Configuring ethernet tap on a new Debian install

[Peter Tenenbaum <quarkpt@gmail.com>]

I just finished building a new computer around the Intel DH55TC motherboard.  I would like to configure the computer to use DHCP via its built-in ethernet tap, but the ethernet was not detected or configured on installation.  There is no eth0 entry in /etc/network/interfaces, no eth0 entry displayed by ifconfig, no dhcpd.conf file is present, and dhcpd is not listed in inetd.conf.

I suspect that the problem is that the motherboard is so new that it's not supported in the 2.6.26 version of the kernel:  when I looked at the Intel webpage relevant to the board, http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/dh55tc/sb/CS-031186.htm, it suggests that a LAN driver may be needed for Linux, and I infer from their table of information that this is more likely to be the case for kernel versions prior to about 2.6.31.

So what I think I need to do is the following:

1. Download and install the LAN driver
2. Manually configure the system so that it recognizes the Ethernet tap
3. Add eth0 to /etc/network/interfaces
4. add a dhcpd.conf file
5. add dhcpd to inetd.conf.

Does that sound about right, or is the reality simpler / less simple than that?

Assuming I've got it right:  how do I accomplish step 2?

Thanks in advance,

-PT