Bootup error messages -AND- No internet connection

[rcpilot]

Hello all,

This is my first experience with Knoppix and this forum, so please excuse my ignorance!

When I boot up using my Knoppix 3.9 Live CD, everything seems to be fine until the following appears immediately after "USB found, managed by hotplug.":

Firewire found, managed by hotplug: (Re-)scanning devices... Done.
modprobe: FATAL: Could not read '/lib/modules/2.6.11/kernal/drives/input/evdev.ko': Not a directory

modprobe: FATAL: Could not read '/lib/modules/2.6.11/kernal/drives/input/evdev.ko': Not a directory

Autoconfiguring devices... Done.

I don't have any firewire devices and after Knoppix finishes loading I can't get to the internet.

I have broadband service via cable modem (Motorola Surfboard SB100). It in turn is connected to a router (Linksys WRT54GS). It in turn is connected to my PC via an ethernet card (Microsoft MN-130). This configuration works with Windows XP Home Edition just fine.

What do I do to begin resolving this problem?

Thanks.

[UnderScore]

Knoppix boots with a splash screen. At that splash screen you can enter codes which will force Knoppix to do certain things. Theses codes are known as Cheat Codes (http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Cheat_Codes). To turn off firewire, boot with:
knoppix nofirewire

As for those error messages, they are not related to firewire but to input devices like mice, keyboards or joysticks. Not so helpful but see http://www.linuxhq.com/kernel/v2.6/12/drivers/input/evdev.c

[Harry Kuhman]

The firewire messages are confusing false detections that have been showing up in recent versions. They should not affect you (although there are some kown bugs, particularly in 3.9). Welcome to the Knoppix community.

[rcpilot]

I rebooted using Knoppix nofirewire and the firewire-related message went away. The modprob messages remain.

I read somewhere in the forum about trying ifconfig at the command prompt. I did and all I got was the loopback response. I copied the response into an OpenOffice Writer document, but I couldn't figure out how to save it to my hard drive for retrieval after rebooting to Windows XP. I tried to print it but apparently Knoppix can's see my printer.

So far I'm batting zero! I have a lot to learn. :(

[rcpilot]

By the way...

In my original post I stated that the cable modem is a Motorola Surfboard SB100. Actually, the model number is SB4100. Typo.

[Harry Kuhman]

Don't try to write anything to an XP partition under Knoppix (or any Linux). Doing so will corrupt the NTFS partition. To save a file you need a FAT partition, a floppy, USB flash drive, an email account where you could mail it, or any number of other "tricks", but don't try to force Knoppix to write to an NTFS partition.

I don't know why Knoppix isn't seeing your Linksys router and getting its DHCP setup during the boot process. But my suspicious mind suspects it's due to the brand name of your NIC. NICs are dirt cheap (usually under $5, sometimes free). If you have a spare NIC, try it. If you can steal one of a different brand from another system, do that. If all else fails, try buying an inexpensive one (just a simple 10/100, don't spend more for a 10/100/1000 NIC). Put the Knoppix CD in the system before you shut it down. Power down your system (remove the power cord, don't just turn it off), replace the NIC and then boot into the Knoppix CD before you ever let Windows run again. See if it doesn't recognize the new alternate brand NIC right away and connect to the Linksys and the Internet during the boot process.

[UnderScore]

There are ways to narrow down device and/or networking problems. A lot of the output will not make sense to you. That is OK. What we need from you is to identify the network card via the 'sudo lspci' command. It should identify Then you need to use the 'sudo ifconfig -a' command to see if there is a ethernet device (such as eth0). If there is a eth0 device then use the command 'sudo netcardconfig' to try to give it an IP address. If there is no eth0 device, then we use the 'sudo lsmod' command to get a listing of the loaded drivers. Look in the listing & see if it loaded the driver for your network card which based on my research uses the tulip driver. If the tulip driver is not loaded, then we force it to load with the command 'sudo modprobe tulip' then run 'sudo lsmod' again to see if it has been loaded. If it has loaded then run the 'sudo netcardconfig' command. If it has not then we will have to try another method.
Please write down any output or anything that might be important.

