# Network Failure

## SnackMasterX

Hello,

I am having issues with trying to get eth0 to show on my laptop and was wondering is somebody might be able to offer a helping hand in this problem. When I run lspci on my machine under the minimal install CD it can't really recognize any hardware however I do have an nForce network controller and I have tried running net-setup however it can only detect my 1394 adapter. I appreciate any help that can be provided. Some more information that might be helpful in knowing to finding a resolution is that this is a Compaq Presario V6500Z with an AMD Turion 64 X2 and the chipset is an nForce 430M. If any more information is needed please let me know.

Thanks in Advance!

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## poly_poly-man

please give full lspci here. 

Also, might it be diabled in bios? Often the stupid answers are right  :Wink: 

poly-p man

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## SnackMasterX

I'm sorry, I'm rusty on gentoo, haven't used it in a couple years, I forgot how to export the lspci output into a file, could you please tell me the command?

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## poly_poly-man

either just

```
lspci
```

 (as root) and copy/paste the output, or 

```
lspci > [filename]
```

and you have a file

Geez, it really has been a while for you, hasn't it   :Laughing: 

poly-p man

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## SnackMasterX

I swear the person who invented the flash drive was a genius!   :Very Happy: 

00:00.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0547 (rev a2)

00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0548 (rev a2)

00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0542 (rev a2)

00:01.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0541 (rev a2)

00:01.3 Co-processor: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0543 (rev a2)

00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 055e (rev a2)

00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 055f (rev a2)

00:04.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 055e (rev a2)

00:04.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 055f (rev a2)

00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0560 (rev a1)

00:07.0 Audio device: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 055c (rev a1)

00:08.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0561 (rev a2)

00:09.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0550 (rev a2)

00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 054c (rev a2)

00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0563 (rev a2)

00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0563 (rev a2)

00:12.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0531 (rev a2)

00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration

00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map

00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller

00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control

02:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)

02:05.1 Class 0805: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)

02:05.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0843 (rev 12)

02:05.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)

02:05.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 12)

03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation Unknown device 4328 (rev 03)

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## Inodoro_Pereyra

 *Quote:*   

> 00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 054c (rev a2)

 

Probably you should add nforce ethernet support to you kernel.

Salud!

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## SnackMasterX

I planned on doing that but the first problem is getting the ethernet to work so that I can install gentoo  :Razz: 

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## Inodoro_Pereyra

 :Embarassed: 

Do you have another linux live cd from any distribution? Or any other distro installed in the same system?

Gentoo can be installed from any livecd if it catch up you ethernet interface... Some knoppix or Ubuntu livecd around may be to try?

Once you get in the command prompt just follow the handbook.

Salud!

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## SnackMasterX

Yeah I'm sure I have an ubuntu disk laying around here somewhere, I was trying to use ICS on windows with firewire cause thats the only thing thats getting detected lol

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## Inodoro_Pereyra

hehe, probably Ubuntu will be the more easy way... That nVidia ethernet card runs at 1000mbps or 100?

This is becoming kind a chat session btw.

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## SnackMasterX

It runs at 100, I managed to get my firewire internet working....sorta, I can only access by IP though and I have no idea how far I can get with this, i wish i could just update the module and have my etherenet working...I swear if i make this work somehow by the luck of god I am never formatting my laptop again lol

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## ExecutorElassus

i'm trying to do the same thing: the liveCD doesn't detect the nForce ethernet card, so I can't install anything. But the Xubuntu CD I have (gutsy) doesn't have a simple command prompt, and a lot of the commands don't work anyway. Does the 'emerge' command work off a Xubuntu liveCD?

Thanks,

EE

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## SnackMasterX

Hello Elassus, I believe what might be useful to you would be the ubuntu live CD, I used the gnome version, then you can either use the terminal within the gnome session to install gentoo onto your machine which you can then web browse or use pidgin for IM during the installation or simply kill the X session and do everything from the command line. You will not be able to use the emerge command until you chroot to your installation. If you need further assistance please let me know and I will be happy to assist you. Also if you wish I have a general guide I use for a stage 1 install that my brother helped me make before I became a bit more knowledgeable of linux in general and a make.conf that I keep saved and update as necessary depending on the machine I am using and I would be more than happy to provide you with these if you would like.

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## ExecutorElassus

I also realized I could (theoretically) get the latest snapshots and stages on a thumb drive, and do it that way. I'd need some of the sources, too, but it may be possible.

Anyway, I'm going to try doing it from an *ubuntu CD again in a while, after I finish upgrading to Hardy (because Gutsy's new graphics cofigurator breaks for dual-monitor setups).

Thanks for the tips. I'll get back to you.

Cheers,

EE

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## SnackMasterX

Alright, Good luck, I had to use a Beta CD on my computer because for some reason Ubuntu Live Disks don't seem to like my graphics card however once I had network it was easy to get the rest done. I was thinking of trying it your method with the snapshots and packages downloaded to a thumb drive but in the end its much easier to just find a different live cd that allows your network device to connect and just install from there. all you really need is to extract some files and copy a couple files from outside the chroot then after you chroot you are using your gentoo system's commands. Good luck and just PM me if you need any more help.

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## ExecutorElassus

well, I'll ask you this, since it tripped me up. I have two SATA drives, identically partitioned, as a set of RAID arrays. when I try to mount them from the Ubuntu Live CD, it fails, saying "invalid argument." Any idea what that might be? If I can't mount the RAID arrays, I can't install.

