RealTek 8139 Problems

[Robert Tilley]

When I installed my system with the Debian 3.0 CD, kernel 2.2.0 was installed.
I selected to install the RealTek 8139 drivers and my NIC has been
functioning perfectly.

I've attempted to install 2.4.19, 2.4.21, and 2.6.0-test2. During a
menuconfig, I specify the RealTek 8139 drivers to be installed as part of the
kernel. However, when I reboot into the fresh kernel my NIC is undetected
and I have no internet access. I must reboot into 2.2.0 if my NIC is to be
used. I've even gone so far as to install _all_ RealTek drivers and no luck.

Any ideas?

Bob
--
Comments are most appreciated,

Robert Tilley


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[Donald Spoon]

Robert Tilley wrote:

> When I installed my system with the Debian 3.0 CD, kernel 2.2.0 was installed.
> I selected to install the RealTek 8139 drivers and my NIC has been
> functioning perfectly.
>
> I've attempted to install 2.4.19, 2.4.21, and 2.6.0-test2. During a
> menuconfig, I specify the RealTek 8139 drivers to be installed as part of the
> kernel. However, when I reboot into the fresh kernel my NIC is undetected
> and I have no internet access. I must reboot into 2.2.0 if my NIC is to be
> used. I've even gone so far as to install _all_ RealTek drivers and no luck.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Bob
> --
> Comments are most appreciated,
>
> Robert Tilley
>
>

On my machine the older rtl8139.o "realtek driver" module worked just
fine with the 2.2.XX series, and the more recent 8139too.o "realtek
driver" module also worked. I normally used the older driver because I
was used to it & it worked. When the 2.4.XX kernels came out the older
driver module (rtl8139.o) didn't seem to be available and I had to
switch to the 8139too.o module. The need for this switch was not
immediately apparent, except I couldn't get my network going with the
new kernel... a sympto similar to yours.

You might check which module you are trying to load in the 2.4.XX kernel
series mentioned and make sure it is the more recent 8139too.o module.
The places to check are in your /etc/modules file and in modconf.

Cheers,
-Don Spoon-



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[Ron Johnson]

On Sun, 2003-08-03 at 17:02, Robert Tilley wrote:

> When I installed my system with the Debian 3.0 CD, kernel 2.2.0 was installed.
> I selected to install the RealTek 8139 drivers and my NIC has been
> functioning perfectly.
>
> I've attempted to install 2.4.19, 2.4.21, and 2.6.0-test2. During a
> menuconfig, I specify the RealTek 8139 drivers to be installed as part of the
> kernel. However, when I reboot into the fresh kernel my NIC is undetected
> and I have no internet access. I must reboot into 2.2.0 if my NIC is to be
> used. I've even gone so far as to install _all_ RealTek drivers and no luck.

I certainly hope you mean 2.2.20, instead of 2.2.0!!!

What problems did you have installing 2.4.19 and .21? They are
what you should be running. I have an 8139 working just fine
with 2.4.20.

Besides, how can we help you without specific data, like snippets
from /var/log/syslog and dmesg.

Also, if you are a Linux newbie, or a Linux vet who is more comfortable
with the auto-detection and GUI niceties that other distros offer,
you might want Libranet, instead. It's fully Debian compatible.
[url]http://www.libranet.com/download.html[/url]

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| Ron Johnson, Jr. Home: [email]ron.l.johnson@cox.net[/email] |
| Jefferson, LA USA |
| |
| "I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals, I'm a vegetarian |
| because I hate vegetables!" |
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[Antony Gelberg]

On Sun, Aug 03, 2003 at 06:02:58PM -0400, Robert Tilley wrote:

> When I installed my system with the Debian 3.0 CD, kernel 2.2.0 was installed.
> I selected to install the RealTek 8139 drivers and my NIC has been
> functioning perfectly.
>
> I've attempted to install 2.4.19, 2.4.21, and 2.6.0-test2. During a
> menuconfig, I specify the RealTek 8139 drivers to be installed as part of the
> kernel. However, when I reboot into the fresh kernel my NIC is undetected
> and I have no internet access. I must reboot into 2.2.0 if my NIC is to be
> used. I've even gone so far as to install _all_ RealTek drivers and no luck.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Bob
> --
> Comments are most appreciated,
>
> Robert Tilley

Are you sure you are comiling the driver into the kernel, rather than as
a module? The 8139 driver changed between 2.2 and 2.4, and is now
called 8139too. You could try a "modprobe 8139too" as root.

Antony


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