Debian + Realtek + NetInstall

[saidin]

I am trying to do a netinstall of debian. I boot off the image found on debian.org, and go through the initial boot sequence. I let the debian installer try and find and setup my network, but it is unsuccessful....break into cmd line. I try to set up the network manually. I modprobe 8139too and lsmod, and I see it. I then do a ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1 for the loopback and then I do a ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.104 (using a router) and then do a ifconfig and it lists the eth0 with an ip address and the lo info. I try and ping my router and it is a no go. i then 'if' down everything and try doing it a couple of different ways, with pump, and not assigning a specific ip address, etc etc. I cannot ping anything!

So, after all this I try and see if I can get the iso for woody3r1 working. And even with this I cannot get the network drivers to work.
The network card is an on board realtek card, for my soyo dragon plus kt333/
What am I doing wrong!

[DMR]

- Pump won't work unless your router or another device is acting as a DHCP router.

- When you do ifconfig to bring up the NIC, can you then at least ping the address you've assigned the NIC?

- Verify that the router and the computer are on the same subnet- double check your IP addresses and netmasks.

- Obvious, but- check your physical connection to the router. Is the cable good? Is the port on the router good? Do the activity lights on the router and NIC indicate any communication? Make sure the Ethernet cable is wired straight-through and not crossover.

- Tell us the address of the router and the computer, and post the contents of your routing table. To get that, run the command:

route -n

[saidin]

- My router is a DHCP router, and when I had linux installed b4, pump worked fine!

-Yes I can ping my own address (eth0), and the 127.*.*.* address on the lo

-physical connection is fine. It works under Windows!

- I will get back to you with the running that command

[DMR]

OK.

If all else is good and you can at least ping the NIC, it might just be a matter of modifying your routing table; we'll check that out when you post it.

:)

[saidin]

Okay I have gone through the installation process again. I am still doing the same thing and getting no where. Here is what it says when I do a route -n

Destination Gateway Ge.. flags metric ref use ifac
192.168.1.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0


What has me baffled is the fact that I got this to work with the wood3yr1 iso, and I cannot even get that to work again. When I go through that installation, I cannot even find my network driver. ARGH! I hate this realtek onboard card. kflasdfkl! Thanks for your help!

[sharth]

are you trying to ping dns names, or ips?

[saidin]

I have tried both. I try and ping my router, but there is no response. I have also tried to ping outside ip address and also dns names. But there is a no go with any type of communication to the outside world with the net install of debian installation.

Is there a sid netinstall that i could try? If so, I might have to give that a try....I wonder if I will run into the same problem.

[DMR]

Hm,

Your routing table could stand to gain a little weight. Run the following two commands to add a default route and a route for the loopback device (lo):

route add default gw <IP_Address_of_Router>

route add -net 127.0.0.0


After that, either restart your network services or reboot to effect the changes, and see if you can at least ping anything.

[saidin]

yeah I will give that a try when I get home....hopefully that will solve my issues.

[DMR]

OK, let us know what happens.

[saidin]

well I gave that a shot and there was no go. i also tried this
ifconfig eth0 <ipaddr> braodcast <bcastaddr> netmask <netmask>
route add -net default gw <gateway> netmask 0.0.0.0 metric 1
and this did not work either. I really think the driver that is included is messed up!!! ARGH.

[cid222]

is your rj cable plugged in???

[cid222]

i mean to say is your nic showing activity?

[saidin]

yes yes. the nic works. it is plugged in, it works in windows. Just does not work with the net install of debian. it does not show activity, because it is not connecting to my router.

[saidin]

okay. I thought I would give the gentoo(both rc1 and rc2) distro a try and see if I could get my network configured with that. I tried both, with no success. This is what route -n in the debian and the gentoo install looks like

Destination Gateway Ge.. flags metric ref use ifac
192.168.1.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 1 0 0 eth0

I cannot connect to the internet or my router, with this confige. When I do a ifconfig eth0, it shows my ip address, bcast, etc and shows that it is up and running. I still can only ping myself, but no luck pinging the router. This is getting really really annoying. the module that I am using is the one that I used in the previous install of debian.......8139too, which worked fine. There has to be something that I am missing or not doing correctly. i know this network card works (I am using it right now in windows, and have used in linux...redhat, mandrake, and debian b4) :mad:

[sharth]

hmm... all I can think of is irc conflicts... and thats about it. If you haven't tried pump -i eth0 then give that a whirl.

[saidin]

I think it is the fact that the driver is compiled as a module with the boot kernel. I have been reading (especially on the gentoo forums) about the problems with netinstalls and boot kernels with modules support. People can get the modules installed, but cannot get it to communicate with the network... I have read that (at least of gentoo) people have been booting of the knoppix (I think that is the spelling) CD and going into text mode only....from there configuring the hardriver, etc, and completing the gentoo install. I think I might give this a try with the debian netinstall. Use knoppix, boot with network support and then run the netinstall. I wonder if this will work....hmmm.

[saidin]

well sharth I gave that a try too. I also tried out the Knoppix and it loaded great. It found my network card, but still could not connect to my router. How frusterating is this!!!! I did a dhcpd3, pump, pump -i eth0, ifconfiging, used there utility for finding a network.....and nothing....absolutely nothing. I am about to give up on this ntwork card. I think I am going to get a new one tomorrow....and I will make 100% sure that it is not using the rtl8139 chipset! Well hopefully it will work.....hmmm what to do, oh what to do!:cool:

[DMR]

Originally posted by saidin
I am about to give up on this ntwork card. I think I am going to get a new one tomorrow....and I will make 100% sure that it is not using the rtl8139 chipset!Actually, PCI NICs that use the Reaktek chipset work very well with Linux. Your problems might be related to the fact that you chipset is built into the motherboard as opposed to being a PCI card, but I highly doubt that it being a Realtek chipset per se has anything to do with it.

However, if you want to stay away from Realtek cards, go with a NIC that uses the "tulip" driver or buy a 3Com NIC. 3Coms are much more expensive than other NICs, but they're well supported and reliable.

[saidin]

hmmm, I think it is still considered to be a pci card eventhough it is built into the motherboard. but anhoo, I got a network card from best but and it works fine. now I need to install linux, hehe