Here is the error for a quick reference: 3c59x device eth0 does not seem to be present, delaying initialization.

I just did a fresh install of RedHat 9.0 on a box running gnome with the following

-3Com OfficeConnect NIC
-Seagate SATA 80GB
-Biostar M7VIF Mobo
- -Via KT400
- -Promise SATA Controller built in
-512 DDR Crucial
-Athlon 2500+ Barton Core

The Linux install found the 3c95x driver for this NIC. On boot the initialization of the NIC fails. I tested the network connection to find that it is fine on another box and tried switching the PCI slots that the card was in aswell.

Here is what I tried:

Start Here
System Settings
Network (Logged in as root)
New+
Ethernet Connection
Adapter: 3com 3c590/3c...
Device: eth0
IRQ: Unknown (The rest blank)
dhcp
Clicked Activate
Error: 3c59x device eth0 does not seem to be present, delaying initialization.

Once I close the error box, I am left with one object that is still inactive.

The network card LED even blinks sparaticly with network activity.

Note: I have a pretty high noob level when it comes to Linux. this is my first hack at it. Please speak simply for me.

su to root and type lspci -v and post back the results. The output from lsmod and ifconfig would be nice too. It usually helps to determine problem.

Håkan

Output from lspci -v:
00:0b.0
Ethernet Controller 3com Corporation 3csoho100b-tx [910-a01] (rev 31)
Subsystem: 3com Corporation 3csoho100b-tx [910-a01]
flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, irq 11
I/O ports at a000 [size 256]
memory at 30141000 (32bit, non-prefetchable) [size 1k]
Expansion Rom at <unassigned> [disabled] [size 128k]
Capabilities [60] Power management version 2

Output from ifconfig:
Link Encap: Local Loopback
inet address: 127.0.0.1 Mask: 255.0.0.0
Up Loopback Running MTU:16436 Metric: 1
RX Packets: 7656 errors: 0 dropped: 0 overruns: 0 frame: 0
TX Packets: 7656 errors: 0 dropped: 0 overruns: 0 carrier: 0
collisions: 0 txqueuelen: 0
RX bytes: 522335 (510 Kb) TX bytes: 522335 (510 Kb)

Because of the problem with the network connection, I can't get online from the linux box and and forced to use a windows machine... So all of this I had to retype. There may be typos, but I was pretty careful. The lsmod was quite large and didn't have anything that seemed related to the network at all... so I didn't include it. It is just a whole lot to type. If it is very important though, let me know and I will go back and get it. Thanks.

Try using the "vortex" driver instead. If you want the full initialization output, become root (use su in a terminal) and type modprobe vortex. Or perhaps the "tulip" driver would work.

Håkan

"Module Vortex not found"

Keep in mind I am uber noob. Is this something I am going to have to download.

Tulip fails with the same error message as the 3com 59x

I think it's possible the 3c59x and vortex modules have been merged into one, I don't know. But either 3c59x or tulip should be the driver that corresponds to this card.

You could either download and build the Scyld drivers (but that may be a bit too tricky) or simply go out and get yourself a cheap off-the-shelf network card that works well with Linux, like a RealTek 3189-based card (which can be had for less than $10 and just works).

Håkan

Thanks for your help... I'll see if I can get my hands on a real-tech card...

Hopefully I won't have to come back and ask you summore...



Anyone wanna buy the best network card in the world? 3Com office connect... 10 bucks. One hellova deal! j/k