Re: Getting Realtek8139 chipset network card to work

[Fraser Campbell <fraser@baxter.net>]

On Wed, 28 Jul 1999 at 00:56:55 +0000 Nuno Carvalho wrote:

> I would like to get my network card to work but unfortunally I don't
> know which option on kernel(2.2.10) should I use for use the desired
> file: /usr/src/linux/drivers/net/rtl8139.c
>
> Could someone tell me which option should I pick up ?

Funny I just wrestled with this one yesterday.  I've always (since it was 
available) built my kernels using "make menuconfig", nowhere in the network
device section could I find an option for RTL8139 and I spent a long time 
looking!

What I did, and it worked just fine, is I configured the kernel exactly how I
wanted without selecting an ethernet driver.  I did, of course, select ethernet
support and all the network protocols and such that I needed.  Once configured 
(minus card) save the kernel configuration.

Then in /usr/src/linux (or wherever your kernel source is stored) edit the file
.config ... locate the Network Device section of the configuration and add the
option CONFIG_RTL8139=m or CONFIG_RTL8139=y (depending if you want the driver
to be built into the kernel or used as a module).  Then follow your normal
kernel build procedure, something like this:

"make dep ; make clean ; make zImage ; make modules ; make modules_install"

Make the new kernel bootable (LILO, boot disk, whatever), add rtl8139 to the
file that loads your modules (/etc/modules ?) ... if you built it as a module.

That's how I did it ... if you were looking for a pre-built kernel module to
download from Debian then I don't know.  Hope you have enough detail without
me boring you ;-)

Good luck!

Fraser