Bug#90204: installation process unclear when network card not found
On Wed, Mar 21, 2001 at 09:20:21PM -0500, Adam Di Carlo wrote:
> Whit <whit@transpect.com> writes:
>
> > Using the vanilla installation, it didn't have my network card (3c905), so
> > it didn't offer the network setup options on installation. Since the system
> > is already running Red Hat, I compiled a fresh 2.2.19pre kernel and set a
> > Debian lilo option. Booting into Debian with it I looked around with the
> > question "Okay, what's the efficient Debian way to set up the network
> > options?" If there's a clue I can't find it. (On Red Hat this is the one
> > thing I usually use linuxconf for - after carefully disabling all its other
> > buggy functions - glad to see that shoddy utility's not in your base
> > install.)
> >
> > There should also be an obvious way to go back to a bypassed network setup
> > once a proper kernel or module is in place. This should be mentioned in the
> > installation manual, or at the least the manual should reference whatever
> > the most convenient included utilities are that can be used in place of
> > various stages of the 'straightforward' process when things go deviant.
>
> This is described in detail in the install manual:
> <URL:http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-init-config.en.html#s-configure-network>
>
> I'll need more specific information about what in that section needs
> to be improved. Please include literal text you would like to see
> included.
Adam,
What the section you reference does not do is provide any follow-up
procedure in case the automatic installation routine fails to detect an
installed card when one is there. Since there will be situations in which
someone is installing Debian on a system which has a card which can be
supported by a Linux kernel, but not by the kernel in the distro, the user
will (1) have not help from the install routine at setting up networking,
then (2) update their kernel to support their hardware but (3) still have no
guidance from the installation document on the efficient way at that point
to complete the networking setup, initially bypassed because it couldn't
find the card.
In my case I finally realized that the 3c59x driver would support the 3c905
card (3c59x hasn't in the past supported all 3c905's ... and probably won't
in the future - there will always be cases where the user has to fetch a
driver from somewhere), and ran through the install routine a second time to
get the networking part set.
I still don't know what the best stand-alone way to configure networking on
a Debian system is. The text I'd suggest would be a mention of whatever that
method is, so that people for whom the current automated installation fails
because of lack of immediate kernel support for their hardware can still
straightforwardly complete the install, once the kernel support for their
card is in place. I'd write it if I knew what the method was. I'd also
mention how to re-enter any other parts setup procedure which would have
been bypassed when the network card wasn't seen the first time around.
> > Why not have an option to go ahead and set up the networking options on the
> > first pass _even if the network card isn't recognized yet_?
>
> That's the way it works, and that won't be changing. There's no
> reasonable networking you can do without a device anyhow.
Again, if you have the NIC, but need to compile a fresh kernel or module to
get it active after the first stage of the Debian install, it would be good
to have a clear roadmap to a second stage which would complete the install.
You are probably well-aware of the required steps if you are maintaining the
current install routine. I still don't know what they are. If you'd outline
them for me, I'd be happy to test them and polish the prose - I've done
years of work in magazine editing.
\/\/ I-I I T
Blauvelt
whit@transpect.com
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