network card not detected.... sort of

[darkrose0510]

My network card appears to have an identity crisis!

I'm running SuSe 10.0 and have a network card with a realtek 8139 chipset, now I'm certain it is that because it's got it written on the chip. However Yast is trying to tell me it's a 3com 905B chipset, likewise KDE control says similar.

Looking at Yast --> Hardware --> Hardware Infomation --> Network Card it says; 3C905B Fast Etherlink XL 10/100

Looking in KDE Menu --> System --> Monitor --> PCI I get the same thing, however there is also several lines saying

 
Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown Device 81bb (rev 10)
!!! Invalid class 0282 for header type 02
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
I/O Ports at <ignored> [disabled]
Bus: primary=00, secondary=00, subordinate=82, sec-latency=0

To me this shows that it does recognise that there is something with the RTL-8139 chipset, it just hasn't worked out that's my network card.

ifconfig eth0 brings up this

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:C0:4F:9B:DD:2B
          inet6 addr: fe80::2c0:4fff:fe9b:dd2b/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
          Interrupt:11 Base address:0xdc00

And if I ping the router I get this

connect: Network is unreachable

Anyone got any idea how I can get the card working? Somehow or other i need to convince the system that the card isn't what it thinks it is.

[AlexK]

what does lspci return regarding the chipset (you need root permissions to run it)?

[darkrose0510]

lspci gives out this

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
00:0d.0 Multimedia video controller: Brooktree Corporation Bt878 Video Capture (rev 11)
00:0d.1 Multimedia controller: Brooktree Corporation Bt878 Audio Capture (rev 11)
00:0e.0 Communication controller: Conexant HSF 56k HSFi Modem (rev 01)
00:0f.0 PCI bridge: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21152 (rev 03)
00:11.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (rev 24)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc 3D Rage Pro AGP 1X/2X (rev 5c)
02:09.0 Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown device 81bb (rev 10)
02:09.1 Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown device 81bb (rev 10)
02:09.2 Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown device 81bb (rev 10)
02:09.3 Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown device 81bb (rev 10)
02:09.4 Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown device 81bb (rev 10)
02:09.5 Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown device 81bb (rev 10)
02:09.6 Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown device 81bb (rev 10)
02:09.7 Class 0282: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.: Unknown device 81bb (rev 10)

BTW, just booted up in Winoze XP, and got the same problem (Well it tells me there's a network cable disconnected in one place, and device is not connected in another area). Could be that the card is FUBAR?

[AlexK]

Does XP detect the card at all in its Hardware Profiles? Also, from lspci, it does seem to look like you have a 3com chipset:
00:11.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (rev 24)

But the multiple instances of realtek does kind of look wierd. Do you have multiple ethernet cards on your system?

If XP doesn't show the card correctly in Hardware Manager then it could be FUBAR....

[darkrose0510]

XP detects it as a 3C918 (3C905B TX compatible) and even after trying differant drivers it still won't work with it (network cable unplugged - which it definitely isn't).

No there isn't multiple ethernet cards on my system, just this one. I might see if i can get another card and see if the problem is still there. If a new card works I'll know the problem is with the card, otherwise I'll know the problem is elsewhere.

[darkrose0510]

The comment of multiple ethernet cards got me thinking, so I opened up the case for a look, turns out there is one built into the motherboard - didn't think to check there - so i pulled out the Realtek card, removed the cover from the LAN socket, put everything together and plugged it in and all is working wonderfully.
Thanx for giving me the tip off Alex!

[AlexK]

No problem, glad to hear you got it working.

[thecoolestone]

Hi guys i know this is a pretty old post but i found it while searching for a solution to the problem i am facing
well have a braodband connection...
and have a static ip assigned.
the thing is i have loaded suse 10 and am not able to connect to the network
when i do if config it shows is the lo loopback thing
and when i do the ifconfig -a
it shows the eth0 but nothing else.
i am using a HP laptop, the presario 2000 series laptop..
i have dual O/s windows/ Suse...
can you guys help me out in this