Hi, First off, is this the correct place to get answers on kernel/driver problems? Should I instead post to debian-boot, should I email the kernel maintainer, or should I submit a bug report?
Now the problem ... I recently purchased a Gigabyte GA-8SIMLH motherboard. It has an onboard network card identified as a REALTEK RTL8100L LAN chip (see http://www.giga-byte.com/products/8simlh.htm). I installed woody using one of the mini-install CDs and that went fine with one exception. The 8139too module in kernel-2.2.20-idepci loads and drives this network card just fine. kernel-image-2.2.22 also works. In 2.2.22, 8139too.c claims to be driver version 0.9.18-2.2. The 8139too driver in woody's 2.4 kernels successfully loads and I can see eth0 (i.e. ifconfig eth0) but it simply isn't able to communicate on the network. kernel-image-2.4.18-686, kernel-image-2.4.20-686 (from proposed updates) and the 2.4 boot floppy kernel (2.4bf?) all show this problem. 8139too.c in 2.4.20 claims to be driver version 0.9.26. I get the message "NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out" when using the 2.4 kernels and no successful network communication occurs. mii-tool show a successfully negotiated 100baseTX-FD connection According to Donald Becker this chip has been supported for quite a while (see http://www.tux.org/hypermail/linux-eepro100/2001-Oct/0002.html). An interesting side note is that the kernel from Redhat 8.0 (2.4.18-14) works fine. The driver in Redhat's kernel claims to be version 0.9.25 but they are patching it. The redhat kernel has the same options selected regarding the 8139too (driver as a module and support for older boards is checked). Redhat's 2.4.18-14 actually seems to be more a 2.4.19 kernel since they apply the following patch: ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/testing/patch-2.4.19-rc1.bz2 The above patch does modify the 8139too driver. Can anyone suggest a course of action? I have no problem with compiling my own kernels but since the redhat kernel works with the same options as Debian's kernel I'm not sure what a recompile might accomplish without patching. Thanks for any help! -- Fraser Campbell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://wehave.net/ Brampton, Ontario, Canada Debian GNU/Linux -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
