i have red hat 7. i have been trying to get my network card working forever and i cant seem to do it. im using dhcp, eth0, ive tryed all open irq's, ive tryed insmod w/several modules and some of them give error about module and some give results back but when i do lsmod it isnt installed! why! everytime i boot linux it takes forever and gives me that stupid error and times out, please somebody help me! if its the last thing i do i will get that damn internet working!

What card do you have? Did you check the RedHat 7 hardware compatability list?

NICs are cheap enough now that it will probably be worth your time to jsut run down to the comp store and grab one that is on the HCL. It'll be automatically detected and set up. Plug in your IP numbers, etc. and you'll be on the net. After you get the card, it should take you less than a half hour to get set up.

i checked the compatibility list and it turns out that my nic isnt on the list the realtek 8019. that sucks! is there any alternative to getting a new nic? also if i get a new nic what kind should i get and will getting one type of nic as opposed to another help the performance of my conneciton?

I hear you -- I had a Realtek NIC as well. I assume that you are using a 10/100 ethernet: as long as it works with that standard, you're cool. The more expensive NICs just seemt to have more bells-and-whistles I'm not sure you need.

Yeah, it sucks because the Realtek works great with Windows and costs about $10. I cross-referenced all the NICs available at the comp store I go to (small, privately oeprated) with the redhat HCL and found one sure-fire bet: 3COM 905C -- for $55!

I know its a bit frustrating because the Realtek seems to have some manner of Linux driver on the disk it comes with. Dont's waste your time. Check out the webpage for whatever comp store you go to and cross-reference the redhat HCL. You might have enough options that you can grab a cheaper one than I could. As long as you find one that's on the HCL, you'll have no complaints about the device, I'm sure.

Good luck!

BILL2000,

Unfortunately, you're probably SOL with your current card. However, many cards using newer Realtek chips such as the 8129 and 8139 will work. While the 3Com cards seem to be the most supported and hassle-free NICs (they also perform well), they are also the most expensive. Less expensive cards from SMC, Linksys, D-Link and others are available and supported. As far as drivers go, if you choose a card that is not directly supported by your kernel, visit Donald Becker's site at: http://www.scyld.com/network/index.html#pci.
He writes network drivers for many different cards, and his drivers are usually much more reliable than the manufacurer-supplied drivers.

Oh, and one word of warning:

When shopping for a decent low-cost NIC, stay away from the Netgear FA-311. It works great with Windows, but in Linux it is Evil incarnate!!

hey thanks alot for all the responces i received! im about to go buy my new card. thanks for the support, ill post when iget my card and if i have any issues with the new card. thanks

what kind of card should i buy? am i going to get hight performance from buying one of those 3com cards that has its own processor and security or should i just get a $20 card and it will work the same? i have enough money for both.

Get a $20 card and send some of your spare cash this way.

Robbo

so basically there is no difference between the card? i mean i am ready to buy! someone please give me specs so i may choose what kind of card to get.

Just choose one that is on the hardware list of Linux.
If your wanting to play brand new games, and edit and watch videos get a more expensive one. Depends what your wanting to use it for. But really as long as it's on the list you won't have any major problems (well for Linux anyways).

I have got a RealTek RTL8019 to work in my linux box, you have to use the NE2000 pci module, and it workss no prob

I would like to chime in here about the Realtech 8139 NIC. I am currently on a search for a solution for a problem that I have been having with Mandrake 8.0. For some reason when I reboot it cannot shut down my ethernet card. It just sits there forever. If I do a "ifconfig eth0 down" it will shut down with out any problems. If anyone out there has any ideas on this let me know. thx.