Mandrake support ?...ya...right !

[NialM]

I am a Linux newbie (only got 2 weeks of anger built up so far !)
I have been wanting to try an alternative to windoze for some time now. Then WinXP, or should I say LoseXP, came along with its security etc and that did it for me !

I down loaded the 2 free Mandrake 8.0 iso and burned them and installed them on a new 20 gig HD. The install went fine, I got a GUI on boot and was able to connect to the internet (cable) thru my Realtek RTL8029.

THEN.....
I could not get my D-Link 538TX to work for internet sharing. It is listed as "other divices" under HardDrake. It was however detected during Mandrake install and given the right driver (8139too). I messed with it for a few days and tried a few suggestions from this community and elsewhere on the net ie changing PCI slots, BIOS PNP changes etc. Nothing would work.

THEN....
I decided to buy the full package as my work would reimburse me for it and that way I would get 30 days of online and phone support from Mandrake. I wiped out the partions and started from scratch. Again everything when well, cards identified and net conection worked, again not LAN.

Went for support and filled in all that I had tried, and that netconf would hang if I tried to change any settings on the 538TX. I also mentioned that the card is listed as supported on there page. While waiting for a response from them I thought I would try their phone support...um...where is the number ? The only reference to phone support on the page is that I am entitled to it ! Off goes another email to Mandake support with my regid and customer info., explaining my problem and asking for the phone number....no response.

Back to the support page where I filled in my original "incident Report" and WOW....a response ! I open the link and read.....

13/09
02:40 alans Reply received Nial....Hi! As root in a console type:

netconf

This'll bring up a utility that should take care of it.
--
Alan - MandrakeSoft Support

WOW...I never thought of that...oh wait, I did try that MANY times and said so in the post he was responding to.

Off goes another response in the report explaining that I did try that and the system hangs. I also mentioned that I found the following while waiting to hear from them:

http://lhd.datapower.com/db/dispproduct.php3?DISP ?2648

Which says that there is a spelling mistake in the driver (adapter is spelled adpater) and that correcting the spelling and recompileing should fix it, and that if he could tell me how to do this I would try.....no response.

Off goes another Incident report asking why I have not gotten any response from them on my previous report....no response.

I am starting to have a new respect for Windoze !

I am so close, but I can not run linux without sharing my connection as there are 2 other pc's in the house and having them host is not an option.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated !!!

AMD Thunderbird 1000 266 FSB
ASUS A7V133 (KT133A)
256 Megs SDRAM PC133
ASUS V7100 Geforce2 MX
Realtek RTL8029 NIC - Net via Cable
D-Link DFE-538TX NIC - LAN via Surecom EP-808X-A 8 Port N-way switch
17" Sceptre Dragon Eye D73A Monitor
30 Gig Quantum Fireball 7200 UDMA100 - Win98
20 Gig Maxtor 7200 IDE - Linux Mandrake 8.0
ATX Full Tower & 300 Watt PS
ACER X40 CD-ROM
Panasonic 8x4x32 CDRW
SB Live! Value
Altec Lansing ACS 33 Speakers & Sub

The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.

 

[Red_Zealot]

Sorry about the lack of Mandrake support. Usually they are better about such things. Okay, from readng those posts, here's what you need to do. Get the source code for rtl8139.c . And then edit the file to change all refrences of "adapter" to "adpater" (All-non variables, that is). The complie into an abject file, and put the file (now should be rtl8139.o) into the /lib/modules/2.2.12-20/net/ directory. That should give you the file "/lib/modules/2.2.12-20/net/rtl8139.o" which should work when you boot. Good luck.

"If you teach a child to read, then he or her will be able to pass a literacy test" - George W.

 

[NialM]

WOW ! Thanks for your response !

I can't seem to fine the files I need:
http://www.scyld.com/network/rtl8139.html
is inaccessable. When I get the files, where to I put them and from where do I compile them ?

BTW, I am using kernel 2.4.3-20mdk....is that ok ?

The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.

 

[NialM]

When I did the following,
gcc -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -O6 -c pci-scan.c
I got "You must compile this driver with -O"

So I did this:
gcc -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -O -c pci-scan.c
And it worked !

I then tried
gcc -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -O6 -c rtl8139.c
and again got "You must compile this driver with -O"

So I did this:
gcc -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -O -c rtl8139.c
and got many lines of output like
Structure has no member named 'tbusy'
Structure has no member named 'interrupt'
Structure has no member named 'start'
and one line that said:
'NET_BH' undeclared (first use in this function)

I seem to be getting close....did I not install some need components or maybe the files on the mirror are not the same ?

BTW, Im using Kernel 2.4.3-20 mdk....is this ok ?

Sorry to keep bothering you,
-N-


The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.

 

[Red_Zealot]

In order to produce the object file rtl8139.o, compile rtl8139.c under gcc with the -c switch, which will produce the object file and nothing else. Hope that helps.

"If you teach a child to read, then he or her will be able to pass a literacy test" - George W.

 

[NialM]

Thanks for the info. Things have gottin better....and stranger !
See my other post

NIC prob under Mandrake 8.0

Thanks,
-N-




The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.