Redhat Linux 5 Entprz : No Ethernet Card Found

[szshezan]

Hi,

Just a new user on Linux and having trouble with the LAN card. There is no LAN card found from my Redhat Linux 5 Enterprise. My LAN Card is:
Encore ENL832-TX-RE | 10/100 Fast Ethernet PCI Adapter (ENL832-TX-RE)

But it is not in the list of System->Network->Other Network Card.

However, I had a driver CD of my Encore Fast Ethernet with below files in Linux folder:
compat.h
crc32.h
ethtool.h
Makefile
mii.c
mii.h
readme.txt
sundance_main.c

but don't know how to install. Can anyboby help please?

[Irithori]

A quick google revealed, that this Encore ENL832-TX-RE nic seems to be based on the sc92031 chip.

On my fedora15/16 VMs, there is indeed already a kernel module for that available.
So no need to compile here.

But:
- the module is marked experimental
- the nic itself is deprecated and end of life
- it is only 100Mbit/s anyways
These are probably the reasons, why the module did not make it into RedHat Enterprise, as this is geared to be a stable operating system.

It may be possible to compile your own module, but I would just get a supported intel nic and be done with it.
100mbit/s ones you can probably get for free or little money from a local pc shop.
Worst case ebay

[szshezan]

Thanks anyway! Okay then, lets go for an Intel NIC.

However, how to determine the exact NIC for my RHEL5 SERVER? Do you have any suggestion/model? (Want to be sure indeed! not expecting more trouble regarding hardware.)

[Irithori]

Hmm, it seems the redhat hardware catalog more or less only lists complete systems.
https://hardware.redhat.com/

But I believe about any intel nic should be recognized.
Safe the very latest ones, as rhel5 is already a bit dated.

On your machine, you should have a pci_ids.h
Inside is a list of pci ids, that are supported.
The names indicate the chipset used.
With the knowledge of the chipset, you should be able to get an appropiate nic.

A bit cumbersome, I agree

If the intel nic isnt the very latest 10gbit/s version, I would probably just buy/get it and try.

[szshezan]

Thank you so much! Hopefully tomorrow I am going to have my new Intel NIC!

[Rubberman]

Definitely go with an Intel gigabit NIC. Fast ethernet (100mbps) is dated, and not recommended for server use. My workstation/server has dual gigabit NICs onboard, and since it is an Intel motherboard, the NICs are also. They worked out-of-the-box with RHEL (CentOS) 5, and now 6.