inconsistent driver (d-link dfe-530tx)

[mr orion77]

i just got a new modem/router and a ethernet card (d-link dfe-530tx) and im having some inconsistancy installing the rhine driver amongst distros. it sets up and works rather fast in mandrake but debian woody 3.0 wont even allow me to install the module at boot. it reports installation failed and tells me it cannot find the device, ive also tried this post-installation.

can anybody suggest a solution

[mrBen]

What's the rhine driver for? AFAIK the d-link card works with the realtek 8139 chipset driver (at least, mine does)

[mr orion77]

its for the d-link ethernet card, i tried it with suse and drake and both state the via-rhine driver in the configuration but it wont install on debian.

[mrBen]

Ah. I stand corrected. I double checked at http://support.dlink.com/faq/view.asp?prod_id=487&question=General%20Linux and I think mine is the 530TX+, rather than 530TX

:rolleyes:

Check what Debian gives in response to an lspci

[mr orion77]

i just donwloaded arch linux on my win box so im gonna ditch debian and give that a try anyways. ive wanted to try it for a while so theres no better time like the present

[bwkaz]

You might also try posting the exact error that you get, if it fails with Arch also. That will help us troubleshoot. ;)

If you get an error that implies that you don't have the right hardware, you might try disabling PnP OS in your BIOS. It is possible that some distros' kernels work with PnP OS on (so that the kernel must initialize almost everything), and other distros' kernels do not (they require the BIOS to initialize everything).

[mr orion77]

i did enable that actually, since i was under the impression it would be important for the card lol.
thanx guys

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by mr orion77
i did enable that actually, since i was under the impression it would be important for the card lol.


Linux always prefers to have PnP OS in the system bios disabled while Windows doesn't care one way or the other.

[mr orion77]

it was disabled the first time round and i have just enabled it on the second go. still no change.
it looks like i may have to compile the source code myself to make the driver and thats a whole new world for me :)

this is the message i receive:
/lib/modules/2.4.18/kernel/drivers/net via-rhine.o: init-module: no such device

i wonder if there are any parameters i must need to enter.

[mdwatts]

Are you quite sure it's the 530tx and not the 530tx+ that uses the realtek 8139?

It wouldn't hurt to at least try

/sbin/modprobe 8139too

or

/sbin/modprobe rtl8139

[mr orion77]

its worth a try. i'll get back 2 ya.

[mr orion77]

nooooooo, its not even listed, whats the actual name of the driver?

im gonna go to kernel 2.6 anyway, you reckon i just do that straight away? that might provide a solution

[JohnT]

If I remember correctly I came across that card recently. it was brought to my attention because of the price......free. They were about $8.00 ea with a $8.00 rebate, so I got a couple. Could get niether to be recognized by Slack or Win XP....Windows wouldn't even load the drivers that were included. You get what ya pay for. BTW I do use realtek 8139, so that was covered on the first mod loadup. If you find a solution I'd like to know. I didn't feel like spending several hours trying.

[mr orion77]

lol, i should have ruddy known. i bought it from amazon and a reviewer said it had linux drivrrs with it but failed to mention one has to compile the source code (wouldnt mind bit i have never done this). i paid 10 pounds for it so its not a huge annoyance (the price of a four beers or a night at the cinema) it works with my win2k setup though but the connection is inconsistent as it dosent always connect. ah well, who said computers were fun????

oh and it works with suse 8.2 and mandrake 9.1 so it should work really.

[JohnT]

Try using the 8139+ driver.

Edit : Ok its the 8139cp, which I believe is the enhanced version. Might have to recompile the kernel to get it to work though. Modprobe returns that it doesn't exist.....let me play with it a bit.

OK...got it to work ...had to change IRQ's.
:D
PCI cards can share interrupts, but certain types of high bandwidth cards simply don't like to share, including network and sound cards. To find out whether you have a conflict, do a "cat /proc/interrupts".

[mr orion77]

dont remember seeing that in the module list, mdwatts suggested that but it wasnt listed.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by mr orion77
dont remember seeing that in the module list, mdwatts suggested that but it wasnt listed. Look in your /etc/rc.d/rc.modules file and find the lines:
# RealTek 8139C+ enhanced support:
#/sbin/modprobe 8139cp

Uncomment /sbin/modprobe 8139cp and restart.

[mr orion77]

got it recognised by debian with the pppoE system tool. now it gives me an error with the following:

access concentrator of provider did not respond.
check network and modem cable, scan failure may be due to another pppoE process that controls the modem.

i havent a clue here, anyone have a solution?

[bwkaz]

Are you using DSL?

If not, PPPoE isn't the right thing to be using...

[Syngin]

Its already been mentioned but I just wanted to add my support for the rtl8139 driver (or is it rlt? i forget) I've set up numerous Debian boxes with that nic and driver with no problems. (Might be a newer version of the driver available thouigh, I seem to recall ppl mentioning 8139too or something like that but I've always just stuck with what I know works)

[mr orion77]

its ADSL (known as broadband in the uk, my isp uses pppoA) actually but im using an ethernet card.

whats the configs then guys? or is it time to get googling.

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by mr orion77

whats the configs then guys? or is it time to get googling.

G4L or searching the JL forums for 'pppoa' should find lots of info including the config.

It doesn't hurt to try that first and then post back if you are still having problems.

[mr orion77]

hooorah im replying in my debian installation. i installed a tool called etherconf on the debain install disk and it was a case of yes/no and bobs your uncle.

thanx for all your help guys and especially johnT, now i have to solve the erratic connection problem.

[JohnT]

Bob's your uncle..LOL......your welcome. Its such a relief when you finally connect...isn't it.