Re: Testing unplugged network connection: bug?

[Greg Maruszeczka <greg@grokking.org>]

Carl Fink wrote:
> Every time my laptop boots, it wastes about two minutes trying to bring up
> eth0, even though the startup scripts actually print a message to the
> console that the media link is down (that is, that the Ethernet cable is
> unplugged).  This seems silly.
> 
> Is there a good reason I'm not aware of to attempt to send DHCP requests to
> a nonexistent network connection, or is this a bug?  If it is, what package
> should I file it against -- that is, which package creates that script?
> 
> (I actually use a WiFi card to connect that laptop over 90% of the time.)
> 
> Thanks.



You could edit dhclient.conf and set the timeout to a lower value. I
think it's 60 seconds by default. I keep mine at 20 seconds and it
provides what I consider an acceptable delay in startup for the
convenience of having my laptop automatically choose either wired or
wireless interfaces, depending on availability.

Alternatively, you could edit /etc/network/interfaces and remove the
'auto eth0' stanza.

G