Win98 causes system locks & syslog eth0 errors in RH9

[Ipsec Espah]

I've got a dual boot with Win98SE and RH9 and a 3com 3C905B-TX Fast Ethernet NIC. If i boot to Windows and then boot to Linux, in Linux every 5 seconds or so my PC will lock for a few seconds. To solve this problem all i have to do is reboot to Linux again and the problem goes away until the next time i reboot to Linux after using Windows. Heres the error that is continuously showing up in my logs whenever my system locks up.

Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: eth0: transmit timed out, tx_status ff status ffff.
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: diagnostics: net ffff media ffff dma ffffffff.
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: eth0: Transmitter encountered 16 collisions -- network cable problem?
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: eth0: Interrupt posted but not delivered -- IRQ blocked by another device?
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: Flags; bus-master 1, dirty 0(0) current 16(0)
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: Transmit list ffffffff vs. ce6f9200.
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: eth0: command 0x3002 did not complete! Status=0xffff
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 0: @ce6f9200 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 1: @ce6f9240 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 2: @ce6f9280 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 3: @ce6f92c0 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 4: @ce6f9300 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 5: @ce6f9340 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 6: @ce6f9380 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 7: @ce6f93c0 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 8: @ce6f9400 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 9: @ce6f9440 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 10: @ce6f9480 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 11: @ce6f94c0 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 12: @ce6f9500 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 13: @ce6f9540 length 8000002a status 0000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 14: @ce6f9580 length 8000002a status 8000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: 15: @ce6f95c0 length 8000002a status 8000002a
Apr 10 13:23:58 localhost kernel: eth0: command 0x5800 did not complete! Status=0xffff

[cowanrl]

Exactly what are you doing when you say you are booting into Win98, then booting in to Linux? How are you getting from Win98 to Linux?
What's the difference between that and just booting into Linux?

It almost acts like when you are booting from Win98 to Linux, the machine is only doing a soft reset and the PCI bus isn't being initialized properly.

When you go from Win98 to Linux, you may have to force your machine to do a hard reset. If your computer has a reset button on it, press it after Win98 shuts down successfully to force the hard reset. If you don't have a reset button, you may have to recycle the power to force the hard reset and initialize the PCI bus.

Also, check to be sure that if you have a setting in the computer's BIOS for "PnP OS" that it is set to "No".

[Hayl]

to add to that, most bios have a "long reset" option for pci. turning that on may help.

[Ipsec Espah]

Exactly what are you doing when you say you are booting into Win98, then booting in to Linux?
Anything or nothing. If i'm in Linux and everything is working fine and i just reboot to Win98 then as soon as it loads, reboot back to Linux i get that problem. Or even if i'm in Win98 and shutdown, then later when i do a cold boot i boot to Linux i get that same problem.

How are you getting from Win98 to Linux?
Normal reboot and use Grub to select Linux or Windows

What's the difference between that and just booting into Linux?
Nothing. If i'm in Windows and want to get to Linux i have to reboot then in Grub select Linux and once Linux is loaded i don't even have to login, i can just select restart, then in Grub select Linux again and everything will work fine.

It almost acts like when you are booting from Win98 to Linux, the machine is only doing a soft reset and the PCI bus isn't being initialized properly.

When you go from Win98 to Linux, you may have to force your machine to do a hard reset. If your computer has a reset button on it, press it after Win98 shuts down successfully to force the hard reset. If you don't have a reset button, you may have to recycle the power to force the hard reset and initialize the PCI bus.
Tried that with no luck :(

Also, check to be sure that if you have a setting in the computer's BIOS for "PnP OS" that it is set to "No".

I should also note that when Linux is booting it hangs for a good 3-5 minutes when trying to bring up eth0. Then it says OK and continues loading and floods my syslog with the collision errors once loaded. If its my second time loading Linux it pauses for just maybe 5-10 seconds before saying it was OK and loading Linux with no problems.

Also i have had this problem with RH 7 and all of the 8 versions, and possibly with some previous versions of Mandrake. Except with earlier versions of RH the only way i could get Linux to work properly right after rebooting from Win98 was to change some setting having to do with my eth0 interface. It is just that now I plan on keeping Linux since this is the first distro i have tried in which other than this one problem it seems to be working fine.

