installing NetComm driver

Forum: Networking
Topic: installing NetComm driver
started by: tonymoloney

Posted by tonymoloney on July 07 2007,05:19

I'm a Linux newbie but I've worked in all versions of DOD etc.
I've set up DSL on anold IBM Aptiva and everything works fine except access to the Internet. I installed a NetComm NP1100 NIC and tried to install the Linux drivers using the following instructions off the CD

" Linux driver for kernel 2.2.X

The procedure to activate NP1100_R 10/100M WOL Fast Ethernet card
on linux is as follows:

step 01: Copy the driver source files to a convenient directory.

step 02: Compile
The instruction for compiling the driver is include at the
end of the driver file.If a compile-command is not there use
the following compile command:
(Run this instruction at /usr/src/linux)

*compile-command:
" gcc -DMODULE -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O6 -c np11004.c "

Or you can use the Makefile included in the driver disk \LINUX.

step 03: Copy the module "np11004.o" to
"/lib/modules/{kernel-version}/net"

*The directory "{kernel-version}" stands for the Linux kernel
version you use.

step 04: Insert the driver as module:
insmod np11004.o
(Run 'lsmod' to see if the module is inserted)

step 05: Bind your card to an IP address

/sbin/ifconfig eth0 ${IPADDR} broadcast ${BROADCAST}
netmask ${NETMASK}
(Run 'netstat -i' to see if there is a interface 'eth0')

step 06: Add your card to IP routing table, then add gateway also
your card:
/sbin/route add -net ${NETWORK} netmask ${NETMASK} eth0
(Should be able to ping local network now)

gateway:
/sbin/route add default gw ${GATEWAY} netmask 0.0.0.0 metric 1

step 07: Start inet daemon.
/usr/sbin/inetd
(You are on the network now)

*make sure that your kernel is built with network, fast_ethernet and
module support. Otherwise, you have to rebuild your kernel.
( 01:Go to /usr/src/linux directory
02:Run "make menuconfig" or "make config"
03:Mark the options list above.
04:Exit and rebuild your kernel.
make dep;make clean;make zImage
the file "zImage" will be at
/usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/zImage
05:Modify /etc/lilo.conf.(this file specify where kernel image is)
06:Run "lilo" )

You can run "netconfig" which will do step 05,06,07 for you.

Then just add a line at the beginning of "/etc/rc.d/init.d/network".

" insmod /lib/modules/{kernel-version}/net/np11004.o "

*The directory "{kernel-version}" stands for the Linux kernel
version you use.
then your driver will work every time you boot."

Problem is the compile command gcc is not recognised and neither is the /usr/src/linux directory found.
The card works as is, but response is very slow.
My Kernel is 2.4.31 and lspci shows the network card chipset as Realtek Semiconductor

Also, if I get past the first few problems, what do I put at the {IPADDR}, {BROADCAST} and {NETMASK} variables? at step 5?

Any help will be most valuable as I'm trying to get away from Micro$oft.
Thanks
Tony

Posted by Juanito on July 07 2007,07:15

What version of DSL are you using? The latest version is 3.4 which has linux 2.4.26 - it sounds like you may be using DSL 2.1 which I seem to remember uses linix 2.4.31.

To be able to compile your module, you will need to load the gnu-utils, gcc1-with-libs and kernelsources extensions from the DSL myDSL repository.

Posted by tonymoloney on July 07 2007,07:30

Thanks Juanito.
You're right. I am way back at 2.1 and the kernel is 2.4.31 - that was a typo.
I'll follow your instructions and hopefully my next message will be from DSL and not Micro$oft.
Tony

Posted by tonymoloney on July 09 2007,00:29

Hi Juanito
Sorry to have to come back to you for more help, but as my Netcomm driver has not been installed properly yet, my Internet link won't stay up long enough for me to download and install those modules.
So I've had to download them manually using Windoze and my question is now, how do I install those modules?
Thanks in advance
Tony

Posted by tonymoloney on July 09 2007,01:08

Sorry Juanito, please ignore my last post. I've just found the instructions on the web site.
Tony

Posted by tonymoloney on July 27 2007,07:09

Well, I've tried to install those drivers without any luck, then I had an urgent call to the other side of Australia, so I've done nothing for a couple of weeks.
Now that I'm back, I decided I ought to upgrade my DSL to the latest version and guess what? As soon as I had done that, the NIC worked like a charm and now I can surf the Net for as long as I like.
I've now got another question about security, which I'll post in a new thread.
Cheers
Tony