Knoppix breaks Netgear network interface

Hi,
I presently dual-boot between debian unstable and win 2k. I have a netgear 10/100 ethernet adapter that uses the natsemi kernel module. I tried booting the latest knoppix cd -- it detected my network card but could not find the router that it was connected to.

I then restarted into debian, and the interface did not come up! The same problem was reported.

I restarted into win2k, and it claimed that the network cable was unplugged.

After some trial and error I opened the case, unplugged the network card, and plugged it back in. The interface then came up in both debian and win2k.

I then tried booting knoppix again to see if the problem was reproducible -- and the exact same thing happened.

Any ideas?

I have the same problem.I have a new Dell Dimension 2400 which has an integrated Broadcomm Network card BCM 4400.
I have seen the problem occuring on Knoppix and also on debian stable .
I tried changing the kernel options for debian and compiled a new kernel(tried on kernel 2.4.18,2.4.21) with ACPI/APM all turned off but still this is occuring.

The only solution which I have found till now to solve this problem is to disconnect the power supply to the computer for about 1 min and then the network card comes alive.

I have read somewhere that this could be a problem of faulty BIOS but I checked on Dell's site for BIOS update and my BIOS is up-to-date.

OK, I know this doesn't solve it but did you actually powerdown and reboot or soft reboot.

It sounds like it wasnt reinitialised but this sometimes happens if you softreboot instead of power off ...

It shouldn't be necassary to actual take out the card.