I have just installed Gentoo Linux on one of my computers. I've been trying to get KDE on it, but I haven't been able to because it won't connect to the internet. When I start up the computer, I get this error:

Starting eth0
Bringing up eth0
Configuration not set for eth0 - assuming dhcp
dhcp
eth0 does not exist
ERROR: Problem starting needed services.
"netmount" was not started.

Does anybody know what could be wrong? And yes, this is my first time to ever do anything with Linux.

The drivers for your Network card are either:

- Not installed
- Failed at start up
- Not configured correctly.

If you include the Make/Model/version of your network card we can start helping from there.

In linux device names are assigned to hardware devices. In this case: eth0 corresponds to an ethernet card.

In a terminal (console) type the following and paste the result along with your card information:Oh, and as a second opinion. Although some people may say that Gentoo is 'newbie friendly' my personal opinion is that you already need some background to play with it.

I would highly recommend starting with a different distribution and then, play with Gentoo.

I like Gentoo, I've installed and used Gentoo, I like the concept, I think that you can learn a lot. I just think that you can get the most of Gentoo after you have used another distribution.

Why?

- Well, Some parts of the installation steps just say 'Include the required drivers' (For example, network card drivers). If you haven't installed another distribution, you may note even know that you need a driver. This is not a criticism of the installation documents, they are awsome, just the nature of the problem.

- During the Gentoo installation you have many options and that's great. Except that you need to know what the options are before deciding.

- The most talked about advantage of Gentoo is the ability to optimize to your own needs. Well, you need to know what you are doing to take full advantage of this 'feature', If you just do a level three and don't play with the optimizations, then Why do you want Gentoo? (Actually the install documentation asks this same question)

- As a 'first experience' new users may get the idea that installing linux is always very labour intensive. Well, Some distributions are as easy as popping in a CD, configuring two or three things and you are on your way in 15 minutes. (For example, puppy linux)

So, I see that you've come a long way installing Gentoo. Congratulations! It's been fun eh?
So, send us that info about your card and we'll help you the next mile.

When I type in "dmesg | grep eth0", all it does is go to a new line like nothing happened. Maybe I have a few other problems.

That's what I was expecting. I just wanted to confirm that your network card was not being identified.

Please post the details about your network card.

Does "lspci -v" give any output about a network device?

No, it doesn't do anything.

I have a Linksys Etherfast LNE100TX.

Did you manually compile your kernel, or use genkernel?

If genkernel, try "modprobe tulip". I think most linksys pci cards use that driver. Then "ifconfig" to see if your eth0 shows up.

If manually compiled kernel, check your sources to be sure you enabled the correct driver (again, I think it's tulip). If it's not enabled, enable it (I suggest as built-in rather than as a module) then recompile and recopy your image to the proper files in /boot.

You may want to search around and make sure tulip is the right driver before going to the trouble of recompiling. Don't want to waste your time.

Yup, tulip is the driver.

This thread may help.

According to that link, you may want ignore my advice about making the driver built-in. You will then have to make sure to add the driver to the right file (can't remember the name all of a sudden, aargh! /etc/modules.autoload.d or something) so that it gets loaded at boot.

Detailed instructions are in section 7.e of the Gentoo Linux x86 Handbook. "Installing Separate Kernel Modules"

I manually compiled my kernel. So I went through menuconfig and tried to enable the drivers through there, that didn't work. I also followed instructions on the "Installing Seperate Modules" and the only modules I found in the net folder were s2io.ko and dummy.ko, neither of those seemed to do anything.

I guess you skipped reading the posts and links we've sent. So here is in bold

You have to install the tulip driver !

If you have an internet connection in this computer, just use portage to install the tulip driver, If you don't, you will have to get the driver from another computer and then install it manually.

Now you see why I don't recommend Gentoo for people new to linux? As a new user you will have to read twice as much. So, please read every link and try to understand what each command does (man <command>). Don't just follow the installation document.

No, you DO NOT have to install the tulip driver. This driver is included in the kernel sources.

1) After enabling the driver in the kernel did you copy over the bzImage and System.map files to the proper files in /boot? And then REBOOT to initalize the new kernel?

2) After rereading this, do you mean to say that the command gave no output at all! If this is the case, try running the command as root (if you haven't already). If there no output whatsoever, I'd say you have a serious problem and may have to try to reinstall from scratch. lspci command reads all your pci devices (including onboard) and it is very rare that a modern computer would have none at all.

Gentoo is a good learning tool, and a solid linux distro, but I've found that getting it installed correctly the first time is next to impossible.

Just my opinion.

Good luck.

The Tulip drivers are on there, I saw them and enabled them. I have been thoroughly reading the posts, and you have said nothing about installing the Tulip driver, all that has been posted is to enable it. Thank you for pointing that out to me now. I may be new to Linux, but I am not one to skip through instructions.

As for lspci -v, it says "lspci: command not found"; that might be a bad thing?

I may just try to start over with a different distro.

When switching to root, use That will set the path variables to include sbin