Configuring Linux?

[b0b]

I have here a new Dell PowerEdge server with red Hat Linux 6.2, a newly installed SDSL line and router from Covad, and my trusty old Windows box with a modem. I ran a wire from the router to the Dell.

The router has an IP address ending in 187. I can ping it fine from the Windows box through the modem and my Sonic.net dialup account. The Covad guy plugged his laptop into it when he installed it and showed me streaming video from the Web. So I know that the router and the SDSL line are working.

I connected the Dell box to the router and tried to ping it. Now this is wierd - 98% of the packets don't come back, but I can see the lights dancing on the router and now and then a packet comes back. I swapped ethernet wires, but no change.

I think that maybe the NIC isn't configured correctly in Linux. I can't find any way to do this. Any suggestions?

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<img align=left src="http://b0b.com/Averybob.gif" width=64 height=81><small>
</small> -b0b-   <small> quasar@b0b.com </small>
-System Administrator

[Bill Llewellyn]

Bob,

That sounds like a question for comp.os.linux.networking or a related newsgroup. I know that all I can give you personally is a blank stare (but then, that's normal for me).

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<font size=-1>Bill (steel player impersonator) | MSA Classic U12 | Email | My online music | Forum birthdays</font>

[George Rozak]

b0b,

I use Slackware, so I'm not sure if this applies to Red Hat or not. In Slackware the NIC can be configured by loading the appropriate module (Linux name for device driver) in the file /etc/rc.d/rc.modules. It's a text file, and if it exists on your box, you may want to read through it for hints on loading the proper module, IRQ, I/
O address, etc. for your particular NIC.

Keep in mind that, instead of loading modules, Linux also supports precompiled kernels for specific hardware devices such as NICs. If this is the case with your box, Dell may have already compiled the installed kernel for your specific NIC. You might want to check with their tech support people about this to find out for sure.

In general though (but not always), I've found that intermittent problems are usually hardware related. The next thing that I'd probably try is reseating the NIC in its expansion slot given that you are seeing some returned packets. If that doesn't work, I'd try replacing the NIC with an exact duplicate if possible.

Hope this helps, & Good Luck.

George

[Bobby Lee]

Thanks for the suggestions, George. You've given me a place to start. I've been a Unix user for years, but I've never had to deal with any hardware or configuration issues before.

[George Rozak]

One other thing I just thought of b0b. You can use the dmesg command from the Linux command prompt to display all of the initial boot messages that appeared when the system was last booted. You'll probably have to pipe it to more or less (i.e., dmesg | more) as there's usually several screens of messages that scroll by. Anyway, if the NIC wasn't loaded properly on bootup, you'll probably see some sort of error message that will give you a clue as to what the problem might be. There's a lot of info there, so you'll probably have to search line by line for the NIC card info. Anyway, those initial boot messages have helped me resolve some problems in the past.

George

[Don Walters]

b0b, George's suggestions are right on, but you might try the following as well (quicker perhaps): type ifconfig and you'll get the NIC configuration with IP address, gateway, etc etc. (you must be root to use ifconfig).
Also, I prefer less because it lets you scroll backwards when you read the output

[Bobby Lee]

It turned out to be a conflict between the machine name and the domain name. Wierd, but they have to be in sync, and the domain had to match my service provider (inreach.com). The machine is now up, and you can ping it at 209.209.57.190 if you like.

Thanks everyone, for your suggestions.