install Realtek RTL8139

[pbhuvanesh]

I am new to Linux and using fedora core 5. I want to install Realtek RTL8139 family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC to configure Dataone broadband. I don’t see any drive for the above said NIC in FC5.i went to Realtek website where they have linux24x-8139cp(160).zip, i downloaded it. It contains 3 files. 1. Readme file, 2.8139too.c, 3.makefile. They didn’t give any instructions to install. I unzipped and went inside the directory and typed makefile in terminal it is giving error.i want to know that the drive I downloaded is correct for above said NIC or tell me where I can get the correct one and how to install the drive and configure the NIC. Pls help me.

[daark.child]

I use cards based on the same chipset and they just work out of the box with all Linux distros including Fedora Core 5.

[destroyallgood]

ya ....even i got the same prob...i have an onboard card that is easily detected but this other realtek card just wont get recognized the way it should be... ifconfig also doesnt gimme anything positive.... not even the mac addre of the damn card

[Roxoff]

ya ....even i got the same prob...i have an onboard card that is easily detected but this other realtek card just wont get recognized the way it should be... ifconfig also doesnt gimme anything positive.... not even the mac addre of the damn card

You really should post a new thread rather than jump on an old one; from a distance it doesn't look like you're asking a new question.

Anyway, onto some practical help...

You could have a resource conflict with your card, or maybe even a broken card. The RTL8139 chipset is about as ubiquitous as it comes - these network cards can be bought in the UK for about £3 (that's about 5 euros or $6). They're so cheap, that at the first sign of trouble, I'd recommend chucking it in the bin and replacing with a new one.

If it doesn't work and you want to avoid the walk down the shops, then try moving the card to a different PCI slot and see if it gets detected there. You could also try resetting the PnP information in the BIOS, or allocating IRQ's to PCI slots manually (this is a bit of a faff tho).

Another thing you could try is to get hold of a live CD distro such as Knoppix, Ubuntu, Fedora and booting it up. If it cant detect the card either then you've probably got a duff card and should take the route to a replacement.

[destroyallgood]

hi....
i actually did manage to solve the problem....
it was the thing with pnp stting in BIOS....couldnt make any sense of it though...
could u explain as to what exactly did i do by setting pnp to yes...
thanx

[Roxoff]

If you tell the bios that you have a PnP compatible operating system (like Linux), it will allow the OS to allocate interrupts and address space to hardware as it needs, rather than relying on the allocations made by the bios. As you see, because the OS is smarter than the bios it can do a better job.

[destroyallgood]

thanx a lot for the info....