX bytes:1326612 (1.2 Mb) TX bytes:131982 (128.8 Kb)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0
RX bytes:1854 (1.8 Kb) TX bytes:1854 (1.8 Kb)

Hmm... well, this looks pretty good. Maybe netatalk just doesn't like your network card driver.

You could try either compiling a newer version of netatalk, and/or trying a different network device. Heck, if you're really desperate you could also try upgrading RH to 7.3. I've been using it for a little while now and it seems fairly stable.

Hi Jon-,
I have tried a different ethernet card and now get a little further.
Netatalk runs, I can set it up for guest access which my client recognizes (the client software asks if I want to access the server as Guest) but any access gives me an 'AppleTalk Protocol Error' from my client.
The first card which didn't work at all with netatalk is a Xircom Realport CardBus Ethernet 10/100+ Modem 56 and the semi working one is a Xircom CreditCard EtherEthernet 10/100+ Modem 56.
I would quite happily go out and buy one (these I have borrowed!) but it all seems a bit risky especially since Xircom seem to be quite reputable.

By the way, this was all on RedHat 7.0, 7.2 and 7.3.

I meant I would happily go out and buy a different make (3com, D-Link etc.) - NOT a Xircom!

Well, you said you were able to get this all working using a regular PC. So, it looks like whatever you're doing should work.

As for a brand, I guess you could try 3com. I know their regular PC stuff works fine with netatalk. Just make sure you buy from a place locally that accepts returns of opened equipment

Just out of curiousity, what kind of laptop are you using?

Siemens Fujitsu Lifebook.