2.13 can't connect to network, says 'no active interface'

[bobn9lvu]

I used Nero 6 to burn the .iso. Think I should try using some other software?

Think the boot disc might be corrupted?

Check it using the md5 hash file from where you dl'ed the iso..

There is plenty of help on how to do this in the puppy wiki and forum..

Bob

[cacarr]

I used Nero 6 to burn the .iso. Think I should try using some other software?

Think the boot disc might be corrupted?

Check it using the md5 hash file from where you dl'ed the iso..

There is plenty of help on how to do this in the puppy wiki and forum..

Bob

Note in the thread that I mentioned I've used different software to burn the iso... same problem.

It's the drivers it sure seems...

I downloaded 2.12 as well...same driver modules loaded at boot...same results; they don't work.

I've gone down the list and tried just about every driver that might possibly work in multiple downloads of 2.12 and 2.13 burned with different software.

The drivers do not work.

[stlchuck]

If you haven't tried it and you are willing to give one of the 1.xx series a shot you might try downloading and using Puppy 109CE - it is the most current of the 1.xx series and is quite good. Be warned that the 1.xx series handles writing the save files differently from the 2.xx series and for an initial try I would recommend booting it in RAM only to see if it will work for you. The advantage for you is that it uses an earlier version of the kernel that if memory serves should be compatible with the available drivers - if it is then you can boot it normally and it will make a save file in the first non NTFS partition on your machine - lacking one of those it will work with a USB key. Good luck and hope this helps.

[cacarr]

I'll give that a try.

Can you save to the boot disk in the 1.xx series?

Thanks.

[Flash]

If the disk boots then it probably isn't corrupted. Nor is it likely that the iso you downloaded is corrupted. So burning a new disk is unlikely to work. Sorry I can't be more helpful than that.

Having said all that, if you have extra disks and time, give it a shot. Lord knows, I've been wrong often enough.

[stlchuck]

If memory serves the save to CD/DVD feature was in 1.09CE but not having used it myself can't say for sure. One download source for 1.09CE is www.dotpups.de - you should find a huge assortment of Puppy ISO's and dotpup add on packages there. Good luck - hope this works better for you.

[cacarr]

If the disk boots then it probably isn't corrupted. Nor is it likely that the iso you downloaded is corrupted. So burning a new disk is unlikely to work. Sorry I can't be more helpful than that.

Having said all that, if you have extra disks and time, give it a shot. Lord knows, I've been wrong often enough.

Posted above:

I've gone down the list and tried just about every driver that might possibly work in multiple downloads of 2.12 and 2.13 burned with different software.

You missed part of the thread it seems.

I wonder why drivers incompatible with the current kernel are even in 2.xx ?? There are bajillions of these Yukon onboard NICs out there... it's a shame I might have to resort to an old release of Puppy.

Guess I'll have to learn to compile the driver myself if I want to use 2.xx... Damn, that's quite a noob road block.

Ergh...




Haven't tried 1.09 yet...need to pick up some more disks.

[cacarr]

I tried 1.09CE and am now somewhat less certain about what the issue is:

The sky2 module does not appear to be included, and the sk98lin module fails to load -- which perhaps it shouldn't as it is for the Yukon gigabit ethernet controller, though I think I've heard of it being used for this device.

So, don't know. I'm thinking were the sky2 module included in 1.09, it would likely work -- assuming it's compiled for the kernel 1.09 uses (there doesn't seem to be one for 2.xx)

Perhaps someone could tell me if (1) there is a sky2 module compiled for the kernel used in 1.09 and (2) how I might go about adding that module.


Thanks.

PS. I have sound in 1.09 yeah! ...not in 2.xx, though

[cacarr]

I'm currently browsing with the Zenlive live cd ... no problems whatsoever. USB mouse works, sound works, and it has no problems with my NIC.

So, I guess that eliminates some possible issues.


Any thoughts?


For a number of reasons, I would rather use Puppy.

[Sage]

Sorry to break in here folks, but I'm not quite sure what all the fuss is about. NICs are the new sound cards of the C21st. I thought everybody knew that there are combinations of hardware/software that are utterly incompatible - it's always been this way. Furthermore, because of the Realtek, Via, SiS and similar fiascos, you cannot even rely upon reading the chip number to be certain which driver will work. Sometimes it helps to read all the other numbers and try to track down the date of etching and which design sheet was used - usually not.

This leaves two options:
Disable onboard NICs in BIOS and/or insert a new card with known drivers
or
Try every driver ever issued, including, for Linux, those that appear to be branded by another foundry, recompiling where necessary.
Sometimes you can get lucky by finding a specific answer on some obscure Forum from someone who has actually succeeded with the specific system like yours - this is rare, though. Guessing is like trying to win the lottery.

Field service engineers make their pile by substitution of components, whatever the problem - 'scopes, waveform generators and the suchlike have remained in the van or back at base this last couple of decades.

