nic (realtek 8139) help needed

[Atealtha]

so I installed gentoo and everything seems to work. now here I am at the console, trying to get xfree, KDE, etc.

but my network card does not work. It only worked during install. Can anyone help me out?

[baldguy]

what does a lsmod tell you? there are (I believe) two modules for the 8139 do you know which module you have loaded?

[alerce]

Hi!
You mus compile your kernel to support
the nic....
you can do that on your
"make menuconfig options"
When you find the card support, choose
"as module".

re compile the kernel!

As the gentoo installation Instruction says the module is now on :
/lib/modules/`uname-r/kernel/drivers/net

You must include it on your /etc/modules.autoload to get it work the next time you boot.

Suerte!!

[Atealtha]

lsmod

Module | Size | Used by | Not Tainted
sr_mod | 17432 | 0 | (unused)
sg | 29036 | 0 | (unused)
ide-scsi | 9360 | 0

here's the selection when I cd to /usr/src/linux then make menuconfig:

Network device suport --->
->Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit) --->
---><M>Realtek RTL-8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter support

anything related to that is not selected

[Atealtha]

Originally posted by alerce
Hi!
You mus compile your kernel to support
the nic....
you can do that on your
"make menuconfig options"
When you find the card support, choose
"as module".

re compile the kernel!

As the gentoo installation Instruction says the module is now on :
/lib/modules/`uname-r/kernel/drivers/net

You must include it on your /etc/modules.autoload to get it work the next time you boot.

Suerte!!

how would I include it? just put in "8139too.o"?

[baldguy]

try
modprobe -a
or
modprobe 8139too
(I think that's right)
you might want to look for the module which will be in /lib/modules/(your kernel version)/kernel/drivers/net

If it doesn't show up there, then you have to recompile your kernel. If it is there then you can modprobe the file and see if it works (without the .o extension). Then you need to determine where your distro keeps info on loading modules at boot (/etc/modules.conf or /etc/conf.modules etc)

[alerce]

yes, you simply write the name of the module in your
/etc/modules.autoload
That is the file gentoo uses for modules.

I think that in gentoo the module is not named 8139too as it is usual, but
rtl8139

[Atealtha]

things are working. much thanks guys. but now I do ifconfig and eth0 does not show up, only lo

[baldguy]

ifconfig eth0 {ip address} netmask {netmask}
to add an ip address manually, might have to edit config files for gentoo (don't know any specifics for gentoo)

[Atealtha]

how would I find out netmask? I'm going to assume my ip is 127.0.0.5. that works, right?

[Atealtha]

well, I put in the right ones. I still cant connect to the net

ip 192.168.0.5
netmask 255.255.255.0

yup, they also reset when i reboot. should I just try adding in those settings (or ones that actually connect online) to /etc/networks?

[alerce]

you should edit the files:

/etc/conf.d/net
and/or
/etc/conf.d/net.eth0

and then use the gentoo tool for adding
services to a runlevel:

rc-update add net.eth0 default

that will make the network work on your default runlevel.

[baldguy]

How do you connect to the internet? are you going through a router?

[Atealtha]

lemme just say thanks for all the help you guys are offering me.

I did all that rc-update stuff. But I dont know my IP nor the broadcast. I did ipconfig (winXP OS) on this laptop connected to the same router, and it was 192.168.0.4. So for my box I chose x.x.x.2. It uses the first port in my router.

ipconfig also shows that mask is 255.255.255.0. so I also changed that value with the box's. The Bcast is not shown, and on the linux box it shows that the broadcast # is 192.168.0.255.

Is this the right #?

much thanks

[baldguy]

well the numbers look right, but do you know if you connect using dhcp? You will need to configure for that if you do (get dhcpcd or pump)

To check you xp box type in ipconfig /release and then another ipconfig to see if you are on dhcp. (to turn it back on type in ipconfig /renew)

[Atealtha]

no "DHCP" showed up with the release renew. I'm using Time Warner Cable in New York City. It does use DHC, I'm sure of it. When I was installing gentoo I did net-setup eth0 and chose auto by dhcp (something like that). So is that key to my /etc/conf.d/net file?

let me give you some info on that file:

iface_eth0 is not commented with the settings listed before
iface_eth0="dhcp" is commented (should I uncomment this?)
dhcpcd_eth0 is commented, given the value "..."

hope this is over soon

[madcompnerd]

Your broadcast is 192.168.0.255 assuming your network IP is 192.168.0.0 and your subnet mask is default(255.255.255.0).
Your router SHOULD be 192.168.0.1. You don't have to use dhcp, but it's probably easiest. Like the last poster said, use dhcpcd. It's wonderfully easy, just type dhcpcd at the console; it should be in a /bin so it should be in your path.
I had a box that didn't setup the NIC right, and I believe I just added two lines to a startup file; I can't remember which one; but I added:
modprobe rtl8139
dhcpcd

It was an old realtek NIC; so it didn't use the rtl8139too module. You shouldn't need to recompile your kernel.
I'm kind of confused on something though. Within the 5 months or so I've been a Linux devotee I've heard at least 10 times people instructed to recompile their kernel for a problem that had an alternate solution. Now I'm sure you probably get improved performance by compiling the module into your kernel, but if people are asking a question and installing modules maybe compiling a new kernel is more than they want/need to do? Aren't we a little "recompile the kernel" happy? Or am I mistaken?
Seems to me like for a newbie like myself recompiling a kernel is option infinity--.

[Atealtha]

YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

I had to uncomment that iface_eth0="dhcp" line!!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

::runs and does leprechaun jump::

thanks for taking my crap JL, you guys are the best :D

[alerce]

Yes, the problem can be solved without recompiling the kernel....
in any other distro!
but when you install gentoo you HAVE TO compile the kernel.
Gentoo is not your "normal" distro.
It does't have a lot of modules, only the ones you compile!!!
so if you didn't it rigth the first time, you have to recompile.
It's not a distro for newbies, but it's a very good one.
The "portage" works very well....
and if you want KDE, write
emerge KDE
and after downloading the sources, of all the dependencies, of
X, of KDE,... it will compile them, and a few hours later, you have
KDE!
all customized for your system!

[madcompnerd]

ewww, sounds like extra work for small potatoes performance increases. I heard it takes like two days to install gentoo.