Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

lpb331 · 2009-09-07 16:25:40

For some reason, whenever I first try to connect to a wired connection using netcfg v 2.2.1-1, I get a "No connection" error. But then a second attempt is always successful. I am using the e100 driver, and editing rc.conf to use eth0="dhcp", INTERFACES=(eth0) and the network daemon does successfully start the ethernet up on startup. For what it's worth, my ethernet controller is, from lspci: 02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB PRO/100 VE (MOB) Ethernet Controller (rev 81). My ethnet profile is:

CONNECTION="ethernet-iproute"
INTERFACE=eth0
IP="dhcp"
DHCLIENT="no"
DHCP_TIMEOUT=15

and the relevant parts of my rc.conf file are:

HOSTNAME="themoon"

gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)

NETWORKS=(ethnet wireless networks)

DAEMONS=(@hal @fam @alsa @net-profiles)

where wireless networks are other profiles. Whenever I go to campus, netcfg does correctly determine that I'm not using the ethernet and connects to whichever wireless network is nearby. If I put ethnet in my NETWORKS list twice, it will connect on startup, but I don't think that's what the developers had in mind. Any ideas on what might be causing this?

ataraxia · 2009-09-07 17:28:12

I have this problem as well. Mine is an Intel NIC also (though a different one) and it doesn't report media status properly until it's brought up. I didn't spend much time on this, and just went back to non-profiled networking.

lpb331 · 2009-09-07 18:01:20

Have you always had this problem with netcfg? All was well with it before this summer (oddly enough I left the ethernet at my apartment for a summer internship in Pittsburgh!), so I think it's the newest version of netcfg causing it.

ngoonee · 2009-09-07 23:02:57

Something that comes to mind, I don't think hal is meant to be backgrounded. Try without.

lpb331 · 2009-09-08 00:26:03

Thanks for the suggestion ngoonee, but that didn't get it. Could the kernel possibly be at fault as well? Just a thought...

ngoonee · 2009-09-08 03:52:49

You should look at your logs and see what's causing the first attempt to fail. dmesg or anything from /var/log

lpb331 · 2009-09-08 14:20:32

Hmmm. I do notice that the phrase "e100 NIC Link is up 100 Mbps Full Duplex" does not appear in dmesg until nearly the very end, long after the e100 module is loaded. Also, the errors.log mentions this:

rpcbind: cannot create socket for udp6
rpcbind: cannot create socket for tcp6

Lastly, since it said no connection, a little snooping on the forums made me look at /sys/class/net/eth0/carrier. If I don't start netcfg or use the INTERFACES=(eth0), then before the first time I try to bring up the ethernet via ifconfig, I get an error when I try "cat /sys/class/net/eth0/carrier", but after the first time I get 1 like I should. Any thoughts?

ngoonee · 2009-09-08 23:09:36

Basically, your network card is taking quite a while to get to a working state. Try a pre-script on your netcfg to do ifconfig eth0 up or something along those lines.

As I said, sounds like hal has not finished loading when your netcfg is loaded up. I believe HAL is responsible for loading your network card properly (or it may be udev, not sure).

I think the rpcbind errors are due to the network card not being up yet.

lpb331 · 2009-09-09 00:13:04

I took a look at dmesg without net-profiles being loaded, and e100 is not even listed as ready in dmesg until I try to bring eth0 up with ifconfig, regardless of whether hal is backgrounded or not. As for a pre-script, I've been looking at /usr/lib/network/connections/ethernet and ethernet-iproute, but adding interface eth0 up before the script checks for a carrier, for some reason beyond me, is not helping. If that's not what you had in mind, let me know and I'll see what happens.

ngoonee · 2009-09-09 01:08:53

Add the following line to your config:-

PRE_UP="ifconfig eth0 up"

Note: this is very very hacky. I use an even hackier method (not using network-profiles at all, but putting ifconfig eth0 up and netcfg <profile_name> into my rc.local....) personally, but that's just me on my machine.

lpb331 · 2009-09-09 01:43:35

Hmmm. I think I had already tried that, so I tried it anyway, and again it doesn't connect on startup. It really doesn't make much sense to me why something like that wouldn't work. I know adding my ethernet profile a second time in rc.conf does get it started up, so I may have to live with it for now. Of course if you (or anyone else) have any other ideas, I'll willing to listen!

iphitus · 2009-09-09 03:13:58

Add

sleep 2

At line 22 of /usr/lib/network/connections/ethernet-iproute

I think I'll add some sort of option to disable the link check -- As you've found some hardware takes ages to be ready.