*All this may or may not work since the network card is a Microsoft network card & it seems MS has done something that prevents it from working normally in Linux. Tthere is a workaround to get it to work but it is both beyond your skillset and requires a hard drive install of Linux **

Example of the commands & the output
sudo lscpi
which will spit out a listing of the system's PCI devices
root@dualcrush:~# sudo lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (r
ev 02)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev
02)
0000:00:04.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
0000:00:04.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
0000:00:04.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
0000:00:04.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
0000:00:06.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AHA-2940U2/U2W / 7890/7891
0000:00:0a.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 05
)
0000:00:0a.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! MIDI/Game Port (rev
05)
0000:00:0b.0 Unknown mass storage controller: Promise Technology, Inc. 20269 (re
v 02)
0000:00:0c.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (r
ev 24)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV15 [GeForce2 GTS/Pr
o] (rev a3)
root@dualcrush:~#

sudo ifconfig -a
which will output all detected network devices
root@dualcrush:~# sudo ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:10:5A:05:BC:FB
inet addr:192.168.1.51 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::210:5aff:fe05:bcfb/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:40171 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:23166 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:46965304 (44.7 MiB) TX bytes:2113684 (2.0 MiB)
Interrupt:129 Base address:0x9400

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:83 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:83 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:5352 (5.2 KiB) TX bytes:5352 (5.2 KiB)

sit0 Link encap:IPv6-in-IPv4
NOARP MTU:1480 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

root@dualcrush:~#

sudo lsmod
this will list the drivers that are currently loaded (In my case the network card's driver is 3c59x)
root@dualcrush:~# lsmod
Module Size Used by
nfsd 203648 8
exportfs 7104 1 nfsd
lockd 64968 2 nfsd
sunrpc 159524 2 nfsd,lockd
ipv6 281764 16
pcspkr 3884 0
tsdev 7616 0
mousedev 10736 0
evdev 9824 0
psmouse 20616 0
floppy 62608 0
parport_pc 37796 0
parport 43272 1 parport_pc
emu10k1_gp 3808 0
gameport 5120 1 emu10k1_gp
snd_emu10k1 102056 0
snd_rawmidi 26084 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_pcm_oss 55912 0
snd_mixer_oss 20384 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 102948 2 snd_emu10k1,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 27492 1 snd_pcm
snd_seq_device 8456 2 snd_emu10k1,snd_rawmidi
snd_ac97_codec 70884 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_page_alloc 12008 2 snd_emu10k1,snd_pcm
snd_util_mem 4832 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_hwdep 9764 1 snd_emu10k1
snd 59620 10 snd_emu10k1,snd_rawmidi,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_o
ss,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_seq_device,snd_ac97_codec ,snd_util_mem,snd_hwdep
soundcore 10880 1 snd
aic79xx 311580 0
pci_hotplug 35708 0
intel_agp 23072 1
uhci_hcd 34096 0
usbcore 122148 3 uhci_hcd
sg 40288 0
aic7xxx 208856 0
3c59x 40424 0
agpgart 35436 1 intel_agp
capability 4744 0
commoncap 7552 1 capability
sr_mod 17764 0
scsi_mod 127972 4 aic79xx,sg,aic7xxx,sr_mod
ide_cd 43232 0
cdrom 41148 2 sr_mod,ide_cd
genrtc 10616 0
ext3 129704 6
jbd 70584 1 ext3
mbcache 10340 1 ext3
ide_generic 1632 0
piix 13824 1
ide_disk 19648 11
pdc202xx_new 11260 1
ide_core 142556 5 ide_cd,ide_generic,piix,ide_disk,pdc202xx_new
unix 31156 20
font 8544 0
vesafb 6880 0
cfbcopyarea 4096 1 vesafb
cfbimgblt 3264 1 vesafb
cfbfillrect 4000 1 vesafb
root@dualcrush:~#

[rcpilot]

Harry, my hard drives are both set up as FAT32. No NTFS. Is this okay?

UnderScore, I'll give these commands a try. Maybe I can write to a floppy.

[Harry Kuhman]

Harry, my hard drives are both set up as FAT32. No NTFS. Is this okay?
Good for you. As far as Linux is concerned it's great. Most XP users have NTFS partitions.

Knoppix still defaults to opening the FAT partitions as read-only. It's part of the "do no harm" approach of a live CD and for new users who are going to test drive Linux on a PC. But with FAT partitions you can safely over-ride this (just take care not to destroy files after you do). You can do it the hard way with the mount command or the easy way. To do it the easy way find the fat partition icons on yoor desktop. Right click on one. Select the actions ... sub menu from the list that pos up. I suspect you can figure the rest out from there.