[cacarr]

This leaves two options:
Disable onboard NICs in BIOS and/or insert a new card with known drivers
or
Try every driver ever issued, including, for Linux, those that appear to be branded by another foundry, recompiling where necessary.
Sometimes you can get lucky by finding a specific answer on some obscure Forum from someone who has actually succeeded with the specific system like yours - this is rare, though. Guessing is like trying to win the lottery.

Ah, well, I suppose it would be easier to use a Live CD distro that works. Guess it's ZenLive then, which is too bad because I prefer Puppy's features.

[Sage]

Not necessarily. Changing a NIC isn't rocket science unless it's an sme in a laptop; even then, you only need to purchase a special IC tip for your soldering iron (CPC.co.uk). Until recently, I'd been discarding NICs pulled from junked office PCs'; even at full retail, they can be had for a bag of beans. Find one that works with every distro and you restore your own freedom of choice, not what some greedy capitalist NIC manufacturer and his puppeteer wants to force upon you.

[cacarr]

I hear what you're saying, but I'm not to inclined to dig around in my school laptop, particularly during finals week. :0

I'm overseas at school at the moment, but when I get back to the States I'll try Puppy out on my desktop (though my DSL connection might be an issue), though, er... I can always install a fatter distro on that. But at any rate, I really wanted to install it on a USB stick (my USB flash wrist watch actually -- oh yeah, that's geeky), but it turns out this POS BIOS doesn't actually support booting from "USB Stick," though it lists as much in the Boot Priority list.

I don't suppose there are any other small distros that let you save settings and data to your boot disk?

Perhaps you can determine a pattern here in terms of kernel versions:

Slax = ethernet controller not detected, no sound, no USB mouse
Puppy = Same
ZenLive = no problems at all

... need to try some more; perhaps PCLinuxOS "Minime"

Find one that works with every distro and you restore your own freedom of choice, not what some greedy capitalist NIC manufacturer and his puppeteer wants to force upon you

Yeah, but I suppose at least some of the "blame" has to be put on all the variation in these distros. It would seem to this noob that there should be some cross-distro standardization in terms of hardware support...add individual bells and whistles on top of a core functionality... ...perhaps some standards entity that issues some sort compliance certification.

[Sage]

Mepis is not to everyone's taste, especially now Warren has sold out to Mr Shuttlecock (sic), which, like PCLinuxOS, seems to work with everything. But the grandaddy of them all is Knoppix, now available in v5.1 with aufs. DSL does lots of things that others can't, although it runs on kernel 2.4.
As soon as you get back to base, I'd don your dirtiest old raincoat and start rummaging around in the local skips/dumpsters and contact Snowdog, who knows all about laptops. In the longer term, Puppy remains your best chance, even though it still requires masses more development time than Barry and the troupe have hours in the day.

[stlchuck]

Glad to hear that you found something that works for you even if it isn't Puppy. One of the blessings/curses of working with Linux is the sheer variety of distros out there - if one doesn't work with your hardware something else likely will. So kudos to you for hanging in there and finding something that does. Maybe somewhere down the road Puppy will be what you need. If you are up for it, I will second Sage's recomendation on Knoppix and/or one of the DSL linux variants - their hardware detection and compatibility is about as good as it gets - Good luck!

[tempestuous]

From the sound of things you may be having a problem similar to what we had with an on the motherboard NIC by Nvidia. Namely the available drivers for it may not be compiled for the version of the kernel that Puppy is currently using.

No, that's not the problem. In cacarr's situation the sky2 module has automaticaly loaded, and that comes from Puppy 2.13's standard set of kernel modules, it's not an add-on.

I wonder why drivers incompatible with the current kernel are even in 2.xx

This is not the case. This only happens when Puppy users download the wrong add-on modules. Personally, when I contribute add-on modules I now append the kernel version to the end of the name.

Back to the problem at hand, the sky2 module appears to be problematic with all modern kernels, not just in Puppy.

Let's say that sk98lin might work for me... would I need to remove sky2

Yes. Do this -

rmmod sky2
modprobe sk98lin

If this doesn't work, there's one last chance; an updated driver from www.marvell.com

Marvell's site does not offer the above driver version for linux 2.4.20 and higher...

That's wrong. At http://www.marvell.com/drivers/driverDi ... 153&pId=36
there's a "Yukon Linux Driver Install Package" version 8.41 available. I just checked it. It contains source code for 2.4 and 2.6 kernels.

[cacarr]

Excellent.

I'll give that a try.

Thanks for wading through that thread...

[cacarr]

rmmod sky2
modprobe sk98lin

Didn't work unfortunately.

I downloaded the files. The "readme" made my eyes bleed.


Let's see...not sure what to initially do with that .bz2

[tempestuous]

I just compiled it.
After installing this dotpup, you will need to do the same as before -

rmmod sky2
modprobe sk98lin

[cacarr]

Great!


I'll report back...




Thanks again....