Knoppix fails to obtain an IP via DHCP from the ADSL Router.

[drekidd]

Ok, I have tried this alone and by using this [great] forum but I give-up!
I am using Knoppix as a learning exercise so far and havent played with it much.. apart from this annoying problem, and installing it in the first place

I have a made a dual-boot laptop build (XP and Knoppix 3.3) and when in XP, the machine will get a DHCP address from the ADSL router (its address is 192.168.200.254).

When I boot into knoppix HD install, the card (eth0) comes up but does not obtain an address.
Pump seems to try and do something as it appears in memory after every boot..

If I set the IP details manually, all works well... but as soon as I try DHCP, all fails.. Netcardconfig does not work - always fails..

My /etc/network/interfaces has:
"auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp"
(I added these after installation).

My resolve.conf has
"nameserver 192.168.200.254"
which is what helps me connect to the net when I use manual IP addressing..

ifconfig does not show any ip details, naturally.


Someone, please explain why DHCP is not working for me!!

Thanks in advance guys (and girls?)

[shah]

Your /etc/network/interfaces should look something like this:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

OR you can set a static I.P. and use gateway which refer to your router i.p. Then your /etc/network/interfaces should look something like this:

auto lo eth0
iface lo inet loopback

auto lo eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.x.x
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.x.0
broadcast 192.168.x.255
gateway 192.168.x.x (what was set on your router)

You /etc/resolve.conf is wrong. The nameserver must be something that provided by your isp.
Usually ISP will give you two DNS IP. You can check using your Windows by running comannd : nslookup or ipconfig.

[shah]

Sorry i made a mistake, your /etc/network/interface if using static ip should look like this:

auto lo eth0
iface lo inet loopback

iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.x.x
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.x.0
broadcast 192.168.x.255
gateway 192.168.x.x (what was set on your router)

[drekidd]

Thanks for the reply Shah,

But as I said, I can get connectivity if I assign a manual IP address but thats not what I want! I want to know why simple DHCP is not working..

I use PPPoA (my router gets RJ11 presentation, not ethernet) and so the nameserver I use does work (all clients get DHCP from the router, the router learns DNS settings from the ISP). I could change to the DNS servers my ISP gave me but that wont fix the DHCP problem and is not necessary as the router (not modem) learns the DNS server entries from the (Pipex) network.

I did not enter the loopback settings of my adapter as Im trying to concentrate on the eth0 issue, but please tell me if there's anything else you need?

Could you/someone please tell me what I need to configure to gaurantee DHCP to work as it happily does in Windows??????

Thanks again!

://DK

[tearinghairout]

What happens if you try manually running

pump -i eth0

on the command line?
(Must be done as root.)

[drekidd]

'tearinghairout' - I like it
Call me tearinghairout2 )

I think the pump command is run by netcardconfig?... the result is the same none-the-less, the process fails... but pump stays in memory.

Something is defintely wrong.. not sure what as I did a HD install straight from the CD and all files were default.

Are you saying pump -i... should be enough? that's the feeling I have, but no joy

p.s - why is there not a crying smiley for me to choose? that's what I'm doing now!

[sokminer]

try
# route add default gw 192.168.xxx.xxx

Can't remember your router's IP

[drekidd]

try
# route add default gw 192.168.xxx.xxx

Can't remember your router's IP

Thanks Sokminer - that works when I have an IP (if I set one statically, or via dhcp), but as I havent gotten one via DHCP, there's no way of interacting with a default gw [192.168.200.254] or having a route!
Yes, I could use static IP entries but I'm really looking to get DHCP working..

I might grab a syslog trace when I get home and post it - if it contains any useful data.. I'm feeling it could be down to the embedded Intel card of my IBM stinkpad T30.. (Doesnt work with my T40 either)..
HOWEVER - it used to work when I booted from my third PC into the Knoppix CD which had a 3Com card.. I'll try that again tonight and see.. (didnt work the last time I tried when I started having trouble with the new HD install though)

[baldyeti]

Does your ethernet adapter actually work when configured statically? I don't mean as reported by ifconfig, but can you actually ping other machines and use your router's services?

Some chipsets (notably some realtek) need the noapic cheat-code before actually working - even though they're recognised and eth0 is reported. If it doesn't work, then it might not even be able to broadcast to a DHCP server and get its parameters in return...

[drekidd]

Does your ethernet adapter actually work when configured statically? I don't mean as reported by ifconfig, but can you actually ping other machines and use your router's services?

Some chipsets (notably some realtek) need the noapic cheat-code before actually working - even though they're recognised and eth0 is reported. If it doesn't work, then it might not even be able to broadcast to a DHCP server and get its parameters in return...

Yes, sorry, maybe I should've been clearer:
When I configure IP [192.168.200.3], subnet, default gw [192.168.200.254] and DNS is set as 192.168.200.254 in resolv.conf statically I can browse the internet and LAN.
I have tried the noapic I'm sure.. but will try again

If the noapic boot option does not work (as I think it may not do), do you have any other ideas of what it could be?
(P.s - what script file do I edit for the noapic? I may have only tried it with the bootCD!)