I am beginning to frrl stupid. I am new to linux, and can't figure out how to get this dumb nic's drivers installed.

I am running Mandrake 7.0 and have the Netgear FA311 NIC. Please help and soon.

Go to netgear.com
download the linux driver
copy it to a directory on the linux station
make sure all files are in lower case
and type make fa311
then insmod fa311

Then you must copy that object file (fa311.o)
to, in redhat case /lib/modules/2.4.2/kernel/drivers/net
then cd to /lib/modules/2.4.2
type depmod -a

then goto /etc/modules.conf
and notice the other drivers
and add fa311.o in the same fashion

hmm that should do it.

Hi
These cards can be tricky! A search on these boards will show you how tricky. However if you have kernel 2.4. it's supported, recompile with the natsemi dp83810 driver, and it will work.
Jim

Ok, I am must be a Real Idiot.
How do you find out which version of the kernal you are running??
I am running 2.2.14-15mdk I think???? (I don't really know though)
Will I need to replace my Kernal or can I make this work with this card???

There might be something helpful in this thread from a few days ago.

For some information on your kernel do a

Often this information is also put in /etc/issue or one of the first entries in your logs during boot-up

OK, I have done
Insmod tulip
I then when in and set up the network configuration in drakconfg, and rebooted my system. Now on Boot, the eth0 is failing during the innilization.
I am looking at my switch, and there is a liink there, but the card is not getting any act, and is not showing up as really connected. I tried for shits and giggles to get to the web, and as I expected, I was not able to get out. I know that something has been done incorrctly, but I have gone back over this many times, and it all looks correct. I am missing somthig.
Is there any classification LOWER than NEWBIE, or do I need to make one up??
In a Win OS, I have no problems configuring the TCP/IP settings, but in Mandrake, I am beating my head on the wall. They say that learning can be hard, but so far, the hardest thing is the wall I keep beating my head on. Can anyone help?? I don't know.

Just a couple more steps.
Type linuxconf in a root terminal.
Can't remember the exact line you need (am in windozeland at work), but it's something like "this host basic information".
Enter ip address, netmask, hostname etc, or select dhcp.
On the interface tab where you enter ip stuff there will be a drop down box for eth0 etc. you need eth0. The tab below should be the one for the kernel module, select the one you need. If yours isn't there, TYPE IT IN!
Click activate changes, and off you (should) go.
I couldn't get my fa311 going at first, may be a redhat thing though. It's definitely supported in later kernels though.
Keep at it.
Jim

Have you turned off Plug-N-Play support in your BIOS yet? If not, try it; it can cause conflicts with PCI cards running under Linux.

I have turned off the BIOS Plung N' Pray, and I have already tried to set the Network settings (ie ip, subnet, ect....) and tried DHCP (my cable router does this) but I still am getting the eth0 inilization in the bootup process. Is there anything else I am missing here.

By the way. I really want to say Thanks to everyone who is assisting me with this problem. Getting there slowly but surly.

You want to use as this will load any modules that tulip.o depends on for correct operation, insmod doesn't do this for you.
Has anyone explained that commands like insmod and modprobe will only work until you reboot?? If you want to make this happen at boot time you'll need to find the script that loads your modules and put the line in there (sorry can't help on this one, I'm not a Mandrake user!), or find the graphical tool that will do it for you. To find out if the module is getting loaded at boot time run from the command prompt after a reboot - this will list all the modules that are loaded - you should see tulip listed there. If you are using DHCP then you can always just try running from the command line (after loading the tulip module!) to see if you get a lease from your DHCP server. If you do then you know your setup is fine - you just need it to active itself at startup.

HTH

Jamie...

Thanks for that last reply, but I am getting an error stating something about and invalid irq peramiter. can that be set using the modprobe tulip command?

Ok, Maybe this will help.

When I am in the Konsol, and I type
cat /proc/pci
the system comes back and states that it sees my NIC at
irq 9 I/O port 0xe00 [0xe001]
but that the NIC is
Bus 0, device 16 function 0
Ethernet controller: NS Unknown Device (rev 0.)

The long and the short of this is that it is seeing my NIC, but no matter what I do to install the module, I can't get it to go. I have no modem in this system, no sound, just 3 hdd's, a fdd, a cd-rom, video card, and the nic. What am I doing wrong???

IRQ conflicts will cause you lotsa hassle, you might want to try to get a config tool for your NIC (nearly always need to boot to DOS to run them ) and hard set your IRQ to a value that you know isn't conflicting with anything. You can't use the module itself to change the IRQ... Also instead of cat'ing /proc/pci using the lspci command can tell you more in some cirumstances (probably not this one mind you!) as it will show PCI devices that are not being detected by the kernel.

HTH

Jamie...