Beginner's Guide: how to install NICs in Linux

Beginner's Guide: how to install NICs in Linux
 
 

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This article focuses on new players and does not discuss any difficult issues, including dual-nic, odd NIC that cannot be used even if drivers are compiled normally. the main purpose of this article is to tell the new hand how the NIC is driven in Linux. this article does not discuss how to install linux. If you have successfully installed Linux, wait for the driver Nic.
Step 1 -- Do not ask if the xxx card can be installed in Linux? Linux is an open system. With the help of countless experts on the network, almost all hardware can be supported.

First of all, it should be pointed out that in Linux, Nic support is often only for chips, so for some not very famous NICs, it is often necessary to know its chip model to configure Linux. for example, my accton Nic does not have a Linux driver, but because it is ne2000 compatible, it can be used in Linux as ne2000. so when you have a network card that cannot be used, you must find out what Chip the network card uses and who is compatible with before looking for a Linux driver, such as 3c509, ne2000, and etherexpress. such models are usually printed on the largest fast chip on the network card. Just copy them.
 

The most common use may be the best network adapter, or the ne2000 compatibility card. I use it as an example. Note that many cheap cards are actually ne2000 compatible.

For the ne2000 card, the first thing to do is to set the NIC to jumpless mode. many NICs use the PNP mode by default, which can reduce a lot of trouble in 95, but not in Linux. Therefore, the jumpless mode must be used in Linux. generally allProgramSet the network card to jumpless. Of course, if it is an old card, it is not PNP, don't worry about this. Note that this is the ne2000 of ISA, and you need to set the ne2000 of PCI.

Then you need to find out the NIC's Io address and IRQ. these are two very important NIC Driver parameters. this is the simplest way to use the NIC setup program. After jumpless is set, I/O and IRQ can be soft configured. the patch cord of some old cards is the same. another method is to go to the control panel under 95 to view the properities of the card and check Io and IRQ if the NIC can work under 95 or NT.

OK. Now you know that your card is ne2000 compatible and that it is in jumpless mode. After knowing the IO address and IRQ, you can install it.

The difference between Linux and 95 is that it runs on the kernel. The so-called kernel is to isolate the core of the system and program various drivers, memory Control and other parts are compiled together. different from 95, the Linux kernel is made public and often updated. In this way, you do not need to update the entire system. Instead, you only need to download the latest original kernel program and compile it, you can get a system that supports more hardware, more file systems, and more secure. therefore, it should be pointed out that Linux drivers are rarely installed as in 95. in Linux, most drivers are released in the form of C Programs, or in the kernel, or you need to modify the kernel by yourself.Code. To run the driver, you have to reconfigure and compile the kernel. operating Linux kernel is an important part of Linux learning. it is best for new Linux users to work out more here. for core issues, see the kernel how to in the Linux how to documentation.

Anyway, Linux has been installed, So What kernel is used? Generally, the default Linux kernel comes from the installation disk. the kernel generally includes drivers of most hardware, such as the ne2000 card. so it is not necessary to re-compile the kernel. Maybe the existing kernel can be used as the driver. so the next step is to insert the NIC into the computer to see if Linux can find it. this can be seen from the Linux Startup screen, if you find the following line:

Eth0: ne2000 card found at 0x300 using IRQ 05

It indicates that the ne2000 card was found in Linux at Io 300 and IRQ 05.

If your network card is not found in Linux, But you confirm the model and parameters of your network card, such as my network card is ne2000 compatible, Io 0x300, IRQ 05. you can modify the Linux Startup File to search for this device. this file is in/etc/rc. d/RC. for ne2000 in modules, it is like this:

#/Sbin/modprobe ne IO = 0x300 # ne2000 at 0x300

Remove the # At the beginning and start the machine.

In addition, you can find other series of NICs, such as 3C series autoprobe.

OK. It does not appear on the startup screen until now.

Eth0: ne2000 card found at 0x300 using IRQ 05

The good news is that you have to compile the kernel.

Before compiling the kernel, you must understand the NIC chip number. for example, I have a SMC Nic, but I cannot find the SMC in the Linux Kernel configuration menu. Linux is not Win95, and there is a long string of vendor numbers. I found the digital 21140-ae word on this SMC card, so I knew that this card uses the DEC 21140-ae chip, so I found the driver according to this search.

