# Ethernet intel eepro100 problem

## tigrezno

Hi all, i'm new to gentoo and i'm doing a new instalation of 1.2 version. My trouble is that eepro100 driver that comes with the kernel is erroneous and it doesnt let me download anything. Intel has support for linux, e100 tgz, but needs compilation. I have stage1 of gentoo, so it has not gcc yet.

Any solution? I'm trying downloading stage3 in order to compile.

Bye.

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## RebelYell

 *tigrezno wrote:*   

> Hi all, i'm new to gentoo and i'm doing a new instalation of 1.2 version. My trouble is that eepro100 driver that comes with the kernel is erroneous and it doesnt let me download anything. Intel has support for linux, e100 tgz, but needs compilation. I have stage1 of gentoo, so it has not gcc yet.
> 
> Any solution? I'm trying downloading stage3 in order to compile.
> 
> Bye.

 

Never tried eepro100 driver in gentoo, but seems to be just fine on other distros, slackware for example. Are you sure is just that specific kernel driver? Do you see any errors when the driver is loaded?

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## tigrezno

 *RebelYell wrote:*   

>  *tigrezno wrote:*   Hi all, i'm new to gentoo and i'm doing a new instalation of 1.2 version. My trouble is that eepro100 driver that comes with the kernel is erroneous and it doesnt let me download anything. Intel has support for linux, e100 tgz, but needs compilation. I have stage1 of gentoo, so it has not gcc yet.
> 
> Any solution? I'm trying downloading stage3 in order to compile.
> 
> Bye. 
> ...

 

Yes, i was using redhat and mandrake, both with intel e100 because eepro100 always break down. I have seen the same problem in other mailing lists.

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## tigrezno

Finally, stage 3 let me compile intel drivers, but i couldn't install XFS on my partition because i need to download kernel sources. That drivers didn't  work because of disfferent version between instalation and boot kernels. So, i installed EXT2 and finally the net drivers.

Bye

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## toxborrow

you should go with the e100 drivers you found from intel, the ones provided with the stock kernel ATM are not the best in all cases (such as mine).

I've got a Sony Vaio, which comes with a eepro100 NIC, and its practically useless with with the stock driver as after a few seconds of activity i get the error:

```
eepro100: wait_for_cmd_done timeout!
```

and the driver will not send or receive anything.

This made it *impossible* for me to install Gentoo (from stage1) on the laptop. Sicne I couldnt rsync files to build or scp files off my desktop machine.

A bit later I found out about the e100 driver from Intel (the guys who made the network card in the first place) not only does it work, but it is already included in the 2.5 kernel (or planned to be), so it's not some random module that wont be updated.

Yes you do have to compile it by hand, it's not difficult... IIRC:

```
make

make install
```

Is that really so hard?

Sure you have to do that after every new kernel install, but the same goes for NVidia, wlan and ALSA drivers.

Once it's compiled I added 'e100' to my /etc/modules.autoload and hey presto my laptop is now usable!

Note, after adding e100 to my modules.autoload Gentoo complains during boot that it can't calculate module dependancies, but it appears to be just a warning and the boot carrys on fine.

I've searched google dry trying to find ways to get the stock driver to work, but what few useful pages I could find, none helped.

download e100 driver

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## toxborrow

as to how I installed it from State 1, I kinda cheated.

I got as far as I could with the stage 1 install (the bootstrap bit I believe, or maybe the rsync bit).

The laptop was preloaded with win2k and the driver is ok (although not perfect) so i scp'ed /usr/portage from my desktop (using cygwin) to the laptop, then... here comes the real cheat... used my Sorcerer Linux boot CD which has FAT32 support, I mounted the Linux and windows partitions, moved the files over to the relevant place on the Linux partition and rebooted with the Gentoo CD to continue installing.

 :Wink: 

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## mksoft

This is strange. I've used eepro100 NICs (using eepro100 driver) in different machines and with different distros, no problems there.

What kind of errors are you getting ?

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## Ferdy

I'm using a Compaq Evo N600c with the eepro100 driver and kernel 2.4.18, and only sometimes it fails with the flipping error, if you re-try, you woll get it working

HTH

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## TripKnot

eepros are junk, especially when used in Dell laptops but I did solve my problems with it.  when installing the first thing to do at the prompt is type:

modprobe -r eepro100

modprobe eepro100 options=0x10

this unloads the eepro100 driver then reloads it but sets it to 10mbit (can't remember if its half or full duplex).  This is the only way I can get it to work at all, in gentoo, windows or any other OS.

Once everything is installed, make sure to compile the eepro100 driver as a module.  In the /etc/modules.autoload file use the line:

eepro100 options=0x10

this seems to solve my problems completely, YMMV.

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## pilla

I have a Thinkpad T23 with an 

Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller (rev 41)

and it works with eepro100 drivers compiled into the kernel... I' ve heard about problems with this driver and this nic, but it works OK in latest kernels (2.4.19 at least). I've tried to compile e100 in Conectiva Linux (2.4.1 :Cool:  but I couldn' t, had some problems there. But eepro100 worked, so no problems at all in both cases.

