Puppy 4.3.1 install - Cannot get online

Message

cschauerj · #1 Post by **cschauerj** » Sun 17 Nov 2013, 18:10

I have an old IBM Thinkcenter setup for my son. I wanted to install Puppy to rejuvinate this old computer and also to familarize myself with Linux operating systems in the hopes of replacing XP on my main computer. The onboard ethernet connection never worked. I've been using a PCI card that's installed to get online. It has always worked fine in Windows. Puppy does not recognize the card. I've spent hours trying ever configuration I can. I've tryed Slacko, Lubuntu and Ubuntu hoping a different version might be able to make the connection. I have the driver for the card on a floppy and on that floppy is a linux folder with the file CNPRO200.tar I've searced around online for how to install this application hoping it's the missing link. I've used the puppy manager but can't seem to get it to install. Is there something simple I'm missing here?
Layman's terms if possible. lol

Burn_IT · #2 Post by **Burn_IT** » Sun 17 Nov 2013, 18:17

Have you disabled the on board networking in the BIOS??

mikeb · #3 Post by **mikeb** » Sun 17 Nov 2013, 20:14

The driver suggested on linux for that device is tulip ...you could try lsmod in a terminal to see if it is loaded or try choosing it in the network wizard.

A quick websearch suggests that some chips used for those cards do not play nicely..(cheap versions for dells in particular).... sometimes its worth grabbing a RealTek RTL-8139 based card..they just work out of the box on any system that exists lol and are dirt cheap.

the driver you have probably would need compiling for the kernel you have ..... but there should already be one included unless recent kernels have dropped support.

mike

bigpup · #4 Post by **bigpup** » Sun 17 Nov 2013, 20:30

I've been using a PCI card that's installed to get online.

Need specific details about this card.

cschauerj · #5 Post by **cschauerj** » Mon 18 Nov 2013, 00:57

I have not disabled the onboard networking in the BIOS. I will do so. Maybe that's causing a hand up.

Thanks for the suggestions MikeB. I'll see if I can find that in the wizard.

The card is a CNet PRO200 PCI Ethernet Adapter

cschauerj · #6 Post by **cschauerj** » Mon 18 Nov 2013, 01:28

I have disabled the onboard networking now so it only finds the one interface. The device description is pci: Davicom Semiconductor, 21x4x DEC-Tulip compatible 10/100 ethernet. So I load the Tulip module from the network wizard then I click on eth0 to configure. When I test it says it's able to find a live network. Then I use Auto DHCP to configure the interface and I'm told that network configuration is successful and I save the configuration and click done, exiting the wizard. But when I open the browser, still nothing.

ardvark · #7 Post by **ardvark** » Mon 18 Nov 2013, 10:06

cschauerj wrote:I have disabled the onboard networking now so it only finds the one interface. The device description is pci: Davicom Semiconductor, 21x4x DEC-Tulip compatible 10/100 ethernet. So I load the Tulip module from the network wizard then I click on eth0 to configure. When I test it says it's able to find a live network. Then I use Auto DHCP to configure the interface and I'm told that network configuration is successful and I save the configuration and click done, exiting the wizard. But when I open the browser, still nothing.

Hi...

Can you "ping" out with the connection? To do this, open a terminal and type in something like...

Code: Select all

ping google.com

Do you get consistent hits or does it time out?

Regards...

mikeb · #8 Post by **mikeb** » Mon 18 Nov 2013, 12:17

Might be /etc/resolv.conf causing a problem...it has the name servers and if its upset you cannot browse BUT you can access the internet using IP addresses so doing that might confirm if this is a cause.
Otherwise everything sounds like it should be working.
mike

cschauerj · #9 Post by **cschauerj** » Tue 19 Nov 2013, 02:20

Please excuse my ignorance. lol I'm going to try to ping out. What is a terminal and how do I open it??

mahaju · #10 Post by **mahaju** » Tue 19 Nov 2013, 07:09

terminal is the command line in Puppy
Near the start menu in the task bar there are 3 icons. The rightmost one (I think) is terminal, just hover the mouse cursor over the icon and it should show a tool tip
Alternatively, there should be an icon for the terminal on the desktop. It should look like a grey computer screen (but might be different with different Puppy version) with a '>' symbol; I'm not sure about the name though, it might be named terminal or urxvt
(I'm sorry I don't have any screenshots right now)

mikeb · #11 Post by **mikeb** » Tue 19 Nov 2013, 11:51

Just to mention if it is a nameservers problem then ping google.com won't work either.
http://74.125.224.72/
there ya go
mike

mahaju · #12 Post by **mahaju** » Tue 19 Nov 2013, 13:31

ok I just checked
To open the terminal:
1. Click the right most icon in the set of 3 icons next to the Start menu in task bar (May not be present based on Puppy version, present in Slacko 5.6)

