Asus P4PE mobo + MSI G4Ti4600VTD-128 + SuSEv8.1 Pro = No Lan/Audio

[jqpdev]

Hello all,

I'm struggling here. My board has the broadcom 4401 10/100 embedded nic. I can complete the SUSE install, login and get to the desktop. However, I can not get networking to work properly. I compiled and installed the driver and I fudged the settings for about 3 days non-stop. I made changes to the settings ad-hoc style vs. methodically modifying and documenting every single change to the system.

I've reinstalled twice to reduce the amount of stuff I installed. I even tried disabling the onboard nic and popping in a 3Com 3c905B-TX PCI card. I'm unable to get 3com driver working. Thus far I got the broadcom 4401 driver to load and eth0 to move to an UP state with a static address. I can ping loop-back and the static address. However, I can not:
- surf the web,
- ping the default gateway,
- ping my other windows PC's

I'ved read the manual sections related to networking, and hardware install. I've searched the help/support area of SuSE website to no avail. Your advice and insight are greatly appreciated. Here is some background info about my sitaution:

Problem SuSE Install:
- Thermaltake Xaser-II A6000A aluminum case with big window & 5 fans.
- Pentium-4 2.4Ghz
- 512MB RAM DDR333
- Asus mobo P4PE with SATA, 1394, USB2.0, IDE-RAID, 10/100 NIC, SoundMax AC'97 AUDIO.
- MSI G4Ti4600VTD 128 (nVidia card)
- 400 Watt PS
- Lite On 16X DVD-ROM
- Plextor PlexWriter 48/24/48
- WD EIDE 80Gig Hard Drive (jbond 7200rpm)
- SuSE v8.1 Pro (English)
- /dev/hda1(10gig) = Win XP Pro SP-1 (NTFS 5.1) *** working no problems ***
- /dev/had2(20gig) = Extra Space for Win apps/Delphi v7 Development (NTFS 5.1)
- /dev/hda3 (10gig) = SuSE v8.1 Pro, root of file system (ReiserFS) ** No LAN/Audio **
- /dev/hda4 (1gig) = swap
- GRUB installed on /dev/hda3
- hostname = suse81linux, dns name=local
- IP=192.168.2.242, Mask=255.255.255.0, Gateway=192.168.2.1 (static addressing)

Firewall/Router/DHCP Server/Switch:
- Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router
- WAN Interface IP = DHCP From ISP
- Internal Interface: IP=192.168.2.1, Mask=255.255.255.0
- Connected to Cable/DSL device
- DHCP scope = 192.168.2.100 to 192.168.2.150

Other Working XP Pro system:
- Exact same hardware components as above, but running Win XP Pro only.
- IP=192.168.2.241, Mask=255.255.255.0, Gateway=192.168.2.1 (static addressing)

When I tested the system with the 3Com NIC, I first disabled the on-board NIC via BIOS.

[bdl]

From what I can understand, you're not necessarily having trouble with the 4401 LAN hardware / module but with getting a proper route to the net.

I can see two potential problems from your post.

First off, are you manually loading the module and then using 'ifconfig' to get eth0 up? If so, have you actually created a proper routing table to access your gateway? Here's what would be the appropriate method for getting on the internet once you've got the hardware / module issue solved.
Use these commands from the CLI / xterm:

lsmod bcm4400
ifconfig eth0 192.168.2.242 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
route add default gw 192.168.2.1 metric 1


Using those simple commands from the CLI you should easily be able to ping your gateway and any address on the net. Also make sure your /etc/resolv.conf file contains your ISP's DNS servers.

The other problem might be simply that you have your gateway configured to hand out DHCP addresses (which I noted in your post - 192.168.2.100 ~ 192.168.2.150). In case you didn't notice, the span of available DHCP addresses is smaller than the addresses you've give your machine, and you've taken the step to create static addresses for your two machines. Disabling DHCP on your gateway may be necessary.

Hope this is useful, please post back any results.


As an afterthought, if you're having problems with the onboard sound controller (AC'97 AD1980 chipset), take a look at my post about using the Alsa sound drivers for that.

http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=87513

[jqpdev]

Thanks for the reply.

I imediately did ifdown eth0. Next I keyed in the commands as listed in your reply. However, I'm still getting destination host unreachable.

