I have been having repeated problems with my ethernet card. Here is a quick summary:
1. I installed it MDK 2 times, then installed RedHat (even more problems) and then went back to MDK.
2. I have Windows XP on /dev/hda1 and i installed Mandrake 9.1 on /boot EXT3 100mb partition and a / EXT3 5.5gig partition with a 510mb swap partition.
3. I have a Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC. It gets recognised correctly and the right driver (module: 8139too) gets loaded correctly.
4. Everythign else works perfectly and i thought on that last install that my card got recognised correctly. Only problem was i couldnt actually access any sites getting the error shown below. Anwyays, here is the output from several commands i ran.

[root@d577a31b onenight]# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
213.119.160.0 * 255.255.252.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
127.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
default D577A001.kabel. 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
[root@d577a31b onenight]#

[root@d577a31b onenight]# ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:10:B5:10:A2:95
inet addr:213.119.163.27 Bcast:213.119.163.255 Mask:255.255.252.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:753 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:232 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:61713 (60.2 Kb) TX bytes:24965 (24.3 Kb)
Interrupt:5 Base address:0xa000

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:250 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:250 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:16740 (16.3 Kb) TX bytes:16740 (16.3 Kb)

[root@d577a31b onenight]#

[root@d577a31b onenight]# ping -c 5 linuxquestions.org
PING linuxquestions.org (64.179.4.146) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from linuxquestions.org (64.179.4.146): icmp_seq=1 ttl=49 time=261 ms
64 bytes from linuxquestions.org (64.179.4.146): icmp_seq=2 ttl=49 time=172 ms
64 bytes from linuxquestions.org (64.179.4.146): icmp_seq=3 ttl=49 time=341 ms
64 bytes from linuxquestions.org (64.179.4.146): icmp_seq=4 ttl=49 time=315 ms
64 bytes from linuxquestions.org (64.179.4.146): icmp_seq=5 ttl=49 time=144 ms

--- linuxquestions.org ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4037ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 144.366/246.984/341.566/77.331 ms
[root@d577a31b onenight]# ping -c 5 64.179.4.164
PING 64.179.4.164 (64.179.4.164) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 64.179.4.164: icmp_seq=1 ttl=113 time=123 ms
64 bytes from 64.179.4.164: icmp_seq=2 ttl=113 time=244 ms
64 bytes from 64.179.4.164: icmp_seq=3 ttl=113 time=119 ms
64 bytes from 64.179.4.164: icmp_seq=4 ttl=113 time=118 ms
64 bytes from 64.179.4.164: icmp_seq=5 ttl=113 time=122 ms

--- 64.179.4.164 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4040ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 118.444/145.483/244.232/49.405 ms
[root@d577a31b onenight]#


-And this is the error i get when trying to access sites with Konqueror browser.

An error occured while loading h**p://64.179.4.146:


Timeout on server
Connection was to 64.179.4.146 at port 80

5. So, i thoguht i'd go to #linuxhelp on efnet to see if they could solve this small problem BUT to my dismay now my windows ethernet card setting were messed up! I couldnt connect to the internet all. I checked out control pannel > Network connections > (right click) status and saw a 169.254.xxx.xxx number as my ip. This I knew to be incorrect. So i tried to repair it which didnt work and ten i disabled it and re-activated it. That did the trick and so now i am able to write this
6. Being glad to have solved that little crisis i rebooted back in to MDK to check what kind of ouputs i'd get and this is what i saw:
(Note, eth0:9 is created and note that inet addr:169.254.11.206 --> ip looks same as what i had in winxp)

[root@localhost onenight]# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
169.254.0.0 * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
127.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo

[root@localhost onenight]# ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:10:B5:10:A2:95
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:67 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:17 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:5222 (5.0 Kb) TX bytes:3394 (3.3 Kb)
Interrupt:5 Base address:0xa000

eth0:9 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:10:B5:10:A2:95
inet addr:169.254.11.206 Bcast:169.254.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Interrupt:5 Base address:0xa000

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:62 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:62 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:4148 (4.0 Kb) TX bytes:4148 (4.0 Kb)

[root@localhost onenight]#


IT was all changed! So my guess is that there is something wrong with my dual boot. Or some other kind of conflict which directly affects the ethernet card.

I have tried several things and i have a feeling that this isnt to do with what distro i use or it not being recognised correctly.

Any ideas?

I hope i have been detailed enough in describing my problem. Thx for ur time.

WOW ok. Nice bug, really.
First I don't think that your network card is the problem... you can ping, so I bet the problem is somewhere else. The 169.254.11.206 ip is the "native" ip of your modem cable (you are using a modem cable, right?), you should NEVER see it... it is just like your modem is too dumb to connect himself to your ISP and give you his native (useless and unusable) ip instead. I suggest you to power off/power on the damn thing. It can do the trick.

If not... assuming that you are able to ping... can you try the "ftp" command (in text mode please). If ping work you *should* be able to use high level protocol like ftp/http. try to ftp "ftp.kernel.org" and give me news about all this.


(Oh and Welcome to linuxquestions.org. It is nice to welcome a new one that seems to really want to learn )

Thx for the welcome Half_Elf and the good reply. The fact that you think my bug is nice is making me feel at least a little bit better

Down to business:
I didnt realise that what i was seeing was the native ip of my card. Yeah, its a cable modem. Its just a "LAN or High-Speed" internet connecion as windows likes to describe it.

"power off/power on" I think i have done this before with "ifdown eth0" and "ifup eth0". Or do you mean another method? I have also tried actually pulling the cable out of its socket for a few minutes to try and get it to reset to no avail. I'll try these things again.

