Pocket Ethernet Adapter Not Supported

[Derada]

I'm not sure what kind of info you need to help me, but I recently installed Debian from a stripped down 'netinst' install from CD-ROM. When configuring hardware, I had to choose from a list of ethernet cards. The computer I was installing Debian on used a pocket ethernet card plugged into a parallel port. The card is from Billionton, a usbkr3-100N, which is a very obscure card.

So in order to bypass that part of the install, I chose the "no ethernet card" option. I figured that I would manually download the necessary drivers later. (http://www.billionton.com.tw/website...tep4.asp?id=21)
Apparently you need to compile a modular kernel or somesuch... I don't understand any of the readmes or the walkthroughs online about pocket ethernet adapters.

Right now I have a basic Debian OS on my computer and no idea how to get internet access. What should I do?

[Vergil83]

could you post some of the links to these readme/faq?
also run from the command line

uname -a

and post the result

[Derada]

The readme that came with the driver:

USBKR-100 on linux is as follows:

step 1: compile:
gcc -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -c rtl8150.c -I/usr/src/linux-2.4.0/include/
*linux-2.4.0 will change according to the kernel version

step 2: insert the driver as module:
insmod rtl8150.o
(run 'lsmod' to see if the module is inserted)

step 3: bind your card to an IP address:

/sbin/ifconfig eth0 ${IPADDR} netmask ${NETMASK} broadcast ${BROADCAST}
(run 'netstat -i' to see if there is a interface 'eth0')

step 4: add your card to IP routing table and add gateway:
/sbin/route add default gw ${GATEWAY} dev eth0


*make sure that your kernel is version 2.4.0 or next version.
Otherwise, you have to upgrade your kernel.
(http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4)
-----------
The only other file is a C file that this readme refers to.

The walkthrough for ethernet adapters: http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/doc...WTO.html#ss1.3

This, I think, is the most relevant paragraph: "If you didn't find either a pre-built kernel with your driver, or a module form of the driver, chances are you have a typically uncommon card, and you will have to build your own kernel with that driver included. Once you have linux installed, building a custom kernel is not difficult at all. You essentially answer yes or no to what you want the kernel to contain, and then tell it to build it. There is a Kernel-HowTo that will help you along."

uname -a result:
Linux debian 2.4.27-2-386 #1 Wed Aug 17 09:33:35 UTC 2005 GNU/Linux

Any elaboration on the readme steps would be appreciated.

[Vergil83]

this is going to be messy.... the problem is you will need many large programs from online which themselves need many smaller programs... you could try to download load the all separately, but I feeling the easiest solution is going to be to download and burn the first cd
http://www.debian.org/CD/ (perhaps #2)

put the first cd in and run

su
apt-cdrom -a

that should include that cd to your

/etc/apt/sources.list

then do

su
apt-get install build-essential
gcc -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -c rtl8150.c -I/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-2/include/
insmod rtl8150.o 
/sbin/ifconfig eth0 ${IPADDR} netmask ${NETMASK} broadcast ${BROADCAST}

where each line is a seperate when run from the command line

[Derada]

Okay. I succeeded in installing gcc from the cd and used the directions in the readme. Right after compiling the driver, a slew of error messages covered the screen. Is it possible that there are bugs in the driver?

[Vergil83]

Okay. I succeeded in installing gcc from the cd and used the directions in the readme. Right after compiling the driver, a slew of error messages covered the screen. Is it possible that there are bugs in the driver?

sure it is possible..... what where the some of the error messages

[Derada]

There are well over 3 screenfuls of errors.

/usr/include/linux/usb.h:833: error: syntax error before "size_t"
/usr/include/linux/usb.h:835: error: syntax error before "size_t"
/usr/include/linux/usb.h:870: error: syntax error before "size_t"
/usr/include/linux/usb.h:906: error: syntax error before "size_t"
/usr/include/linux/usb.h:912: error: conflicting types for 'lock'
/usr/include/linux/fs.h:809: error: previous declaration of 'lock'
/usr/include/linux/usb.h/924: error: syntax error before '}' token

there's more of these type of errors too, but they look very similar.

rtl8150.c:114:1:warning: "ALIGN" redefined
In file included from /usr/include/asm/system.h:5,
                    from /usr/include/asm/processor.h:18, 
                    from /usr/include/asm/thread_info.h:13,
                    from /usr/include/linux/spinlock.h:19
                    from /usr/include/linux/capability.h:45
                    from /usr/include/linux/sched.h:7
                    from /usr/include/linux/module.h:10
                    from rtl8150.c:50:
/usr/include/linux/kernel.h:28:1: warning: this is the location of the previous definition
rtl8150.c:320: error: syntax error before "devrequest"
rtl8150.c:320: warning: no semicolon at end of struct or union
rtl8150.c:334: error: syntax error before '}' token
rtl8150.c:364: error: syntax error before '}' token
rtl8150.c:366: error 'rtl8150' undeclared (first use in this function)

Then more similar undeclared messages.

In fact, the majority of the messages seem to refer to undeclared terms used in the functions.

rtl8150.c: At top level:
rtl8150.c:1390: warning: initializiation from incompatible pointer type
/usr/include/asm-generic/siginfo.h:53: error: storage size of '_pad' isn't known
/usr/include/linux/stat.h:68: error: storage size of 'atime' isn't known.

More messages similar to those except with different file names.

http://www.billionton.com.tw/website...tep4.asp?id=21

I'd appreciate it if you'd look at the driver from the above website. The code doesn't seem blatantly buggy.

[Vergil83]

I would email the company and see if they have any tips. The issue seems to be with their kernel module. Other than that, I am out of ideas.

[Derada]

Well, I give up. Apparently Billionton is a China-based producer of cheap computer peripherals. Their website won't even work properly so I can't contact support or go to their forum. Thanks for your help. I think I'll just buy another ethernet card.

[deanlinkous]

That is a OLD file for sure!
Are you sure the card isn't detected? Does this card have lights on it and if so are any of them lit up? Which version of debian did you install?

Try the following command
ifconfig eth0 up
What response do you get?
Use the following command ifconfig? Do you see a eth0 device?

If not try
modprobe rtl8150
and then try the command above again.

Or just get a different device!