Well.... Both Knoppix and Kanotix have the network problem at startup, so it's not the DHCP client that Knoppix uses. I assume Knoppix uses pump because it's smaller, and so it leaves more room on the CD for other stuff. But I've seen some complaints about it.

Knoppix has a network problem at shutdown but Kanotix doesn't, so Knoppix probably has a step or two in the cleanup process that Kanotix doesn't. So that's one place where a work-around could be applied.

But the actual problem that needs fixing is probably in your computer's ethernet hardware, or the network's settings, or in how they communicate. Here's a thread where the person running Knoppix gave up trying to fix the problem in software and installed a new, cheapo internet card instead: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...03/12/2/123276.

Tell us more about your ethernet service. What kind is it (DSL, cable, whatever), do you have to use PPoE, do you use a router between your computer and the internet ... stuff like that. Also, more detail on what you did about the startup problem.

Here are some miscellaneous Knoppix things you can check, mostly just to be sure that the entries look reasonable - you know you have exactly one ethernet port and so is exactly one is listed? Does it show the right brand of ethernet hardware? And so on.
  • - $ cat proc/net/dev - eth0?;
    - $ ifconfig - eth0 address, few errors?;
    - $ lspci - right controller?;
    - $ cat /etc/sysconfig/netcard - right controller and driver?;
    - $ cat /etc/sysconfig/kernel-version/netcard - identical to the last one?;
    - $ uname -r - if you forget your kernel version;
    - $ cat /etc/pump.conf - reasonable retries and timeout?
Check this last one - when Knoppix is shutting down, it really should only hang for a total of a minute if timeout is 20 seconds and retries is 3 (which is how my 3.7 is set by default). Does yours hang longer than that?

I'll write another post about what Knoppix does at shutdown. You can read the script with $ less /etc/init.d/knoppix-reboot - it uses the same one for halting the computer. Look for lines that start with echo -n and have the console messages you mentioned (and the names of colors ).

-- Ed