[luau] Road Runner

[Ray Strode]

>
>
>
>1.  The kernel is compiled with networking support and recognizes the
>Intel PRO/1000 Ethernet card.  Warren, I doubt a new kernel is needed.
>You mentioned there was a problem with the EEPro100.  This is an
>EtherExpress card.  I do not believe the problem you remember applies
>here, unless an Intel PRO/1000 is the same as an EtherExpress Pro100,
>which I doubt.  
>
I'm not certain, by I think it's atleast plausible that they use the same
driver.  Remember it's a gigabit card, but it's only being pushed to 10Mb/s.
Chances are at least for that much functionality the same driver would
work (and is probably being autoloaded).

>But I am not against upgrading to the latest kernel.  I
>just do not believe it is necessary in this case.  Mark, I do recommend
>you install a kernel version that Oracle has tested with.
>
I agree with you.

>2.  DHCP is installed.  It must be, since running it resulted in an error
>message about it being running already.  More about this later.
>
Yes that and the fact that his routing table shows him having a gateway and
ifconfig shows him having an IP address :-).  And so when he goes
ls /sbin/dhcpcd
it's there :-)

>As I see it, there are potentially two problems.  First, DHCP does not
>seem to be running after bootup.  
>
That's not a problem.  That's a choice.. He only wants it to give him 
internet
on demand (when he plugs the cable modem into the already running box).

>Second, as Patrick suggested, there might be a hardware problem.  
>
No.. It gets an IP address and Gateway.

>Assuming the problem is _not_ with hardware, we still need to figure out
>why DHCP is not running, or was killed.  
>
It is running.

>Unfortunately, I am not a RedHat user, so I have no idea how RedHat 
>
>implemented their network configuration.  So if Warren and Ray could help 
>
>me out, I have a few questions.
>
Okay, I can prolly help ya.

>Anyway, this is how Debian configures the network.  How does RedHat
>configure the interface for DHCP? 
>
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
sets some environment variables that /etc/init.d/network
script uses to know what to do.

> Ray, I think it is better to determine
>why RedHat is not running DHCP automatically, rather than running
>/sbin/dhcpcd.  
>
He doesn't wan't it to run automatically.  He wants it to run on demand.
You are right though.  It's better to use
/etc/init.d/network
then /sbin/dhcpcd and friends

>Since we are talking about RR, there is no reason to
>manually startup the network.
>
Yes there is.  He normally keeps his cable modem plugged into his other
computer.

>1.  Mark, you need to login as root from your KDE environment to run all
>of the commands that everyone is asking you to run.  The reason you got
>an error when you typed 'ifconfig' was because you were not root.  Ray,
>Warren, correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't RedHat include /sbin in the
>path when you are logged in as root?
>
It does, but depending on how super user priveleges are gained, the
exisiting environment may be inherited, so the path and such may be still
set to the previous user.

>Another benefit of using a terminal application instead of Ctrl-Alt-F7 is
>that you can copy and paste the output of those programs into an editor.
>The terminal app usually has a scroll bar, so if the output scrolls off
>the window, just move the scroll bar up and copy the text.
>
That's true (except Ctrl-Alt-F7 normally goes back to X, not to a console)

>2.  The dmesg output suggests that the kernel already recognized the
>Ethernet card.  This means the device driver was compiled into the kernel.
>So there is no need to worry about loadable modules.  If no one knows what
>this is, it doesn't matter.  It is not important.
>
hrmmmm........interesting.....I never even thought of that.  Actually, dmesg
output isn't strictly boot messages is it?  I mean it updates itself 
whenever
the kernel ring buffers are written too, yes? (I'm not sure) .  If you 
notice
the ethernet card driver loading is the absolute last thing on the list. 
 That
suggests to me that it may have happened sometime after bootup.  (Like
when the module was loaded after dhcpcd was ran).

>3.  Concerning the contents of the /etc/resolv.conf file.  I think having
>only one IP address listed is a mistake.  I had problems where the first
>DNS server on the list was down.  If there was no backup, I would have
>been locked out of the Internet.  The fact that there is only one entry
>could mean something went wrong.  If one entry is correct, I think RR
>mis-configured their system.  Someone should phone them up and complain.
>
Well one nameserver is good enough to get things working temporarily is
all I meant.   Road Runner has quite a few nameservers actually.

>4.  Concerning re-installing DHCP, I only suggested this as a quick fix.
>We could try to figure out what went wrong with DHCP.  But it would be a
>lot easier to just uninstall the program, then install it again and go
>through the configuration procedure.  
>
I could be wrong, but in this case I dont' think that would help at all.

--Ray