Re: Integrated Broadcom nic on Dell times out with dhcp
On (17/11/03 17:17), Kent West wrote:
> I have a new Dell Dimension 2400 with an integrated Broadcom BCM4401
> 100Base-T nic.
>
> When I first installed Woody on it, with a 2.4.18-bf kernel, the nic was
> not recognized.
>
> When I upgraded the kernel to a stock 2.4.22-1-686 kernel, the nic
> worked. Later, for other reasons, I needed to compile my own kernel. I
> copied over the .config file and recompiled a new 2.4.22 kernel. The nic
> stopped getting a dhcp address, and if I put in a static address, the
> network was unreachable.
>
> So I changed back to the stock kernel, and the problem remained.
>
> After a while I discovered that if I power off the computer and unplug
> it from the AC mains for a few seconds, I can then restart the machine
> and get a DHCP address, but the network remains broken with errors such as:
> b44: eth0: Link is down
> b44: eth0: Link is up at 10 Mbps, half duplex.
> b44: eth0: Flow control is off for TX and off for RX.
>
> and then the network traffic just dies. A ping just sits there until I
> ctrl-c it, at which time I don't even get the normal x % packets lost
> type messages.
>
> If I reconfigure the nic for static and restart the network (but not the
> computer), the network remains dead. I can then reconfigure for dhcp,
> and restart the network, and never get a new dchp address. It's like the
> nic has gone off to spend the weekend in the Bahamas.
>
> If I reconfigure the nic for static and then restart the whole computer
> (with a power off), the network comes back up and I can use the machine,
> as long as I don't stop the network for any reason. If I do stop the
> network, the nic goes back on vacation until the next power cycling.
>
> It "feels" like the driver is failing to reset something in the nic, or
> the nic is failing to accept a reset command, but not being a
> programmer, that's just shooting from the hip.
>
> I installed the nictools-pci package, but don't find anything of use for
> the Broadcom. I also installed mii-diag, but it reports that everything
> is dandy:
>
> Using the default interface 'eth0'.
> Basic registers of MII PHY #1: 1000 782d 0040 6360 0de1 0021 0004 2001.
> Basic mode control register 0x1000: Auto-negotiation enabled.
> You have link beat, and everything is working OK.
> Your link partner is generating 10baseT link beat (no autonegotiation).
> End of basic transceiver information.
>
Hi Kent
I had similar problems with epro100.c (driver) card which came with the
HP server I recently acquired. It just seemed to drop connections for no
apparent reason. Being less tenacious (or less capable) I just swapped
the card for a 3com905 which I had used before and never had a problem
since. I know it's a cop out but with so many things to get right... it
was one less.
I suspect you will get to the bottom of it ;)
Regards
Clive
--
http://www.clivemenzies.co.uk
strategies for business
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