# PCMCIA Issues....

## Marthisdil

OK, following the install instructions, everything works great, UNTIL I rebot the machine.  It is unable to find the network, at all.  I can compile the kernel with, and without the pcmcia stuff built in, or as modules, and still doesn't find it.  Try and do a fresh install, and the network works great after doing the insmod stuff.  Just on the production machine it doesn't.

Any ideas?  I've put in pcmcia_core, i82365, and ds in modules.autoload, cardmgr says 'watching 2 sockets', but when the system tries to bring up eth0, it couldn't start it.

Thanks,

  M

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## delta407

Moved to Laptops forum, as it's PCMCIA-related.

Did you modify your /etc/init.d/net.eth0 file according to the install guide? Can you run "/etc/init.d/net.eth0 start" after the system has booted?

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## TomorrowPlusX

Somehow, magically, about a week ago my laptop stopped finding my pcmcia network card on boot. I'm baffled as to why. I have to assume its related to overzealous use of etc-update... what I observed, however, is that if I plug in the card *after* boot it will be recognized and  net.eth0 is started properly.

So, at least give a shot at unplugging/re-plugging it, to see if it's an issue of it being fired up too early.

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## chadh

 *delta407 wrote:*   

> Moved to Laptops forum, as it's PCMCIA-related.
> 
> Did you modify your /etc/init.d/net.eth0 file according to the install guide? Can you run "/etc/init.d/net.eth0 start" after the system has booted?

 

You do not need to manually start /etc/init.d/net.eth?  cardmgr will do that for you if you have everything set up properly.

As for the original question, you need to do the steps manually to see where the problem is.

1. # rc-update del pcmcia-cs

2. # rc-update del net.eth0

3. # shutdown -r now

4. after your system has rebooted, try the steps that work on the install CD, i.e. modprobe i82365; modprobe ds; cardmgr -f

5. # lsmod

    to see if cardmgr loaded the proper modules

I am assuming that you followed the instructions in this forum as far as configuring the kernel properly and installing pcmcia-cs.

What kind of laptop is this, BTW?

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## marthisdil

 *Quote:*   

> 4. after your system has rebooted, try the steps that work on the install CD, i.e. modprobe i82365; modprobe ds; cardmgr -f
> 
> 5. # lsmod
> 
>     to see if cardmgr loaded the proper modules
> ...

 

This is a Dell Lattitude LPtS - works great with RH 7.3, everything moves smoothly along in RH.

After doing everything suggested, I've reinstalled from scratch, put -pcmcia and nocardbud options in my make.conf, configured the kernel compile not to include cardbus or pcmcia support.  After compiling the kernel, did an emerge pcmcia-cs, and rebooted.  Logged into the machine, and did the following:

modprobe i82365

modprobe ds

cardmgr -f

cardmgr replied with cardmgr[1928]: watching 2 sockets

Rebooted, and did the same exact instructions as the install docs:

insmod pcmcia-cs

insmod i82365

insmod ds

cardmgr -f

Both return the same info of lsmod:

serial_cs

ds

i82365

pcmcia_core

Network card doesn't work.  It's a 3Com 3CCFE575CT-D card.

Hope this helps you help me figure out what the issue is!

Thanks!

  Jason

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## chadh

Okay.  That all looks good.  Now you have to check your logs for the cardmgr output.  You should be able to see what commands cardmgr executes when you insert your card (or when cardmgr starts if the card is already inserted).  You should see that it starts ./network eth0.  Any errors reported there would be helpful.

Also, is this interface using dhcp or a static ip?  You have configured /etc/conf.d/net, right?

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## marthisdil

 *chadh wrote:*   

> Okay.  That all looks good.  Now you have to check your logs for the cardmgr output.  You should be able to see what commands cardmgr executes when you insert your card (or when cardmgr starts if the card is already inserted).  You should see that it starts ./network eth0.  Any errors reported there would be helpful.
> 
> Also, is this interface using dhcp or a static ip?  You have configured /etc/conf.d/net, right?

 

Yes - I doublt-checked the /etc/conf.d/net file - eth0 is setup there for dhcp.  Looking at my log file, here's the order:

[cardmgr] watching 2 sockets

[cardmgr] starting, version is 3.1.33

[cardmgr] socket 0: CardBus hotplug device

[kernel] cs: memory probe 0xa0000000-0xa0ffffff: excluding 0xa000000-0xaffff

[cardmgr] socket 1: Serial or Modem

[cardmgr] executing: 'modprobe serial_cs'

[cardmgr] executing: './serial start ttyS2'

[kernel] cs: IO port probe 0x0100-0x04ff: excluding 0x280-0x287 0x378-0x37f 0x3c0-0x3df 0x4d0-0x4d7

[cardmgr] exiting

Hope this helps a little!

Jason

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## chadh

I wondered about that serial_cs module last time, and now I know something must not be right.  What module does RedHat use for your network card?

Have you tried using the kernel drivers for your card?  Maybe you don't need pcmcia-cs at all.

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## marthisdil

 *chadh wrote:*   

> I wondered about that serial_cs module last time, and now I know something must not be right.  What module does RedHat use for your network card?
> 
> Have you tried using the kernel drivers for your card?  Maybe you don't need pcmcia-cs at all.

 

Looking at the output of lsmod on my RH 7.3 box, it too loads serial_cs, for the network card, it appears to load 3c59x, also has a module called yenta_socket

the module pcmcia_core shows linking to serial_cs, ds, and yenta_socket

Thanks!