Jeez, why isn't the next LiveCD coming out untill March? I'm dying here...

Thanks,

EE

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## SnackMasterX

Which RAID array are you running?

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## ExecutorElassus

heh... the two drives are parallel to one another, and follow the handbook layout (sda1=raid1; sda2= swap; sda3= raid1; sda4=raid0). The controller is "nVidia Corporation unknown device." 

Incidentally, the new motherboard uses a RAID controller that is apparently so unrecognized that ithe LiveCD only sees whatever drive is in slot 1. So even though I have all the files I need to get a bootable system without a network (since the network chip is also unrecognized), I can't install, because it only sees the first drive.

Unless you know some kung-fu to get around that.

Do you? I really loathe the idea of waiting until March, and the Xubuntu LiveCD I have really doesn't work very well.

Thanks again,

EE

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## SnackMasterX

What are the specs on your computer? I was having some issues with my computer and I heard that nvidia chipsets had some problems with raid sometimes? Also does the raid function work under windoze?

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## ExecutorElassus

The board is an MSI K9MGM3, with all-nVidia hardware. Chipset is MCP68PV (why does that make me think of TRON?), processor is AMD 64x2 6400+, with 4GB of Kingston HyperX RAM (don't know the model off the top of my head); drives are both 750GB seagates.

I couldn't tell you if this works under Windows: I haven't had a Windows installation for years. I've also never had a working installation of any kind on this machine (a long, heartbreaking, story)

Sorry if I sound snooty; I'm proud of the computer (did I mention it's all water-cooled?). This thing would be a barn-burner, if it worked.

Thanks,

EE

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## SnackMasterX

Wow, that machine sounds awesome, I wish I could upgrade mine to water cooling, its a space heater right now and its terrible because it only warms my room and the thermostat is in another room so it doesn't know of the temp difference, makes life terribly in here, walk outside the room and life's good again. I'm sorry but I am not sure what I could do to help with this problem, I know someone who might though, he is very good with linux, I will ask him to take a look at this thread and see if he has any suggestions. I will post a reply hopefully soon.

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## SnackMasterX

Alright I asked about your RAID issue and he wanted to know a couple questions:

How did you make the RAID configuration? Did you use mdadm?

Also, is this a hardware or software RAID?

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## ExecutorElassus

I used mdadm, through the install CD, back in July (when the computer last worked). It's software RAID, I'm assuming, since I have no RAID card (just the onboard RAID controller). This is a new motherboard, though, so previous functionality means nothing.

Thanks for your help!

EE

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## SnackMasterX

I looked up your motherboard on MSI's site and it looks like it does have a hardware raid, try setting it up through hardware and let me know how you have it setup after its done. Also what were the partition sizes of your software RAID? Just curious

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## sanmartin

Hey all, this is SMX's brother. I figured I'd step in and see if I can help too.

That onboard raid isn't real raid - most people call it fakeraid. It's really just a decoy to tell the Windows volume manager to activate a software raid on boot. I'd just abandon all hope of that ever doing anything useful for you.

As for mounting those partitions, did you reactivate them before trying to mount them? You won't (or at least you *shouldn't*) mount any of those raided partitions directly b/c it will make the data inconsistent across the drives. Just the process of mounting changes a count variable in the filesystem header, rendering the array inconsistent.

Anyway, on to the instructions for assembly if you don't already know...

```
mdadm --examine --scan
```

That will look at all your disk devices and read software raid headers off them. I think it stores them at the end of the physical disk, but I'm not positive. Anyway, you should have 3 of them I would think (unless I misread your original thing about how many arrays you were running), and this command will activate the first one:

```
mdadm -A /dev/md0 -u `mdadm --examine -- scan |cut -d "=" -f 4 | head -n 1`
```

That will grab the first UUID from that scan output and assemble it as /dev/md0, which you could then mount appropriately. For the other two you would just switch to md1 and md2 respectively and then replace the "| head -n 1" with either "| tail -n 2 | head -n 2" or "| tail -n 1" respectively. Does that make sense?

Hope that helps and that I understood the problem right. Most liveCDs won't auto-assemble software raid arrays in my (very recent) experience. I suspect that's your problem.

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## ExecutorElassus

Hi SMX's brother,

thanks for getting back to me. Actually, the problem is a little more fundamental than this: the system doesn't see the drive itself. That is, whatever is plugged into the first SATA slot on the motherboard is /dev/sda; the other drive is invisible (no matter to which of the remaining three slots it's attached). That leads me to believe it's a problem with the low-level kernel module (which dosn't recognize the chipset), rather than trouble with mdadm per se.

Any idea how I might fix that?

Thanks,

EE

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## sanmartin

Are both of the drives either SATA or mixed? Do you know if there is more than one controller on that motherboard, maybe they're different chipsets?

I haven't gone back to check the details on your motherboard (too lazy and/or busy, sorry), but I've read some tales recently of BIOS options for AHCI mode vs. IDE compat mode, and IDE compat tends to not work right. Do you have such an option in your BIOS?

Also, does the BIOS itself list the drive as being present at boot? If not I'd say you're looking at a hardware issue, or possibly just BIOS configuration issue.

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## ExecutorElassus

Both drives are SATA. I can't say whether the MB itself has more than one controller. I'll look into the BIOS settings, and see if there are any options for the controllers. Both drives show at boot. 

Thanks again,

EE

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