Re: [FW1] Linux and ethernet card problem?

["Paul D. Robertson" <proberts@FW1-NOSPAMclark.net>]

On Thu, 21 Sep 2000, Lasse Andersson wrote:

[Sorry, nothing FW-1 specific here, but I'm a long-time Linux user.]

> Hi,
> 
> I have installed FW-1 version 4.1 SP1 for Linux on a "standard PC" with 3 NIC's. Kernel
> version supported is installed (2.2.x). I'm using 3COM 3C900B-COMBO cards.

I know that 3com had drivers for th 3c950 cards on their site that seemed
to be more stable than the standard "Becker" drivers in Linux [though
still not 100% in my opinion.]  You may want to try searching 3Com rather
than going with a generic driver.

> I boot the machine and FW-1 start. Then I stop FW-1 and then after a minute or two
> i can not even ping a host on the local network. 
> 
> A mailing-list pointed me to a newer loadable module driver for the NIC's which I installed.
> 
> Problem then was that the machine halted completely av a few minutes (with FW-1 in operation)
> 

You may want to make sure that it's a NIC problem by running the machine
under load for a while with the interface ifconfig'd down.  PCs without
parity memory aren't always a reliable hardware platform.

Also, you might want to compile the driver in the kernel, I've had more
success with the 95x drivers when they weren't modules.  I never fully
debugged the issue though, it was easier to go out and buy Intel cards.

> Then I asked the local reseller if there were a list of supported cards.
> Their list :
> 1. Intel 82558 based PCI Ethernet 10/100
> 2. Intel PRO/100+  10/100
> 3. Olicom TokenRing
> 4. 3Com Fast EtherLink XL ( 3C905-TX ) 10/100

3Com cards seem to go through many BIOS revisions giving driver troubles
with Linux.  It's a shame, the 3c5x9 cards were great, but anything newer
has been a source of headaches for me at some point or another.  I had
problems with older Intel cards and was buying all 3c509 cards when I
could.  When the 3c590 came out it cured me of that and the Intel EEPro
cards have been great.

I'd seriously consider the recent Intel EEPro cards- the only
time I've had to upgrade drivers has been for the motherboard-mounted
type, the PCI cards I've used have all worked consistantly- though I've
never run FW1 on Linux so I don't know if they're doing anything special.

Clone cards that run with the Tulip driver seem to be good too, though you
may have to upgrade the driver.  I've had mixed results with NE2000
clones.  Both of these categories of cards are under $20 each in the US,
so experimentation is mostly a time thing.

Paul
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul D. Robertson      "My statements in this message are personal opinions
proberts@clark.net      which may have no basis whatsoever in fact."
                                                                     PSB#9280



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