Edit=> I don't know why, but my eighteen turned on a emoticon!

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## nE0

 *TripKnot wrote:*   

> eepros are junk, especially when used in Dell laptops but I did solve my problems with it.  when installing the first thing to do at the prompt is type:
> 
> ...
> 
> 

 

You may think it is junk, but it could also be, that your Dell laptop is using an own NIC, with a Intel chip.

I've had my Intel EtherExpress Pro 10/100 for a few years now, and it has NEVER let me down.

It does not matter wich kernel I'm running, it is always supported.

Also the stock kernel from the gentoo 1.2 CD works perfect.

 :Wink: 

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## GreyCrow

I'm using Intel NICs as PCI-Card in two PCs (one is W2K, the other one a Gentoo Box) and finally one is integrated into my notebook (Toshiba).

You could be right by saying, the Dells using their own.

All of mine are working with the eepro100 driver proposed at install-time perfectly!

Just my 0.02$

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## Hellfire

I have 100+ eepro's deployed here on various systems and all are the best thing since sliced bread IMHO. Linux-wise I've never had a problem with the kernel eepro100 driver under Slack, Debian or Gentoo.

That said, I almost always install the intel supplied driver after I've finalized the kernel for the particular machine I'm using.

-h

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## duanecu

I just wanted to say thanks to TripKnot, it was this that fixed my lil' red wagon:

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> modprobe -r eepro100
> 
> modprobe eepro100 options=0x10
> ...

 

I have a Pentium 4 PC (non-name brand), and the intergrated Intel EthernetPro 10/100 NIC on an Intel motherboard and was getting the same error everyone else is describing:

```
eepro100: wait_for_cmd_done timeout!
```

But this was not due to heat or stress. It seems this was a bug in the driver (I'm looking forward to the new e100 driver). Winblowz works the card fine, even at 100 MB - heck, I even downloaded a Gentoo ISO.

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## pilla

My eepro 100 works great, unless I use it first in windows, then it has problems to get an address from DHCP server.

Red Hat doesn't seem to have the same issue.

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## bzImage

 *TripKnot wrote:*   

> 
> 
> modprobe -r eepro100
> 
> modprobe eepro100 options=0x10
> ...

 

But with the 1.4 gentoo release all the network drivers are in kernel not as modules, so what can i do in order to install a 1.4 gentoo with  a intel pro 100 network card ?

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## TripKnot

Ok, did some more research.  I have personally never boot from the 1.4 CD or done a 1.4 install, still using 1.2 here.  Does it give you the option to pass kernel params during boot?  If so you can add the following param:

ether=0,0,0x10,eth0

This is according to:

http://www.scyld.com/network/eepro100.html

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## Mnemia

 *TripKnot wrote:*   

> Ok, did some more research.  I have personally never boot from the 1.4 CD or done a 1.4 install, still using 1.2 here.  Does it give you the option to pass kernel params during boot?  If so you can add the following param:
> 
> ether=0,0,0x10,eth0
> 
> This is according to:
> ...

 

Thank you!!! You just solved my eepro100 problem (I didn't want to have to use a module). My instability problems (ala toxborrow) are gone!

Oddly enough, the kernel error message above (and the subsequent dropped connection) only cropped up for me when I plugged into a specific switch in my school's LAN (anywhere else it was fine). I'll try to find out what brand and model of switch it is and let you guys know to see if you have any kind of similar situation...

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## bzImage

no, i can't.

The boot process of the CD dont allows me to specify any parameter.

Guys, you already know since 1.2 that the epro 100 driver was faulty, why you dont put the e100 driver on 1.4 ?????

How can i install with a 1.4 live cd if i have a intel ether express pro 100 ?

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## TripKnot

Ok,  I finally got around to installing 1.4_RC1 on my laptop that uses this problamatic eepro nic, AND I got it working.

It seems that the connect state of the nic is not reset upon reboots or when the driver is loaded unless the connect speed is explicitly declared.

This can be taken advantage of in a very clever way.  

1: Boot the 1.2Gentoo cd

2: modprobe -r eepro100

3: modprobe eepro100 options=0x10

The nic should now be in 10half

4: reboot with the 1.4_RC1 cd

hopefully the nic stayed in 10half mode (like mine did) and you can dhcpcd eth0 whatever and continue on with the rest of the install

Mnemia, this problem creeps up with my linksys switch and my old roommates switch (can't remember the brand), it works fine on my linksys router with built in switch, weird.

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## stephelton

 *TripKnot wrote:*   

> Ok, did some more research.  I have personally never boot from the 1.4 CD or done a 1.4 install, still using 1.2 here.  Does it give you the option to pass kernel params during boot?  If so you can add the following param:
> 
> ether=0,0,0x10,eth0
> 
> This is according to:
> ...

 

This solved my problem, FYI

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## kezzla

This:

ether=0,0,0x10,eth0

Works GREAT ! Thanks !

and I concur the error only happens when plugged into a 10mb/half hub.

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