I don't think it is a DHCP problem since i have statically assigned my IP addresses in both OS's and have tried releasing my IP information in Windows before i rebooted to Linux...

[cowanrl]

Or even if i'm in Win98 and shutdown, then later when i do a cold boot i boot to Linux i get that same problem.

I assume by this you mean that the computer powers down, then you hit the off/on button to power it back up again.

If you're in Linux and you power down, then back up and go straight back in to Linux, does it start up OK?

When you do a shutdown from Win98, try unplugging the power cord from the computer for about 10 seconds. Most of the newer power supplies/motherboards will keep power to the bus to support things like Wake on Lan even when the computer is turned off. That's why sometimes you'll see a link light on a NIC even when the computer is turned off.

Even if that did let Linux start up without a problem, I know that's no solution to your problem. That would sure be a pain in the neck evertime you wanted to go from Win98 to Linux. At least it would confirm that the driver in Win98 is making some kind of settings to the NIC that the Linux driver can't tolerate.

Are you using the latest drivers from 3Com for the NIC in Win98?

If removing the power completely from the computer doesn't cure it, it sure is a mystery to me. I think every machine I have that is running Linux is using a 3Com 3C905x NIC. I've never had any problems with them. But, I've never dual booted with Win98 either.

[Ipsec Espah]

I assume by this you mean that the computer powers down, then you hit the off/on button to power it back up again.
correct

If you're in Linux and you power down, then back up and go straight back in to Linux, does it start up OK?
yup

When you do a shutdown from Win98, try unplugging the power cord from the computer for about 10 seconds. Most of the newer power supplies/motherboards will keep power to the bus to support things like Wake on Lan even when the computer is turned off. That's why sometimes you'll see a link light on a NIC even when the computer is turned off.
Wow. The link light was off but unplugging the power cord like you said actually fixed it. It even brought the eth0 up faster than it did when i went from Linux to Linux... I was in such disbelief that i typed in the root password for my normal user 3 times :D You sir definately know your stuff. Thank you.

Even if that did let Linux start up without a problem, I know that's no solution to your problem. That would sure be a pain in the neck evertime you wanted to go from Win98 to Linux. At least it would confirm that the driver in Win98 is making some kind of settings to the NIC that the Linux driver can't tolerate.
yeah but its nice knowing what the problem is after all this time, 4-5 versions of Redhat, posting on numerous forums, countless hours dinking around with it, and i'd say about half a million reboots. :D

Are you using the latest drivers from 3Com for the NIC in Win98?
yup

If removing the power completely from the computer doesn't cure it, it sure is a mystery to me. I think every machine I have that is running Linux is using a 3Com 3C905x NIC. I've never had any problems with them. But, I've never dual booted with Win98 either.

Is buying a different NIC going to be the only way i'm going to be able to get rid of this problem? If so thats fine with me because it would definately be worth it...

[cowanrl]

Originally posted by Ipsec Espah
Is buying a different NIC going to be the only way i'm going to be able to get rid of this problem? If so thats fine with me because it would definately be worth it...

That's a tough one. If someone asks me what type of NIC to buy, I usually recommend the 3Coms. I also like the Intels and I'll usually use one or the other.

But, there are lots of other NICs out there and I know folks use them with great success in Linux. Since you can by 10/100 NICs for under $20, it'd be worth a try.

I think I'd look at Red Hat's Hardware Compatibility List and be sure to buy one that's on it. But then again, I'm sure the 3Com one is on the list so I guess that's no guarantee.

I know I couldn't put up with having to power down when I wanted to go from Win98 to Linux. But my solution would be to get rid of Win98 or put Linux on a separate machine. I realize that's not an option for everyone though.

One other side note: Since we've proved your motherboard/power supply combo is leaving power to the bus even when the machine is turned off, be sure to unplug the power if you swap the NIC.

[Ipsec Espah]

Alright, i'll give Intel a try... Hopefully i'll have some better luck with it :) Thanks for your help.

[LrngTheHardWay]

Hmmm.....very strange.
Never saw anything like that with 3com cards--in similar circumstances.
You might consider Linksys NICs. I've seen 'em work well under identical conditions.