How-to Configure Realtek 8139 on Compaq Desktop?

Hi,

I'm trying to use an ethernet connection on Compaq Desktop with Realtek RTL8139/810x NIC to
fairly recent Linksys router at 192.168.15.1. This setup has been working fine with my XP
machine, which uses a static address of 192.168.15.6. Knoppix 5.5.1 on DVD from the book
"Knoppix Hacks" (I'm a NEWBIE to Linuxes). Tried a downloaded CD with this same problem:
After boot, there is no access to network, not even to ping the router. This DVD on my
Dell laptop auto-configures wired and wireless adapters just fine, but I need it up on
my Compaq.

Should mention that During boot of DVD, I saw a message fly by that said eth0 was detected.
But cannot ping router.

So, re-try to specify DHCP via Knoppix Network Card
Configuration and said 'yes' to DHCP. Here is output:

Sending DHCP broadcast from device eth0
------------ pause ------------
Sending DHCP broadcast from device eth0Operation failed.
Failed.
Hit return to exit.
=================================
(exit and went into Network Settings UI, "The interface eth0 is not active".
configured basic STATIC settings, exactly like I run on XP, but not DNSes yet
this time. Click Activate button and then OK.)

====================================
(go into Terminal and get ifconfig report):

knoppix@Knoppix:~$ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:17:41:DA:E1:E6
inet addr:192.168.15.6 Bcast:192.168.15.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::217:31ff:feda:e1c6/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 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:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:20 Base address:0x2000

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:60 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:60 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:4408 (4.3 KiB) TX bytes:4408 (4.3 KiB)

================================================
(from Terminal window try to ping Linksys router):
knoppix@Knoppix:~$ ping 192.168.15.1
PING 192.168.15.1 (192.168.15.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
From 192.168.15.6 icmp_seq=1 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.15.6 icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.15.6 icmp_seq=3 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.15.6 icmp_seq=4 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.15.6 icmp_seq=5 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.15.6 icmp_seq=6 Destination Host Unreachable

===============================================

These are the same settings that I run in XP. Please tell me I'm
missing something simple (like starting the network or something).

And here is the output of lspci -v:

=================================================

00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Xpress 200 Host Bridge (rev 01)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64
Memory at <ignored> (64-bit, non-prefetchable)

00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 99
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=68
I/O behind bridge: 0000e000-0000efff
Memory behind bridge: fde00000-fdefffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: f0000000-f7ffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:11.0 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc ATI 437A Serial ATA Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 8f [Master SecP SecO PriP PriO])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 17
I/O ports at ff00 [size=8]
I/O ports at fe00 [size=4]
I/O ports at fd00 [size=8]
I/O ports at fc00 [size=4]
I/O ports at fb00 [size=16]
Memory at fe02f000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
Expansion ROM at fdf80000 [disabled] [size=512K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:12.0 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc ATI 4379 Serial ATA Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 8f [Master SecP SecO PriP PriO])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 18
I/O ports at fa00 [size=8]
I/O ports at f900 [size=4]
I/O ports at f800 [size=8]
I/O ports at f700 [size=4]
I/O ports at f600 [size=16]
Memory at fe02e000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
Expansion ROM at 80000000 [disabled] [size=512K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 19
Memory at fe02d000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 19
Memory at fe02c000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB2 Host Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 19
Memory at fe02b000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 SMBus Controller (rev 81)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel
I/O ports at 0b00 [size=16]
Memory at fe02a000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]

00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller ATI (rev 80) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 16
I/O ports at <unassigned>
I/O ports at <unassigned>
I/O ports at <unassigned>
I/O ports at <unassigned>
I/O ports at f400 [size=16]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SB450 HDA Audio (rev 01)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a3c
Flags: bus master, slow devsel, latency 64, IRQ 16
Memory at fe024000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-ISA Bridge (rev 80)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0

00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-PCI Bridge (rev 80) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode])
Flags: bus master, VGA palette snoop, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=64
I/O behind bridge: 0000d000-0000dfff
Memory behind bridge: fdd00000-fddfffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: fdc00000-fdcfffff

