[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: configuring multiple NIC's at boot



Pollywog <croak@shadypond.com> writes:

> It does now, but when I had support for both cards compiled into the
> kernel, the 3Com card did not get eth0, it got eth1 and the DSL's
> NIC got eth0 and I could not think of a way to control this. 

You can pass kernel parameters in during boot for this.

> That is why I now have only the 3Com card's support built into the
> kernel, so it gets configured first.  If I add another NIC later, I
> will probably have to also compile it as a module and have it get
> configured in /etc/init.d/local after the Kingston NIC's config
> lines.  I just don't know if that is the correct way or the best way
> to do it.

In my opinion, the best way to set up more than one NIC - or even one
NIC for that matter - is to compile all network card drivers as
modules.

Early on I was of the opinion that compiled-in drivers were quicker or
better for some reason but now I don't believe this. There are many
benefits for compiling network card drivers as modules such as if you
swap out a card you only need to compile a new module plus it's easier
to assign them the same ethernet id.

In /etc/modutils/aliases, you can specify what "ethernet id" (eth0, etc)
for the card:

alias eth0 8139too

This says that eth0 should be given to the card that impliments the
RealTek 8139 chip. You can also pass parameters to the driver this
way.

Elizabeth


-- 
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-request@lists.debian.org 
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org



Reply to: