HOW-TO: Mandrake 9.2 with nForce2 based ethernet controller

Poulpy · 11-26-2003, 08:01 PM

After several hours researching online (about 5 hours), source RPM downloading and compilling, I have finally been successfull at making Mandrake 9.2 work with the integrated ethernet adapter of my nForce2 motherboard (the FN41 of my Shuttle SN41G2 XPC for what it's worth).

The many matches in forums, newsgroups and mailing lists I've come across made me believe this post may be of some help for others

Here it goes:

I tried to configure my freshly installed Mandrake 9.2 but could not get the stock nvnet driver to work.
I then went to NVIDIA's website, downloaded the NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.src.rpm source RPM as they did not provide a pre-compiled one for mdk92-enterprise.
I followed their installation instructions carefully but the compilation fails systematically with the following error:

Code:

`CONFIG_X86_L1_CACHE_SHIFT' undeclared here (not in a function)
/usr/include/asm/processor.h:55: requested alignment is not a constant

A google search pointed me to this page which clearly explains why it fails and how you can solve this problem.
Following the author's instructions made it straight forward:

simply adapt the kernel versions to the one you have (I used kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm),
go back to NVIDIA's installation instruction
do "/sbin/depmod -a"
be sure to review your /etc/modules.conf file and remove duplicate entries for audio and eth0 aliases
you can now use DrakConnect accessible from the Mandrake Control Center to enter your IP settings.

____________________________________________________________________
Edit: Note that everything needs to be done as root as it touches to critical files

Thanks Mr. Tripp Lilley for your precious help

Edit:
Here is nice step by step guide that SpiritAuthor made on page 4 of this thread:

Quote:

Originally posted by SpiritAuthor
Here's a 1,2,3 of what I did after trying and messing up the instructions the
first time because I didn't read them carefully enough.

If you did a straight install of the 9.2 distribution then you should have what
I had, which was an error when trying to install the NVIDIA MCP network driver
using the wizard. So here's exactly what I did after my reinstall (suggested
by Poulpy after I really messed up my kernel)[list=1][*]Downloaded the NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.src.rpm and the kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm and saved them to a directory that was accessable to my Linux installation. (The links for these files are earlier in this thread.)
Another choice would be to burn them to a CD so you can get to them from you Linux installation.[*]Installed 9.2 with my original choice of packages.
[*]Logged in under my regular user name so Mandrake could configure my desktop for the first time.[*]Logged out then back in as 'root' for reason#2.[*]Logged back in under my regular user name to be sure everything was ok; it was.[*]Logged out then back in as 'root' and installed kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm simply by double clicking it. No fancy terminal or command line stuff.[*]Opened a terminal window and typed 'uname -r' to be sure of the kernel version after I installed it.[*]I typed the following in the terminal window:

Code:

cd/usr/src/linux cp arch/i386/defconfig .config make oldconfig make dep

[*]Scrolled the output for errors and there were none.[*]Still in the same terminal window I typed the following:

Code:

cd Desktop

I did this because that's where I copied the NVIDIA RPM file to. If you put it elsewhere then you'll need to cd into that location.[*]Once in that location, I typed the following:

Code:

rpm --rebuild NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.src.rpm

[*]Lots of stuff will fly by in the terminal window but when it's done, look at the output for any errors other than the 'user buildmeister does not exist' error. If there are none, look for a line that reads something like:

Code:

'Wrote:/usr/src/RPM/RPMS/i586/NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.i586.rpm'

This will provide you with the name and location of the new NVIDIA RPM.[*]I double-clicked on 'Home' from the menu and navigated up to the top directory then navigated down to the location in the 'Wrote' line.[*]I then double-clicked on the NVIDIA RPM file and let it install.[*]I watched for any errors and there weren't any.[*]I then navigated to the /etc directory from the browser and double-clicked on the modules.conf file to check for and remove duplicate entries for audio and eth0 aliases. There weren't any so I closed the file.[*]Next I went back to the terminal window and typed:

Code:

ifdown eth0 ifup eth0 dhclient

[*]I got results but no IP address, which was fine because at least I knew the system found the network card and that was the hang-up before.[*]I clicked the Menu > Configuration > Configure Your Computer to launch the Mandrake Control Center.[*]I clicked on Network & Internet on the left then on DrakConnect in the right window[*]The main thing you are looking for here is 'eth0' under 'LAN configuration.' If you're lucky, you're IP state will be "up" but mine was"down" because I didn't have any ISP information in there from the install. If you see that your IP state is "down" you can configure your network starting at the top with 'Configure hostname' Be sure you have all of your information about your ISP, email etc. so you can enter the DNS IP and gateway.[/list=1]
Note that I didn't have to add the driver to the modules.description file nor did I have to run '/sbin/depmod -a' because when I checked the NVIDIA output, it had already done all of that and I sure didn't want to mess things up again by typing something in wrong.

So that's my take in "newbie" language on this whole thread. Please understand that this worked for me but it may not work exactly the same way for you. At least it's worth a try. If you crash it like I did the first time, you'll be doing a clean reinstall then following these directions.

Hopefully, Poulpy and /bin/bash won't be too hard on me for posting this fix in such trivial language. I'm just trying to convey what I did after they spent so much time trying to explain it to me in the most basic terms.

If you get any errors, post them here exactly as they appear and one of the gang can help you out like they helped me.

Poulpy · 11-26-2003, 08:03 PM

The URLs do not work because I did not reach the 5 posts quota yet.

Edit: Hey, I fullfil the 5 posts rule now

Poulpy · 11-26-2003, 08:21 PM

I just rebooted to check everything was Ok, but the newly compiled nvaudio driver made the following boot fail.
I had to start in failsafe mode, edit my /etc/modules.conf file to remove references to nvaudio and put back the following lines at the beginning of the file (don't know if this matters):

Code:

above snd-intel8x0 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-slot-0 snd-intel8x0

Did a "/sbin/depmod -a" after that and all went fine at the next boot (audio and network working).

Poulpy · 11-26-2003, 09:35 PM

Now that my network is working, I can use rpmdrake and I just found out that there has been 11 releases of the kernel: 2.4.22-21mdk is out with a rather important list of corrections.
Here are those affecting NVIDIA hardware (I removed others):

Quote:

Changelog :
* Sat Oct 25 2003 Juan Quintela <quintela@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-21mdk

* Sat Oct 25 2003 Gwenole Beauchesne <gbeauchesne@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-20mdk

* Fri Oct 24 2003 Gwenole Beauchesne <gbeauchesne@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-19mdk

* Sat Oct 18 2003 Juan Quintela <quintela@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-18mdk

* Sat Oct 18 2003 Juan Quintela <quintela@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-17mdk

* Fri Oct 17 2003 Juan Quintela <quintela@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-16mdk
- nforce2 people have UDMA133 support (tmb).

* Thu Oct 16 2003 Gwenole Beauchesne <gbeauchesne@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-15mdk
- really add support for VIA/nForce/8151 AGP

* Wed Oct 15 2003 Gwenole Beauchesne <gbeauchesne@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-14mdk

* Wed Oct 15 2003 Juan Quintela <quintela@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-13mdk

* Sat Oct 11 2003 Gwenole Beauchesne <gbeauchesne@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-12mdk
- Add nForce3 IDE UDMA support
- Add (experimental) support for VIA/nForce3/8151 AGP
- Disable IO-APIC by default on Nvidia and VIA boards for now

* Wed Oct 8 2003 Juan Quintela <quintela@mandrakesoft.com> 2.4.22-11mdk

Maybe all these updates would have avoided problems in the first place?

Poulpy · 11-26-2003, 09:41 PM

The following updates also affect the ethernet adapter installation:

drakxtools-9.2-19.3.92mdk.i586
drakxtools-newt-9.2-19.3.92mdk.i586.rpm
harddrake-9.2-19.3.92mdk.i586.rpm
harddrake-ui-9.2-19.3.92mdk.i586.rpm

/bin/bash · 11-27-2003, 10:00 AM

Quote:

cd /usr/src/linux
cp arch/config/i386/defconfig-enterprise .config
make oldconfig
make dep

Humm... I've given that advice myself many times. I almost always recommend that if you are having compile troubles that you start with the stock config file, I always recommend using /boot/config and I recommend running make mrproper.

cd /usr/src/linux
make mrproper
cp /boot/config ./.config
make oldconfig
make dep

xhawk · 11-27-2003, 03:05 PM

Thank you Poulpy you did it. I have now network on my Mandrake. Ypu are my hero. Sorry /bin/bash

Poulpy · 11-27-2003, 05:32 PM

All credits should go to the original author, I only adapted the information for Mandrake 9.2 and NVIDIA nForce

Coolrunr · 12-06-2003, 12:40 AM

Credit where it's due, but good job for putting it all in one place. Thanks a bunch!

SpiritAuthor · 12-08-2003, 11:15 PM

I've read this entire thread and I think I can solve my problem but I'm a newbie to Linux. Although I have played around with earlier releases in the past, I've never had this kind of problem with a network card configuration.

During my Mandrake 9.2 install, it looked for my network card but said it couldn't find it. After installation I ran Hard-drake from the desktop and it said the network card was there and properly identified as NVIDIA MCP; this is correct. But when I try to complete my email and DSL/DHCP installation, it just loops after installing the network card driver and it tells me that it can't find a network card it just installed so it can't continue. Now how weird is that?

I'm running an ASUS A7N8X motherboard with NVIDIA chipset and video (all properly identified and working) and an on-board NVIDIA Nforce MCP network card. I'm using Mandrake 9.2 download edition I just downloaded and burned last night from USF.

I know everything I need to fix this issue is in this thread but my problem is that I'm so new to this that I need the solution in 1st grade language because although I can get around Linux, my configuration skills are lacking... no missing would be a better term.

Thanks

Poulpy · 12-09-2003, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SpiritAuthor
During my Mandrake 9.2 install, it looked for my network card but said it couldn't find it. After installation I ran Hard-drake from the desktop and it said the network card was there and properly identified as NVIDIA MCP; this is correct. But when I try to complete my email and DSL/DHCP installation, it just loops after installing the network card driver and it tells me that it can't find a network card it just installed so it can't continue. Now how weird is that?

I came across the exact same problem, following the very same steps...
That why I thought this thread was needed

Follow it and you should be done.

Good luck!

Poulpy

SpiritAuthor · 12-09-2003, 10:08 AM

Thanks Poulpy and everyone else who helped with this. I'm really busy the next few days so I'll probably have to shelve this until the weekend but I'll post my results to let everyone know what happens.

SpiritAuthor · 12-10-2003, 10:40 PM

Ok, so I had a little time today and tried to run this solution. NOT.

I have a standard install of the download version but here's the deal:

"First, make sure you have the following "kernel development" RPMs installed:

kernel-source-2.4.19-16mdk
kernel-enterprise-2.4.19.16mdk-1-1mdk
kernel-2.4.19.16mdk-1-1mdk
kernel-headers-2.4.18-41mdk"

Ok, so I don't have all these kernels installed, fine but how do I install them? I have no clue.

Next is this one:

"All you have to do to get that stuff working is this (assuming everything's where Mandrake puts it, and you haven't gone and dinked with it. If you've dinked with it, un-dink it.):

cd /usr/src/linux
cp arch/config/i386/defconfig-enterprise .config
make oldconfig
make dep"

I can get to here: /usr/src

Beyond that, there's NO linux directory. I haven't dinked with anything and everything is where the default install put it.

So, now what? Did the install just get hosed up for some reason?

Also, now that I've tried to use the "solution" I have noticed failures during shutdown that weren't there before.

Thoughts?

k0rupt · 12-11-2003, 03:03 AM

I'm stuck at the same spot SpiritAuthor is,

linux cannot find /usr/src/LINUX

I can get into /usr/src/RPM, /usr/src/BUILD etc but not /usr/src/LINUX!

anyone know?!

Poulpy · 12-11-2003, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SpiritAuthor

Ok, so I had a little time today and tried to run this solution. NOT.

I have a standard install of the download version but here's the deal:

"First, make sure you have the following "kernel development" RPMs installed:

kernel-source-2.4.19-16mdk
kernel-enterprise-2.4.19.16mdk-1-1mdk
kernel-2.4.19.16mdk-1-1mdk
kernel-headers-2.4.18-41mdk"

Ok, so I don't have all these kernels installed, fine but how do I install them? I have no clue.

Be sure to read my post completely.
I explicitely wrote that you need to adapt the solution to Mandrake 9.2 so if your installation has not yet been updated (which is likely the case but type "uname -r" to check) your kernel must be 2.4.22-10mdk then use kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm (direct link).