[SOLVED] Toughbook CF-52 eth0 not found - CentOS 5.2

[skiman1979]

I recently installed CentOS 5.2 on a Panasonic Toughbook CF-52 and the installer went through without any problems. I was able to log in after the install completed and everything appears to be working except networking.

ifconfig does not show anything for eth0 which is what I've always used for wired Ethernet networking. Is there some other way to get wired Ethernet working on this laptop?

I see a xenbr0 device in ifconfig, but I assume that is for bridging/natting the network to a virtual machine?

I'm not running any VMs, and just want to enable an Ethernet connection on the host OS.

After doing some research, I tracked down an e1000 kernel module, which is loaded via modprobe, but that doesn't seem to be helping. Am I missing something?

[rokytnji]

Howdy Skiman, I own a Cf-48 Toughbook running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and it runs ETH0 and The internal Wireless also. I suggest if you want to get some good responces to your Eth O query to post your problem HERE in this section of the forum. I know it says wireless but we have members that are excellant at trouble shooting lan issues there. Follow THESE instructions before posting there. Again I know it says wireless but the info you provide using those instructions will be a big help to those who respond there to untangle your lan issues. Good Luck with Centos and If I was you I would include CentOS in the title of your thread as there are a few members running that distro who will see it and respond to your questions. Happy Trails.

[skiman1979]

Thanks rokytnji. I'll post the question in the wireless section as you said, and include CentOS in the title. I'll also update the title here (if I'm able to edit the title) in case someone in this section can respond.

[skiman1979]

I posted this in the "Linux on Laptops/Netbooks/Minibooks" section, but it was suggested that I post here, despite that this is a wired issue, not wireless. If this is inappropriate for this section, I can return to the other section. Below is the original post with extra output added from various Linux commands.

--------------------------------------

I recently installed CentOS 5.2 on a Panasonic Toughbook CF-52 and the installer went through without any problems. I was able to log in after the install completed and everything appears to be working except networking.

ifconfig does not show anything for eth0 which is what I've always used for wired Ethernet networking. Is there some other way to get wired Ethernet working on this laptop?

I see a xenbr0 device in ifconfig, but I assume that is for bridging/natting the network to a virtual machine?

I'm not running any VMs, and just want to enable an Ethernet connection on the host OS.

After doing some research, I tracked down an e1000 kernel module, which is loaded via modprobe, but that doesn't seem to be helping. Am I missing something?

Here are some console commands and output:

# lspci |grep Ethernet
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)

# dmesg |grep firmware
<<returns no results>>

# uname -r
2.6.18-92.el5xen

# dmesg
...
e1000e: Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Driver - 0.2.0
e1000e: Copyright (c) 1999-2007 Intel Corporation
Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Driver - version 7.3.20-k2-NAPI
Copyoright (c) 1999-2006 Intel Corporation
(repeated a couple times...)

I'm not sure which is the correct module, but e1000 and e1000e don't seem to be working. If you need any other information, let me know. Thanks.

[HROAdmin26]

The version of the e1000 driver from the install is likely too old to support the newer version of 82XXX Intel NIC. You can download the latest e1000 driver from Intel and compile it for your system.

Intel 82567 NIC Driver

Install README

* If you are not using Xen, I suggest reinstalling without selecting "virtualization" so that the Xen kernel is not installed. You *may* see additional complications later due to the Xen kernel.

* You have installed an *enterprise* distro to a laptop - expect that more work may be required to make it function like a desktop system (sound, games, movies, music.)

[skiman1979]

The version of the e1000 driver from the install is likely too old to support the newer version of 82XXX Intel NIC. You can download the latest e1000 driver from Intel and compile it for your system.

Intel 82567 NIC Driver

Install README

* If you are not using Xen, I suggest reinstalling without selecting "virtualization" so that the Xen kernel is not installed. You *may* see additional complications later due to the Xen kernel.

* You have installed an *enterprise* distro to a laptop - expect that more work may be required to make it function like a desktop system (sound, games, movies, music.)

Thanks. As suggested, I'm reinstalling the OS without selecting "virtualization". I'm not sure why I selected that in the first place. After reinstalling, I'll install the updated e1000 driver from the link you provided.

I appreciate the advice about installing an enterprise distro on a laptop. The reason I went with this OS is because of the embedded development we will be doing on it. We're going to be doing Montavista Linux development for a TI board on this laptop. The Montavista tools officially support Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and from what I understand CentOS is basically RH without the branding. It was a quick way to get a RH-like box together without waiting for the licensing to come through (and of course cheaper).

I'll post back with my results after getting the OS and updated drivers installed.

[skiman1979]

Sorry for the late update. I did reinstall the OS and put the new e1000 drivers in. CentOS booted up and successfully started my Ethernet connection.

Thanks again for the help.