Moving back onto the list, so that: 1) others who have more knowledge than I have can add their comments2) the conversation gets archived for future seekers of answers to this question
David R. Litwin wrote:
Different BIOSes from different manufacturers, accessed in different ways, call this feature by different names and put them in different locations. Generally an x86-type machine (AMD, Pentium, etc) has a keystroke during the POST (Power-On-Self-Test) that will get you into the BIOS Setup; sometimes it's F1, or F2, or F10, or Ctrl-Alt-S, or any number of things.You might go into your computer's BIOS and tell it to reset config data, and/or tinker with the setting of "PnP OS?" (or similar items). I'm thinking along the lines that the BIOS expects the OS to set the IRQ, and the OS expects the BIOS to do the job.Where in the BIOS would I go to do this? What is PnP OS?
Once in, you'll just have to rummage around in the different settings.However, after I had written this message, I realized that if Knoppix handles the NIC, it's probably not a BIOS issue. Still, it might be, in that Knoppix uses a newer kernel that might over-ride the BIOS settings whereas your Woody's 2.2 kernel might not, so it's worth looking into.
A "PnP OS" is an OS (Operating System - Debian, Windows, DOS, Mac System 9, etc) that is "Plug 'n Play"-compatible. Each device, such as a network interface card (NIC, or as IBM used to call it, a Network Access Card, so I guess it really should be referred to as a NIC/NAC (paddy-whack, give the dog a bone ....)) or a sound card or a modem, etc, needs to be assigned certain resources when installed into a machine. One of these resources is the IRQ, or Interrupt ReQuest Line. Think of an IRQ as being a doorbell. The x86 architecture was designed to have a maximum of 14 IRQs (which has since been worked around). So you can think of a house with 14 different doors, each one with its own distinctive doorbell. So when doorbell chime # 4 goes off, you know that the Pool Cleaning guy has just shown up at door #4, because it's in his contract that he will always use door #4. When doorbell #12 goes off, you know it's the tax man, come to collect your taxes, as he's agreed to always use door #12. Likewise, when you install a modem, you'll assign it to an IRQ, such as IRQ 3. Just as you can renegotiate your contract with the pool cleaning guy so that he will start using door #7 now instead of #4, you can reconfigure your modem to use IRQ 4 instead of 3. Typically most devices are designed to function on only one or two of the options, so that your modem might only be able to be set to IRQ 3 and 4, whereas your mouse can only be set to IRQ 3 and 5, and your sound card can only be set to IRQ 4 and 5. You can see that you'd have to be very careful about your settings or one or more of your devices won't work properly. Also, several of the IRQs were "reserved" for special uses, which reduced your options even further for getting all your different devices to work at one time with each other.
Once a device has an IRQ, any time it needs attention from the operating system, it "rings its doorbell". The OS hears that, and turns its attention to that device as soon as it can in order to service that devices's request.
In the old days, you had to move jumpers on the modem or NIC, etc to set the IRQ (and the other resources). It was a _real_ pain. Then as the technology improved, you could set the resources via special software (although that had the disadvantage of requiring you to have the special software and the OS in which it was designed to run). Eventually the technology improved so that the resources could be set automatically by either the operating system or the BIOS (the OS and the BIOS had to add this capability along with the capability being added to the devices themselves).
Some BIOSes have this setting mentioned above, which determines if the BIOS sets these resources, or if the operating system sets the resources. Depending on the type of hardware, the quality of the BIOS and/or operating system, the phase of the moon, and the temperature in Zimbabwe (aka Rhodesia), sometimes the BIOS does a better job and sometimes the OS does a better job.
Perhaps it is a Cyclone instead of a Vortex. I don't recall. Still, it might be worth installing. Try "apt-get install nictools-pci".There are some tools (nictools-pci I think; your card may be classified as a Vortex) that may allow you to set the IRQ manually. Hopefully this package is on your Woody CDs. If so, give them a try and see if they help diagnose the problem.I do not know what nictools-pci is, nor where it is located. Should I do a Find Files on it? Or, is it run off of the C. D.? How do I access this? Also, isn't my card a Cyclone?
Actually, I just did an "apt-cache search tools | grep nic", and found there's also a "nictools-nopci". Then I did an "apt-cache show nictools-nopci", and it looks like this might be the package you want instead. So try "apt-get install nictools-nopci" instead; then once it's installed, try running "3c5x9setup".
Finally, what exactly IS an IRQ?
See above.