Can't pull an IP address via DHCP

**bertocci** · 03-09-2004, 10:52 AM

...and a manual config seems to be an equal crapshoot.

So Windows is all FUBAR'd on my roommate's laptop and won't boot, but booting to Knoppix I can get to his hard drive and all his documents are still there. He has ~15 GB of data he would like to pull off and save, so burning CDs is not a desirable option. This leaves ethernet. I'm short on a crossover cable, so I borrowed my friend's D-Link router. I connect my Mac to it and it DHCPs to give me 192.168.0.100. It shows 192.168.0.1 as the gateway. Cool.

So I go to connect my roommate's laptop running Knoppix, and I can't get an IP for the life of me. I run the netcardconfig for both DHCP and manual settings, but I can't get any sort of a connection. I've tried setting things up manually with ifup/ifdown and ifconfig, still no dice. I've tried booting knoppix with the noapic option as well, but that didn't help.

I'm lost at this point. My roommate's laptop won't even DHCP to our university network under Knoppix. I'm a Mac guy, so maybe I'm missing something on the Linux side, but I've read all the documentation I can find and I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

**rusty** · 03-09-2004, 01:39 PM

Here's a few things to check:

Does knoppix recognize your laptops nic? In a root shell type lspci -v and look for the card's entry.

Is the driver for the card loaded: In the root shell type lsmod and look for the cards driver.

You might also try powering down and restarting the router, sometimes switching things in and out confuses them.

HTH

**Harry Kuhman** · 03-09-2004, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by bertocci

... My roommate's laptop won't even DHCP

I don't think you're doing anything wrong, many machines, only after running Windows and installing "security updates" suddenly have a problem running Knoppix. Read these two threads for more details: http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2117 and : http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2164

The threads will also give you some ideas on commands and/or cheat codes that you can use to work around this. Please post back if you have sucess.

**bertocci** · 03-10-2004, 07:41 PM

Harry, you are my hero. The laptop is also an HP (ze5170), and it seems to have either the same card or one from the same line. Running "mii-tool -r" fix worked like a charm. Thanks a ton.

**Harry Kuhman** · 03-10-2004, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by bertocci

Harry, you are my hero. The laptop is also an HP (ze5170), and it seems to have either the same card or one from the same line. Running "mii-tool -r" fix worked like a charm. Thanks a ton.

You're welcome. The irony of this is that your roommate very likely could have run Knoppix fine on this laptop without jumping through any hoops, like I did, before installing the Microsoft "Security Updates". What I'm having trouble understanding is why I seem to be one of the few people upset by this apparent attack on Linux.