The network card is from Intel. I'm not sure what it's specific name is but I don't think that's the issue here. Check for more detailed specs from IBM's excellent website http://www.ibm.com (search for Thinkpad R30).

I've seen the NIC work before when booting from CD and the IBM R30 is a very common laptop. DHCP broadcasting doesn't work either and my IP is 127.0.0.1
A post I found interesting was http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8774

Damn it's annoying the crap out of me!