I havent tried: ftp "ftp.kernel.org" But i did try just connecting to a website (http) with that k browser tool and just got a "host unreachable" for my troubles.

I'll try these thigns again.

My main concerns are:
1. After a fresh install of MDK i seemed to have eth0 configured correctly but still was unable to connect to anything. (I suppose i'll cross that hurdle when i get to it.)
2. How come my card got messed up on WinXP and when i reset that and got back into MDK, the settings in MDK were changed and had eth0 and eth0:9 loaded (instead of only eth0 - see the first post).

I am still a complete novice when it comes to any sort of linux so bear with me if i dont get it all at once

Thx for any help.

PS: Great site, i'am learning new stuff left, right and centre.

I've have tried some more stuff and made a few more observations. (all of these were made with ifconfig still showing eth0 and eth0:9

1. I tried ifdown eth0 and then ifup eth0. These are the results:

[root@localhost onenight]# ifup eth0
Determining IP information for eth0... done.
/sbin/ifup: line 433: 3862 Hangup /etc/init.d/tmdns reload >/dev/null 2>&1
[root@localhost onenight]#

I have seen that hang up error be: 2117, 2342 and 3699 before also. I dont know what that means.

2. I have also observed somethign strange when MDK is actually loading up and it [ OK ]'s all those modules etc. When it gets to:

Bringing up interface eth0....

It takes quite a long time to go through that. Then it goes on to say:

Retreiving address for eth0:9
Retreiving address for 169.254.x.x

On the next few lines it "probes" the address several times. And lastly it will say:

ZCIP --> claiming ownership of 169.254.x.x

(I copied these down using pen and paper. So these are only 95% accurate, but i think the general idea gets put across.)

3. I've tried disabling Plug & Play in the BIOS (read htat in a post here somewhere) with no luck.

4. I've also tried having my ethernet card UNplugged and configuring my ethernet card with ifdown eth0 and then ifup eth0. It just went through the same process as if nothign was wrong.

5. I've totally shut down my system, resetting RAM and come back to it, with no luck.

6. Lastly, i also went into winxp and copied down the ethernet card settings, these are them:
Subnet Mask: 255.255.252.0
Default Gateway: 213.119.160.1
DHCP server: 195.130.132.99
DNS servers: 195.130.130.4
195.130.130.132

I then tried to fill in the Default gateway and DHCP server in the configuration process but they didnt seem to get put into the settings cos when i ran ifconfig afterwards everything was reset.


Yes, this is all a bit longwinded

My main concern now is that i cant seem to recreate that time when the ethernet card was more or less configured correctly (and in winxp i had to reset it).

I hope someone has more things i can try! Otherwise my Linux experiment will have to wait until i change my ethernet card. Which i'd find a real shame.

Thx.

Originally posted by OneNight



-And this is the error i get when trying to access sites with Konqueror browser.

An error occured while loading h**p://64.179.4.146:


This is generally a sign of an improperly configured card, most likely cause, DHCP communication eror of some type. What does the card connect to? A cable/DSL modem or a router of some sort, if a router are you sure its set up for

1. DHCP server
2. to allow enough connections

Otherwise you might try specifying a valid LAN address for your card yourself and disabeling DHCP just to see if the card is working correctly with the system.


IT was all changed! So my guess is that there is something wrong with my dual boot. Or some other kind of conflict which directly affects the ethernet card.

Most likely DHCP did this for you. Though it should have set the important stuff back correctly when you booted back into windows. You didn't by any chance reset your router while setting this up for any reason, that might undo its normal settings and get you into a pickle like this.

Thx for the reply.

I didnt state this clearly in my description. My apologies. But i am not using a router of any kind, unless that motorola modem is a router. I need the card to surf the net through my cable provider (Telenet, and isp in Belgium, haitchttp://www.telenet.be/producten/internet).

My setup is this:
A Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC which is in my pc and a cable plugged into that card runs to a modem, a Motorola: CyberSURFER Wave Modem (this is the one: haitchttp://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/cybersurfr_home.html).

And from there a broadband cable goes.

I hope this gives you more insights.

My apologies for not stating that clearly to start off with.

Also, how can i go about finding a valid LAN address? Thx.

YES! Sorted it out after doing some more detective work.

All i needed was one magical command in ms-dos prompt. That being:
ipconfig /release

Would you believe it that solution to my problem only took me about 6 hours to find Still, i am not bitter seeing as i have a better feel for linux now and am more used to its structure and layout...

Thx to those who read this and those who tried to help.

glad to see it is working.
btw the equivalent to ipconfig /release in linux is "dhcpcd -k" (or sometime dhclient, on some distro).

Always glad to see when something's working. Better when ya know what ya did to fix it.

When I read the "unplug" advice above I assumed what was meant was power down the modem and restart it. I've had that fix similar problems repeatedly, I think it's a mac number issue. I would assume the modem was contacted by a windows box first, never powered down and then you later rebooted into Linux? Sometimes that works around here, but other random times I get the same as above. Is the modem perhaps talking to a slightly different protocol stack than it's expecting when that happens? i.e. it's intitated with the NIC in "windows" and stays there while you're attempting to get an IP with Linux? Whatever, a simple power cycle of the modem always fixes that flavor of weirdness in my experience. BTW isn't the 169.254... IP a vacuum, nothingness-land, the hardware failed to communicate properly with the DHCP provider? ... again a mac number issue? What's weird to me is I too usually suspect something with the Linux box or card first, even though in over 6 years that's never been the issue with problems like the above, at least not over here....