01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RC410 [Radeon Xpress 200] (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 7
Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
I/O ports at ee00 [size=256]
Memory at fdef0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at fde00000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Unknown device 2a30
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 20
I/O ports at dc00 [size=256]
Memory at fddff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>

02:04.0 Communication controller: Conexant HSF 56k Data/Fax Modem
Subsystem: Conexant Unknown device 200c
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 255
Memory at fdde0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
I/O ports at df00 [size=8]
Capabilities: <access denied>
================================================== ==============

Many thanks for any assistance on how to get this network connection going, sorry for the long post.
--buzz

I remember having had the Realtek RTL8139 working with Knoppix so that should not be the problem.
Try replying NO to the netcard configuration DHCP question, and enter your

inet addr:192.168.15.6 Bcast:192.168.15.255 Mask:255.255.255.0

values manually.

Also, check that /etc/resolv.conf contains your nameserver:

nameserver 192.168.15.1

Thanks for the suggestions Johnny. Good to hear you've had this working before. I tried to use inet from both the user and root terminal windows, but received an error message that it couldn't find such a program. But I did use the Network Card Config utility to accomplish the same thing, I think. I did repeat that activity and then look at /etc/resolv.conf and it had the right nameserver.

I also experimented with some boot cheat codes to turn off acpi and pci bus (an offline suggestion) but nothing helps so far.

Suggestions?

--buzz

Hi,

I'm typing this from inside Konqueror.

The very same problem I describe in the first post above was discussed on the webpage:
bozziesfw<DOT>wordpress<DOT>com/2007/08/14/netdev-watchdog-timed-out-realtek-8139/

...and one person suggested:

"... However, for me, a full power down of the computer (unplugging from the wall) fixes the problem, until the next time I boot Windows."

There is more info on that web page, and I just wanted to put this pointer here since I thought it was interesting, and to help anyone else that has this difficulty. I've spent a lot of time running in circles over this mystery, so as weird as this sounds I'm glad I gave the unplugging a try.

Update: After installation of the most recent WINDOWS driver update from Realtek web site, everything is working great. Apparently, an earlier version of the Windows driver defaulted at shutdown with the Wake-on-LAN enabled, causing the card to keep old config data onboard - a bad state for the next booting operating systems, but all is fixed now. Of course, this won't be a problem for people that do not run Windows on the same box.

--buzz

Hi,

I don't think unplug the power and restart will make any differences.

First of all, you need to make sure your network card is known by knoppix. The easiest way to test it is to temporary set your router DHCP server on.

Boot your pc with knoppix dvd 5.5.1 (??? I think you mean 5.1)

After the knoppix is up and running, open a console terminal, type in ifconfig and see if your machine is known to your network.

Also try to connect to the internet from konqueror. (just connect to google or yahoo).

If the above is working, then you are pretty sure that your hardware is working with knoppix.

Now to the second part of your question, you want to connect to your network using static IP address, just do the following steps.

1. Boot your machine with knoppix dvd on your dvd-drive.

2. When prompted enter the cheatcode:

Code:

knoppix nodhcp

3. When knoppix is up and running, open a console terminal and enter the following commands

Code:

$ sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.15.6

4. Type in $ ifconfig now, you should be able to see eth0 is set to 192.168.15.6

5. Setup your default gateway and genmask

Code:

$ sudo route add -net default gw 192.168.15.1 netmask 0.0.0.0 dev eth0

Be noted that the netmask here is 0.0.0.0 instead of the ordinary 255.255.255.0

6. If you know how to use vi or any editor, add the following line to /etc/resolv.conf and save it.

Code:

nameserver 192.168.15.1

But if you don't, you still can do it the hard way

Code:

$ sudo chmod 666 /etc/resolv.conf $ sudo echo "nameserver 192.168.15.1" >> /etc/resolv.conf $ sudo chmod 644 /etc/resolv.conf

7. Try to connect to internet via the konqueror. If you can, your static IP address is done.

It works for me and I hope that works for you too.

Rgds,
Chip[/code]