[rcpilot]

Here are the results of the commands you gave me to run, UnderScore. I was finally able to get them onto a USB thumbdrive...


knoppix@0[knoppix]$ sudo lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333]
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333 AGP]
0000:00:09.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 50)
0000:00:09.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 50)
0000:00:09.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 51)
0000:00:0c.0 Parallel controller: Lava Computer mfg Inc Lava Parallel
0000:00:0d.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 07)
0000:00:0d.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! MIDI/Game Port (rev 07)
0000:00:0e.0 Ethernet controller: Microsoft Corporation: Unknown device 0002 (rev 11)
0000:00:0f.0 Serial controller: 5610 56K FaxModem 56K FaxModem Model 5610 (rev 01)
0000:00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233A ISA Bridge
0000:00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
0000:00:11.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23)
0000:00:11.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV25 [GeForce4 Ti 4600] (rev a3)


knoppix@0[knoppix]$ sudo ifconfig -a
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:22 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:22 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1100 (1.0 KiB) TX bytes:1100 (1.0 KiB)



knoppix@0[knoppix]$ sudo lsmod
Module Size Used by
snd_mixer_oss 18688 0
snd 46308 1 snd_mixer_oss
autofs4 18820 1
emu10k1 72196 1
sound 71812 1 emu10k1
soundcore 11104 4 snd,emu10k1,sound
ac97_codec 20108 1 emu10k1
via_agp 11264 1
agpgart 30512 1 via_agp
emu10k1_gp 6912 0
gameport 7552 1 emu10k1_gp
via_ircc 22036 0
irda 118584 1 via_ircc
crc_ccitt 5888 1 irda
parport_pc 38596 0
parport 33480 1 parport_pc
8250 41692 0
serial_core 21120 1 8250
evdev 11008 0
tsdev 9664 0
joydev 11840 0
usbhid 42176 0
pcmcia 21776 0
yenta_socket 21896 0
rsrc_nonstatic 12160 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 42272 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
video 18308 0
thermal 14984 0
processor 24552 1 thermal
fan 7300 0
container 7296 0
button 7168 0
battery 12420 0
ac 7556 0
genrtc 12060 0
unionfs 109944 1
cloop 18848 1
usb_storage 63296 0
ub 18332 0
ohci_hcd 21896 0
uhci_hcd 31376 0
ehci_hcd 31752 0
usbcore 101496 7 usbhid,usb_storage,ub,ohci_hcd,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd

[UnderScore]

So far the output indicates that the tulip driver is not loaded. The next step is to:
sudo modprobe tulip

Then

sudo lsmod
Visually inspect the list to see if it has loaded

Then
sudo ifconfig -a
And check to see if there is a eth0 device

If there is a eth0 device then run
netcardconfig

If there is no eth0 device then it is most likely never going to work without doing that workaround that I mentioned. For the sake of being complete, see http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/showproduct.php?product=1062&sort=1&cat=146&page= which describes the workaround.


Microsoft MN-130
Uses ADMtek AN983B chipset but either way its a standard (to myknowledge) chipset found on linksys cards. So under normal circumstances you should be able to use the tulip module to get this to work. But of course microsoft had to go in and put in their 2 cents and screw it up for everyone. Apparently the I/O address built onto the card was changed so you have to rewrite the tulip module manually in order to get it to work. To begin insert the following line at line 201 (its a function I beleive) of the tulip module source code (tulip_core.c)
" {0x1414, 0x0002, PCI_ANY_ID, PCI_ANY_ID, 0, 0, COMET}, "
save and do the following commands.
cd /usr/src/linux**** #(**** = kernel number)
make dep
make modules
make modules_install
do a restart and everything should be ok
right now I'm using mine in slackware so I know it works.


If it doesn't work, the you can get another network card for about 5 to 20 bucks. Obviously if you want a better quality card you must spend around $20. Practically any one of these cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=&PropertyCodeValue=1281%3A9684&PropertyCodeValue=1282%3A9687&PropertyCodeValue=1628%3A10711&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=5&MaxPrice=20&SubCategory=27&Submit=Property) should work for you. Your best bet is to go to a local Best Buy, Circut City, Staples, Office Max, Frys and buy a network card & put it in the PC in the place of the current card. If the card doesnt work, then you can take it back without having to worry about shipping.

[rcpilot]

UnderScore,

I did as you said, but after running sudo ifconfig -a there was no eth0 device listed.

Where is tulip_core.c located? CD? Ramdisk? Internet? I need more elementary-level information about how to change it and how to use it to see if it works?

Thanks.

P.S., I picked up a copy of the O'Reilly "Knoppix Pocket Reference" today. It helps to explain some things, but I need more experience with Knoppix to make sense of a lot of it.