Here is what ping gives me:
PING 192.168.2.1 (192.168.2.1) from 192.168.2.242
From 192.168.2.242 icmp_seq1 Destination Host Unreachable
.... icmp_seq2 .... Unreachable
.... icmp_seq3 .... Unreachable

Here is what I get from "route -n":
192.168.2.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 192.168.2.1 0.0.0.0 UG 1 0 0 eth0

I even tried disabling the dhcp server on my router and set my other windows PC to 192.168.2.241 mask=255.255.255.0.

I notice that the ipv6 network module is loaded. Could it be that the ipv6 is getting the way? Is the ipv6 module a requirement for the network subsystem to function properly?

[bdl]

Hmm. We may be talking about a defective cable or some other hardware here. Try swapping cables on the machine you're having trouble with, see if that helps. Next I'd go the route of adding another NIC to the system ( I notice you already tried that, but I'd try again anyway, use the default 3c59x module for that 3com 905 NIC you have). Try swapping NICs and cables, you might even try plugging it into the same port that your Windows machine is now plugged into, maybe that particular port on your gateway is bad.

[jqpdev]

I went digging through some old CDs and found a copy of RedHat 7.2. I formatted the SuSe partition and install RHL 7.2. I could not boot straight to the GUI because RHL didn't recognize my hardware properly. However, networking was working. I was able to ping my router/gateway, my other windows PC, www.yahoo.com, www.google.com. I ftp'ed to the windows box, and telnet'ed from the windows box to RHL box. Here are the settings that I used during the RHL install: IP=192.168.2.1, Mask=255.255.255.0, Gateway=192.168.2.1, DNS=167.206.3.145. I never executed the route statement. It just worked. I did some checking and found that RHL 7.2 is not using IPv6. So, since I couldn't boot to the GUI, I figured that I would reinstall the SUSE 8.1 Pro and attempt to disable the IPv6.

I did just that and used the above static IP settings during the install of suse. I rem'ed the IPv6 line in the modules.conf file and rebooted. The 3Com card was recognized and is using the 3c95x.o driver instead of the 3c90x.o file. Pinging the loop address and the IP address above works fine. However, when I ping the router/gateway there is a long 5 to 8 second delay and then I get replies. The replies have huge time delays time = 8807, 4312, 18772, 34899, 147661, etc. I then executed the route state that you prescribed. "route -n" reveals a duplicate route. Next pinging exhibits the same huge time delays. I tried swapping the cables between the linux and windows boxes and that had no effect. I tried moving the linux PC to another port on the Linksys router/gateway and that had no effect either.

The SuSE package is having trouble. I don't yet know how to troubleshoot the problem and craft a solution. This can be very frustrating.

[jqpdev]

After bludgeoning my head against the SUSE wall, I decided to try Mandrake v9. I downloaded it, burned it to CD and installed it. I've installed it, but I'm back to the same spot... the NIC is recognized, IP/Mask/Gate are assigned, but no internet access. Next I thought that the problem may have been naming services, since I don't have a DNS server setup behind my firewall/router. I figured a simple setup in the hosts file would do it, but nope!

I tried pinging the mdk9 box from my 2nd box (WinXP Pro) and it just give me request time out errors. Thus far I believe I've ruled out the IPv6 issue, since I'm running mdk9 and lsmod doesn't show IPv6 module. It is as thought the NIC wont send or receive.

I tried swapping for another 3com card but I get the same problem.:confused:

Any ideas on troubleshooting/correcting techniques? Should I post additional info. about my configuration? If so then what info. should I provide?

[jqpdev]

I reseated the my 3Com nic into the same slot and restarted the PC and it worked. I am now able to browse the web, ping my xp box, check my web email accounts, job email accounts,etc.

I contacted SuSE's support line in the USA and got nowhere. I then turned also to Mandrake's Expert support lines and club forums. I was asked to post the contents of several config. files (resolv.conf, modules.conf, /etc/sysconfig/network, and more). I was also asked to post info about PCI settings and parts of the /proc fs tree.

Now that I've got the 3Com PCI NIC working I will try removing the 3Com and re-enabling my embedded Broadcom 4401 nic. Also, I am still stuck without audio. So I'm currently taking suggestions and advice. I'm also pawing through how-to's, user manuals,and forum posts.