If you know the chip type or compatible type (such as ne2000), you can start to compile the kernel. For details about Kernel compilation for different systems, seeArticle.

Go to/usr/src/Linux

Run make menuconfig to enter the menu to configure the kernel. find network device support. select Ethernet and then the corresponding chip number. for ne2000 of ISA, select other ISA cards and select ne2000/ne1000 ISA support. if it is a PCI Nic, select PCI Ethernet adapters. note: The PCIe card may not be able to drive this way, but many cannot. You need to find another driver. for example, Intel PCI etherexpress pro 100.

If you have other options, you can find more options. Check help and how-.

After the kernel is configured, run make Dep; Make zlilo. If there are too many kernel options, the installation will fail. Remove unnecessary drivers.

In this case, you can find the NIC after starting it. Drive the NIC. The next step is to set the TCP/IP. This is not the content here.

In my experience, the ne2000 compatible cards in Linux are relatively good. 3C series cards are also supported. As for other cards, such as my dec 21140, it will be a lot of trouble.

In addition, some cards that use a certain chip may not be able to use the driver of this chip. In this case, if a driver is not available, you need to check it online.

Configurations of Intel etherexpress series cards. the Linux kernel supports etherexpress 16, but there is no driver for other cards. in http://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/linux/drivers/eepro100.html, there is a discussion about etherexpress 100b pro. you can download a C-source driver and compile it into the kernel.

If you have tried the above and your Nic does not recognize it, you need to check the driver online. searching on the Internet is a learning that seems simple and actually reflects experience. we recommend that you find the driver for the Linux Nic from http://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/linux/drivers/ .you can find the driver for the NIC:

Dec dc21 * 4 * tulip chip based cards

3Com PCI etherlink PCI and EISA cards

Intel etherexpress pro100b, pro100 + and pro10 + PCI

3c515 ISA fast etherlink card

SMC etherpower II (EPIC/100 83c170 chip) driver.

RealTek rtl8129/8139 driver.

Lite-on lc82c168 PNIC Driver (now merged with the tulip driver ).

Macronix mx98713 and asix experimental drivers are now merged with the tulip driver ).

Via Rhine (vt86c100a and 3043) Driver (now released ).

WINBOND w89c840 Driver (beta test). Note: This driver was written without official documentation.

Ti thunderlan Driver (external link -- Caldera/james banks ).

Hewlett Packard 100vg driver updates (external link -- Yaroslav ).

Intel etherexpress Pro/10 PCI Driver (remote link ).

3c509/3c529/31049 ISA/MCA/EISA etherlink III driver update. The driver now detects multiple cards when loaded as a module.

AMD Lance/pcnet driver update. The driver is now usable as A loadable module.

Cirrus/crystal/IBM CS8900 series driver (remote link ).

PCI ne2000 Driver (Local page)

PCI ne2000 updates (remote link)

Intel etherexpress pro 100,

Dec 21x4 * based board,

3Com etherlink iii pci/Eisa (3c590 3c592, 3c595, 3c597, 3c900 3c905)

Intel etherexpress Pro/10 pci9 with i82596 chip)

Ti thunderlan

PCI ne2000

Packet engines yellowfin G-NIC

SMC etherpower II (EPIC/100 83c170 chip)

RealTek rtl8129/8139

At the same time, there is a setup program for ECOM etherlink III family, which has never been used. It may be good.

If you still cannot find the corresponding NIC Driver, go to search. the recommended method is to query on Internet newsgroup. because you are definitely not the first person to use this Nic in Linux, and someone has asked you questions on the network. someone answered the question. the problem is how to find him. the simplest way is to open Netscape to www.dejanews.com. the key here is the keyword selection. For example, if I have a chip of Dec 21140, 21140 is already a long number, so I enter 21140 Linux to search, linux is required. Otherwise, would it be annoying to see thousands of articles about the 21140 Win95 driver? Result 21140 Linux soon found the relevant article.

If the driver cannot be found in this way, or the driver does not know how to use it. If something goes wrong, you can try again. remember to write down the specific network card model, chip model, and your efforts and problems to help others.