  Jason

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## chadh

yenta_socket is for the kernel drivers.  Try rebuilding your kernel with pcmcia support and support for your card and see if that works.  Instead of loading i82365, load yenta_socket.

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## marthisdil

 *chadh wrote:*   

> yenta_socket is for the kernel drivers.  Try rebuilding your kernel with pcmcia support and support for your card and see if that works.  Instead of loading i82365, load yenta_socket.

 

OK, compiled the kernel with PCMCIA/CardBus support, and had it compine the 3c589 module as well.  Still no network.  No yenta_socket driver either, even after re-emerging pcmcia-cs.  I try to modprobe 3c589_cs and it gives an error

Jason

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## chadh

And the error is?  Did you build in that serial_cs module (I am just not sure what that is for).  Have you tried googling on this?

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## marthisdil

 *chadh wrote:*   

> And the error is?  Did you build in that serial_cs module (I am just not sure what that is for).  Have you tried googling on this?

 

Chad, yeah - I've googled - it shows many instances of Linux users using the 3c589 module.  When I do an insmod 3c589_cs, here's the error I get:

using /lib/modules/2.4.19-gentoo-r7/kernel/drivers/net/pcmcia/3c589_cs.o: init_module: Operation not permitted

Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters.

The thing that boggles me ot no end, is that from the stage 1 1.2 boot cd, I can do the EXACT thing as the instructions, eth0 comes right up, no problem at all...

Thanks as always,

  Jason

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## chadh

Well, obviously, I don't have a clue what is going on.  My googling turned up problems with the card, but that was 2 years ago.  Since it works in RedHat and on the install, apparently they got those problems sorted out.

Have you tried different kernel (say the redhat kernel)?  I have to use those for some usb problems I have with the gentoo kernels.  You might also try the mjc kernel.  See if that make any difference.

Just for reference, the Gentoo boot CD does use pcmcia-cs, so that should work for you, but I can't explain why it doesn't.

You might also try pcmcia-cs-3.1.34-r7 or 3.1.35, our new ebuilds and see if they work any better.

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## marthisdil

 *chadh wrote:*   

> Well, obviously, I don't have a clue what is going on.  My googling turned up problems with the card, but that was 2 years ago.  Since it works in RedHat and on the install, apparently they got those problems sorted out.
> 
> Have you tried different kernel (say the redhat kernel)?  I have to use those for some usb problems I have with the gentoo kernels.  You might also try the mjc kernel.  See if that make any difference.
> 
> Just for reference, the Gentoo boot CD does use pcmcia-cs, so that should work for you, but I can't explain why it doesn't.
> ...

 

Thanks Chad - yeah, it's confused the heck out of me too.  Any ideas how I can get the .34-r7, .35 ebuild onto the system without a working network?  Possible for you to email it to me and I can place it on a floppy?

Thanks,

  Jason

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## chadh

You can get the ebuilds from viewcvs on http://www.gentoo.org . You also need to get the tarballs (either from the ibiblio link on gentoo.org or from http://pcmcia-cs.sf.net ).

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## marthisdil

OK, here's what I did to get it working:

Did a fresh, 100% install.  When it came time to compile the kernel and edit the /etc/make.conf beforehand, I didn't add ANYTHING to the USE line.  Only thing I did was make it a 686 specific compile.

In the kernel, I told it not to use PCMCIA/CardBus.  Compiled, continued on the installation.  After moving bzImage to /boot, I did an emerge pcmcia-cs to get the pcmcia stuff.

Once all was said, and done, I rebooted, logged in, without network support.

at the command prompt, did the following:

insmod pcmcia_core

insmod i82365

insmod ds

cardmgr -f

and the network card roared to life. Finally.  Now I get to fiddle with each setting I would normally make in the USE section to see what one is causing the issue.  Regardless, it's up and running.

NOW, what I need to know, is now I get it to do the above commands on bootup - do I put them in modules.autoload?

Thanks again,

  Jason

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## chadh

 *marthisdil wrote:*   

> 
> 
> at the command prompt, did the following:
> 
> insmod pcmcia_core
> ...

 

Put i82365 and ds in /etc/modules.autoload, and do a 

```
rc-update add pcmcia default
```

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## funkerts

I have a Gateway Solo NB and have found the following to work:

cd /lib/modules/2.4.20-xfs_pre6/kernel/drivers/pcmcia

modprobe ds<enter>

then run the cardmgr binary:

cardmgr<enter>

should get a message about 'watching two sockets' etc

if you do an ifconfig at this stage you should have eth0 interface; make sure that the NIC driver that you require is loaded:

cd /lib/modules/2.4.20-xfs_pre6/kernel/drivers/net/pcmcia

<note this is ONLY for a PCMCIA NIC; not a built-in NIC (mboard based)>

in my case: 3c589_cs.o (3com 10Mbps LAN+56K modem) or axnet_cs.o (generic 100Mbit PCMCIA NIC)

modprobe axnet_cs<enter>

then configure the PCMCIA NIC manually: (for a 192.168.0.0 network)

ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.100 broadcast 192.168.0.255 netmask 255.255.255.0<enter>

then chk you have a configured interface (eth0) just like in the Gentoo install manual <i.e. 'ifconfig'>

if needed, set your gateway as also described in the manual, then check using '/sbin/route'.

HTH   :Wink: 

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## dp

i have do all you do men .. but don't work  :Wink: 

Here's the errors :

SIOCSIFADDR: No such device

eth0: unknown interface: No such device

I have not compiled the kernel with PCMCIA options and i have downloaded the lastest version of pcmcia-cs (for standalone)

If someone can help me please ...

Thanks

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