Those who have the problem, what driver do you have? I need to know so that I can properly document any change I make for this.

Last edited by iphitus (2009-09-09 03:16:45)

lpb331 · 2009-09-09 03:51:30

I don't think my hardware is taking ages to get ready; I think something is preventing it from being ready. If I do not use netcfg or the network daemon in my startup, I never see in my dmesg that the e100 NIC Link is up. I also know that in mid May everything was working properly. I don't know how much you've edited the scripts since mid May, but if you didn't do much with the early parts of the script, then I'm not sure netcfg is at fault. That's just my thoughts on my particular problem. In any event, if you need anything else from me that isn't mentioned in this thread, let me know.

sm4tik · 2009-09-20 14:58:13

I'm also experiencing the same problem on my thinkpad x23 with Intel PRO/100 SP Mobile Combo Adapter. The adapter is also using e100 driver. I'm using currently static ethernet connection and changing line 22 of /usr/lib/network/connections/ethernet as suggested by iphitus solved the problem, though I had to increase the sleep value to 3 to establish the connection reliably every time. Sleep 2 was still some times no enough.

@iphitus: The connection was established correctly every second time I run /etc/rc.d/net-profiles restart, every second gave a "- No connection" error. So at the first run the connection was created, and the next run would then recognize it correctly. Maybe a while loop with a timeout in the next release would be an idea to consider? This way the people not affected by this thing wouldn't have to suffer from an extra second or two (you know how it is with the boot times ) Any further tests I can do or logs I can paste?

ataraxia · 2009-09-20 15:48:38

Sorry I didn't see the "which driver" survey until now. I'm using e1000e.

MAC!EK · 2009-10-05 21:56:42

I'm also using e1000e and I had that problem. Sleep 2 solved it.

fijam · 2009-10-05 22:44:23

I am also experiencing this with e100.

iosonofabio · 2009-11-10 14:24:39

I also have e1000e on a ThinkPad X200s and I'm experiencing the same issue.

Please note that I had quite the same problem with my "old" ThinkPad T60 (see http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/13334 ). That time I kind of solved it by using following line in the profile config file:

PRE_UP='ifconfig eth0 up && sleep 3'

That bug was closed, but the last posts in it do not look very incouraging. Can it be the same issue?

Edit: editing line 22 of /usr/lib/network/connections/ethernet-iproute and line 15 of .../ethernet with a longer sleep value (3s) did the trick.

Last edited by iosonofabio (2009-11-10 14:32:06)

dmlawrence · 2009-11-25 22:23:49

I also have this problem (using the sky2 module with a Marvell 88E8053). "sleep 2" solved it.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-09-07 16:25:40

Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#2 2009-09-07 17:28:12

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#3 2009-09-07 18:01:20

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#4 2009-09-07 23:02:57

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#5 2009-09-08 00:26:03

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#6 2009-09-08 03:52:49

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#7 2009-09-08 14:20:32

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#8 2009-09-08 23:09:36

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#9 2009-09-09 00:13:04

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#10 2009-09-09 01:08:53

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#11 2009-09-09 01:43:35

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#12 2009-09-09 03:13:58

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#13 2009-09-09 03:51:30

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#14 2009-09-20 14:58:13

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#15 2009-09-20 15:48:38

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#16 2009-10-05 21:56:42

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#17 2009-10-05 22:44:23

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#18 2009-11-10 14:24:39

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

#19 2009-11-25 22:23:49

Re: Must use netcfg twice to connect to ethernet

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