Gigabyte onboard LAN not working

[dh100]

Hi all,
I am new to Knoppix and Linux having spent a few days experimenting after buying new hardware. The choice was simple, try and get another copy of XP Pro off Ebay (£50) (I am not a lover of Vista) or put the Knoppix CD in the drive. Due to being a bit broke (new hardware) I put that CD in the drive, and I am damn glad I did.
I got an old USB key (1gb) working instead of the CD and from then on I was hooked.
Yesterday I set up Knoppix on a 5gb partition on an 80gb ide drive.
Today I have been tweaking everything, I think the time and locale setup is much better than, er who was that company again? o yes MS.
My hardware
the motherboard is Gigabyte GA73PVM S2H
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 Ghz, 1333 FSB,6MB L2 Cache
2 X 2Gb Mem
Total cost £240
Question
The onboard ethernet won't work, I had to use a network card. As this board has only 2 PCI slots thats half of them gone already.
It would be preferable to use the onboard ethernet but ...
Is it because its too new?
LAN RTL 8211B chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
I might be better off with a board with a lot more PCI slots?
Anyway thanks for this great forum, I could not have got anywhere without it.
Cheers,
David

[kirol]

I've got the very same motherboard. Rather happy with it, too. The chipset is nvidia 630i/7100, the linux ethernet driver "forcedeth". I remember standard etch (2.6.18 kernel) wouldn't support the LAN port but a 2.6.21 variant did. Knoppix 5.1 is probably too old, too. If you intend to install to hard drive, I'd suggest debian testing. In a few weeks this'll become the new stable release and be rock-solid and trouble-free to maintain, which cannot be said of knoppix once installed. Alternatively you may find a Japanese CD remaster of knoppix 5.3 (the original is only available in DVD format), or give sidux a try.

[Harry Kuhman]

Yesterday I set up Knoppix on a 5gb partition on an 80gb ide drive.

Why? Knoppix is a fantastic way to introduce yourself to Linux. If you want to install Linux, particularly if you are new to Linux, there are much better choices. Debian, the distro that Knoppix is based on is one, although there are certainly others. And it, and other intended for hard disk install distros, will be much more current for new hardware options than Knoppix. See answer #2 for other reasons that installing Knoppix is not a good idea.

[dh100]

Many thanks all,
as you probably guessed its all a bit new to me, one week so far.
I have taken on board about Knoppix being a CD Demo, and indeed did try to install Debian but got a lot of SU error messages when I clicked anything re the system.
I have downloaded the DVD (5.3) and have just booted successfully from it, and the onboard LAN works.
I will now re install Debian onto the hard disk. Will report progress.
Meantime thanks for the response,
again, this is a great help
Cheers,
David
ps the sound works now also

Update 6pm GMT
Well, its certainly been a learning curve, one hard disk too small (only just), another loaded ok but then would not reload, and finaly had to bring out a 250gb sata (but with a 20gb partition).
So far so good, did sort out the su thing, have youtube and BBC weather (player), but no way to play music cd's (yet).
OK just one thought.... I think/hope the firewall is active, I am behind a router, but should I consider other measures in the near future?

Thanks again