eth0 not working

[roberto <robcatanuto@yahoo.it>]

hi 
 i am trying to connect my laptop via eth0 to internet by my campus LAN; i am not using a DHCP
server.
 I am trying to configure eth0 via the following command:
 
~#ifconfig eth0 my_ipaddress netmask 255.255.255.0 up

and i get the following error
 
~#SIOCSIFADDR: No such device
eth0: Error while getting interface flags: No such device
SCIOCSIFNETMASK: No such device
eth0: Error while getting interface flags: No such device


while network card has correctly worked during installation of operating system:
Debian (2.6.11).
 
Please give me a hint.
Thank you. 

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