2: On the desktop, click on the icon called console

3. Go to Menu > Utility > Urxvt terminal emulator

cschauerj · #13 Post by **cschauerj** » Tue 19 Nov 2013, 23:26

Ok , I opened the console and typed
"ping 74.125.224.72"

On both attempts it told me the "Network is unreachable"

I went this route because everywhere I look it says Linux just works. lol Figures I'm the lucky one.

mikeb · #14 Post by **mikeb** » Wed 20 Nov 2013, 16:40

Yes not having much luck .... does seem like a totally dead network inspite of it saying otherwise...the tulip is not blooming.

There is one other command...
ifconfig ... it will list network devices and their configuration...agaibn in terminal.

To copy and paste highlight the text and paste with middle click

Actaually out of the box is pretty normal with lan cards so its definately a stubborn one

mike

ardvark · #15 Post by **ardvark** » Wed 20 Nov 2013, 18:47

cschauerj wrote:I went this route because everywhere I look it says Linux just works. lol Figures I'm the lucky one.

Hi...

It just works if your particular device is supported.

The vast majority of ethernet cards work fine in Linux, in my experience. Unfortunately, yours looks like to be one of the few that doesn't.

If we can't get yours working, I've got a card (SMC EN5030B1 chipset) I've used with Puppy Linux that worked fine for me, (that I can send you) if you would like to have it.

Regards...

cschauerj · #16 Post by **cschauerj** » Thu 21 Nov 2013, 02:18

I tryed the ifconfig command and this is what I got:

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet Hwaddr 00:80:AD:01:2F:75
inet addr:169.254.68.53 Bcast:169.254.255.255 mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 metric:1
Rx packets:4 errors:19 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overrruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:6 txqueulen:1000
RX bytes:576 (576.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:20 Base address:0x4000

1o Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1200 (1.1 KiB) TX bytes:1200 (1.1 KiB)

Whew! That was alot of typing. Can't copy paste from one machine to another. There's probably a typo in there somewhere. Anyway, it is definitely all Greek to me!

I hate to throw in the towel but if I'm fighting a losing battle here perhaps it's best. I already installed Puppy on another desktop in the house, an old HP Compaq that connects wirelessly to my network, and it worked without a hitch. Ardvark, that is very kind of you!! Do you have a Paypal account that I can at least send you some $ for shipping?

Sky Aisling · #17 Post by **Sky Aisling** » Thu 21 Nov 2013, 04:23

cschauerj

Welcome to the forum,
And, please explain a bit further what you experience when you say:

The onboard ethernet connection never worked.

ardvark · #18 Post by **ardvark** » Thu 21 Nov 2013, 06:38

cschauerj wrote:Ardvark, that is very kind of you!! Do you have a Paypal account that I can at least send you some $ for shipping?

Yes but you don't need to. It should only take two or three dollars to mail it. I'll send you a PM to work out the rest of the details.

Regards...

mikeb · #19 Post by **mikeb** » Thu 21 Nov 2013, 08:34

inet addr:169.254.68.53

that address means dhcp is failing to get a real address..... so my original search that said these cards are a pain on linux seems to stand.... I think the the offer of an alternative card is the way to go. Sometimes it is worth changing tha hardware to suit the system ...had to do that for audio on one machine but cost me very little from ebay.

Nice one ardvark

mike

cschauerj · #20 Post by **cschauerj** » Thu 21 Nov 2013, 13:41

Sky,
I got the computer secondhand. I did a clean install of XP and it just never recognized the onboard ethernet connection. I never bothered to troubleshoot cause I had that PCI card floating around which worked immediately when installed.

MikeB, I'm following your advice. I've taken Ardvark up on his offer. I haven't been on one of these forums in a long time. It always renews my faith in humanity when complete strangers are willing to offer help! Thank you to everyone who has chimed in here. I'll post back to let you know when I'm up and running.

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