asked on

installing FreeBSD 4.5 on a MS-6378 main board

I wasted over an hour trying to install FreeBSD 4.5 on a new einux 1-u server. The main board is a MS-6378 board with a ADMtek AN983B on board nic card.

The "nic" is found during the install

dc0: <ADMtek AN985 10/100BaseTX> port 0xe800-0xe8ff mem 0xd8000000-0xd80003ff irq 11 at device 15.0 on pci0

and I'm able to configure the "dc0" DEC/Intell 241143 (and clone)

I can ping the ip address of the card but can't ping the gateway. I checked my subnet and gateway and cable they are all correct. I get a link light on the hub.

I wonder if the problem is the ADM PXE bootROM. I tried a couple of settings.

The box takes forever to load and hangs on "sendmail" for about 3 minutes before booting to a root prompt.

But still no joy.

HELP !!!

Andrew

jlevie

Hmm, there could be a number of reasons that networking isn't functioning.

There could have a link speed/mode mismatch between the NIC and whatever it connects to. 'ifconfig dc0' will tell you what speed and mode the NIC is using. That has to match what the other end is using, like 10HDX or 100HDX for 10Mbps or 100Mbps hub, respectively. If the other end is a switch the link could operate in any mode, but 100FDX would be the most likely. in the case of managed switched you could ask the switch what mode that port is in.

There could be an interrupt conflict, where two devices are both attempting to use IRQ 11, which can allow transmitted ping packets out, but fail to see the return packet. One symptom of this is a positive Opkts count in the output of 'netstat -i dc0' but a zero value for Ipkts. You can also see that happening by running a sniffer on another machine in the same collision domain. If the sniffer sees the outgoing packet and the return you know that the problem is isolated to the NIC/driver on the FreeBSD box.

It's always a good idea to be sure that the cable and port are good. Simply having a link light doesn't indicate that there's a usable link.

And then there's the possibility that the driver simply isn't compatible with that card.

duficy

ASKER

The speed matched, sniffer showed nothing. I spoke to einux.com the guys that sold me the computer. They say they problem is with the NIC and FreeBSD. I will buy another mainboard.

Thanks ,

Andrew

duficy

ASKER

The speed matched, sniffer showed nothing. I spoke to einux.com the guys that sold me the computer. They say they problem is with the NIC and FreeBSD. I will buy another mainboard.

Thanks ,

Andrew

jlevie

Yeah, it's always good to check with a vendor if they are knowledgeble...

duficy

ASKER

>>
Yeah, it's always good to check with a vendor if they are knowledgeble...
>>

My mistake has been assuming they know nothing. The guys at einux were pretty knowledgeable.

jlevie

Right, some are and some aren't. I learned quite a while back that it was more efficient to not spend too much time fiddling with a problem like this before calling the vendor. Sometimes they don't have a clue, but often they do or can point you to someone/someplace that does.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

SyOpReigm

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

duficy

ASKER

Thanks for the info. I sent the box back. But it sounds like your solution would have worked.