Hi. I'm trying to install this Realtek 8139 NIC with Corel Linux OS on an old computer (90 Mhz, 32 MB ram, 600MB HD - an old Gateway 2000). I'm trying to learn networking, so I'm setting it up to connect with my Debian laptop.

I've got an rtl8139 module installed, and I put "iface eth0 inet dhcp" and "auto eth0" in the /etc/networks file.

Now how do I get the driver to be recognized? With my wireless card, I put a file in /etc describing the wireless card's name, etc.

Do I do that with a wired NIC?

Corel Linux is driving me a little crazy. It won't find the "make" command and won't respond to "ifup" and "ifdown". (I know it probably doesn't have some utils. My learning curve doesn't always know which way the Linux pitch is going to break!)

It's an old system so I thought an old OS would go with it.

Thanks for your help.

William Lynn

Modprobe rtl8139 (or whatever the module name is), assuming the NIC is installed and connected to the mobo. Modprobe loads the driver; it may also probe the device to find out if the driver applies, though I could be mistaken on that point.