[jqpdev]

I'm finally using my Broadcom 4401 embedded nic. I just removed the 3com NIC from the

system, commented the alias line for the 3com, added an alias line for the broadcom nic

in /etc/modules.conf and restarted. eth0 comes up just fine and I can get on the web.

I got audio working, but its a bit strange. I have sound output coming out of the mic

port instead of the standard analog output. I used mandrake's sound config. However,

it took me about two days to get it to work. I eventually went to www.alsa-project.org

to gather additional information.

My Asus P4PE motherboard (www.asus.com) has embedded AC'97 audio components from

SoundMax (www.soundmax.com). However, I believe its based on Intel's chipset specs. I

noticed that it was being recognized as "i810_audio". This was the critical piece of

info. for me, because I was able to find the info. I needed at the alsa-project website

quickly.

For those of you who have AC'97 audio components hit the alsa-project website if you

are having trouble getting sound working. Try connecting your speakers to mic port. I

have cheappy Altec Lansing ACS43 speakers, so my setup is quite simple compared to a

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound setup (I'll get that maybe when I get $125K per year

salary).

Below have some diagnostic info. that may be of use to some of us newb's and psuedo-newbs.

Here is the *before state* of my '/etc/modules.conf' file when sound didn't work.
Also before I removed the 3com NIC:
-------------------------------------------------------
alias autofs autofs4
probeall scsi_hostadapter ide-scsi
alias eth0 3c59x
alias sound-slot-0 i810_audio
probeall usb-interface usb-uhci ehci-hcd
alias ieee1394-controller ohci1394



Here is the *AFTER state* of my '/etc/modules.conf' file with sound working and Broadcom 4401 NIC working:
-------------------------------------------------------
alias autofs autofs4
probeall scsi_hostadapter ide-scsi

### this was for the 3com nic 3c905b-tx 10/100
# alias eth0 3c59x
#########

alias eth0 bcm4400

alias sound-slot-0 snd-intel8x0
probeall usb-interface usb-uhci ehci-hcd
alias ieee1394-controller ohci1394
above snd-intel8x0 snd-pcm-oss



Here is what lsmod shows *AFTER* setting up Broadcom NIC, and changing audio:
-------------------------------------------------------
Module Size Used by Not tainted
sr_mod 15096 0 (autoclean) (unused)
floppy 49340 0 (autoclean)
autofs4 9340 2 (autoclean)
parport_pc 21672 1 (autoclean)
lp 6720 0 (autoclean)
parport 23936 1 (autoclean) [parport_pc lp]
snd-seq-oss 26176 0 (unused)
snd-seq-midi-event 3208 0 [snd-seq-oss]
snd-seq 33264 2 [snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event]
snd-pcm-oss 36932 0 (unused)
snd-mixer-oss 9016 0 [snd-pcm-oss]
snd-intel8x0 10880 2
snd-ac97-codec 25508 0 [snd-intel8x0]
snd-pcm 55808 2 [snd-pcm-oss snd-intel8x0]
snd-timer 9964 0 [snd-seq snd-pcm]
snd-mpu401-uart 2752 0 [snd-intel8x0]
snd-rawmidi 12864 0 [snd-mpu401-uart]
snd-seq-device 3836 0 [snd-seq-oss snd-seq snd-rawmidi]
snd 24804 0 [snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event snd-seq snd-pcm-oss

snd-mixer-oss snd-intel8x0 snd-ac97-codec snd-pcm snd-timer snd-mpu401-uart snd-rawmidi

snd-seq-device]
soundcore 3780 0 [snd]
nfsd 66576 0 (autoclean)
lockd 46480 0 (autoclean) [nfsd]
sunrpc 60188 0 (autoclean) [nfsd lockd]
ip_vs 74328 0 (autoclean)
af_packet 13000 0 (autoclean)
bcm4400 28224 1 (autoclean)
ohci1394 16812 0 (unused)
ieee1394 31532 0 [ohci1394]
supermount 14340 3 (autoclean)
ide-cd 28712 0
cdrom 26848 0 [sr_mod ide-cd]
ide-scsi 8212 0
scsi_mod 90372 2 [sr_mod ide-scsi]
ehci-hcd 14472 0 (unused)
usb-uhci 21676 0 (unused)
usbcore 58304 1 [ehci-hcd usb-uhci]
rtc 6560 0 (autoclean)
reiserfs 169776 2