A7N8X Deluxe LAN Problems with Linux

[Shane Berringer]

I picked up an Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard recently for a new
computer. I'm trying to install Debian linux on it but am having alot
of problems.

Issue #1: The LAN port at the top I had read was the 3Com port,
however, I was able to get this running from a Knoppix CD after I
downloaded, compiled and did an "insmod nvnet.o" however this seems
strange because why would the nvnet.o driver work if that was the 3Com
port?

Issue #2: The bottom LAN port (next to the audio plugs) does not get a
little green light when I plug in the network cable. The other one
does. I can see where you enable/disable the NVidia LAN port in the
BIOS, but I cannot find one for the 3Com. Which port is which? Why are
they acting goofy?

I would like to get the bottom port to respond, but since I can't I am
forced to deal with the upper port. ** is there a place to enable the
3Com in the BIOS? If so, where is it as opposed to the Nvidia one? **

Someone posted that the 3c59x driver worked for them, but i tried to
modprobe 3c59x and it didn't work. I got an error.

Unfortunately, Debian netinst CDs do not come with a compiler, and
since you can't compile the network driver without a compiler and you
can't apt-get a compiler, it's a tricky situation. I am going to try
to get a full Debian CD next.

If anyone can help me find out 1) why the bottom port isn't working or
2) another way to get the LAN working without having to go through all
sorts of driver downloading and compilation hell, I would appreciate
the help.

I am not happy with Asus's choich of Nvidia so far.

PS: I tried forcedeth drivers but when I ran "insmod forcedeth.o" it
said that it had been compiled for a different kernel version....
and I couldn't find the source or figure out how to get the
2.4.20-bf2.4 version

Thank you for any help!!!!!

 

[Kyle Brant]

I picked up an Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard recently for a new
computer. I'm trying to install Debian linux on it but am having alot
of problems.

Issue #1: The LAN port at the top I had read was the 3Com port,
however, I was able to get this running from a Knoppix CD after I
downloaded, compiled and did an "insmod nvnet.o" however this seems
strange because why would the nvnet.o driver work if that was the 3Com
port?

This is a rather odd result. The NIC connection near the keyboard/mouse
connectors is the 3com, and frankly it must be that your installing the
Nforce driver caused something else to change to make the 3com NIC work.

Issue #2: The bottom LAN port (next to the audio plugs) does not get a
little green light when I plug in the network cable. The other one
does. I can see where you enable/disable the NVidia LAN port in the
BIOS, but I cannot find one for the 3Com. Which port is which? Why are
they acting goofy?

I get a yellow LED illuminated when I plug in a cable, no green LED, not
sure what the green LED indicates, the manual does not help. The yellow LED
flashes to indicate activity. I am connected to a 10/100 switch, and the
switch indicates a 100MB/S and full duplex connection via the switch's LEDs.

I would like to get the bottom port to respond, but since I can't I am
forced to deal with the upper port. ** is there a place to enable the
3Com in the BIOS? If so, where is it as opposed to the Nvidia one? **

Yes, look at the integrated peripherals page in the BIOS, it's there, I've
enabled and disabled the 3com NIC.

Someone posted that the 3c59x driver worked for them, but i tried to
modprobe 3c59x and it didn't work. I got an error.

There's a great faq or 2 for this board at www.nforcershq.com , check it out
in the ASUS and LINUX forums.

 

[Bender]

Issue #2: The bottom LAN port (next to the audio plugs) does not get a
little green light when I plug in the network cable. The other one
does. I can see where you enable/disable the NVidia LAN port in the
BIOS, but I cannot find one for the 3Com. Which port is which? Why are
they acting goofy?

Lights on both works diferently

3Com (up)
Green = flash when activity
Orange Off=10Mbps, On=100Mbps (no flash)

nVidia (bottom)
Green = 10Mbps, flash when activity
Orange= 100Mbps, flash when activity

 

[Shane Berringer]

Issue #2: The bottom LAN port (next to the audio plugs) does not get a

I get a yellow LED illuminated when I plug in a cable, no green LED, not
sure what the green LED indicates, the manual does not help. The yellow LED
flashes to indicate activity. I am connected to a 10/100 switch, and the
switch indicates a 100MB/S and full duplex connection via the switch's LEDs.

You are right, I am getting a constant Yellow on the top LAN port...
my eyes must be going bad. I still get nothing when I plug in the
bottom.

Yes, look at the integrated peripherals page in the BIOS, it's there, I've
enabled and disabled the 3com NIC.

Here are the options on my Integrated Periperhals page:

Primary VGA BIOS
USB Controllers
USB Keyboard Legacy Support
USB Legacy Mouse Support
Onboard AC97 Audio Controller
Onboard LAN(Nvidia)
Onboard 1394 Device
Floppy Disk Access Controller
Onbord Serial Port 1
Onbord Serial Port 2
UART2 Use As
Onboard Parallel Port
Parallel Port Mode
ECP DMA Select
Onboard Game Port
Onboard Midi I/O
Onboard Midi IRQ

But I don't see 3Com.... Although since I'm getting the yellow light
when I plug in the cable, I guess I can assume it's enabled...

There's a great faq or 2 for this board at www.nforcershq.com , check it out
in the ASUS and LINUX forums.

I'll check it out. Thanks for the help. At this point I think I'm
going to focus on trying to get 3Com to work since I am having so much
trouble with compile errors on the nvnet.o driver and must not be
patching the forcedeth one properly either.....

Still no luck with either of them though. What could the proper
3Com driver be? 3c59x doesn't seem to work.

 

[Rob]

IIRC, I thought 3Com has a vanilla Linux driver on their web site for
the LAN.

 

[Dr Teeth]

Just get a bog standard RealTek network card. That's how I solved the
same problem with SuSe Linux 9.0 Pro.

Cheers,

Guy

** I may not be perfect, but I'm
** English, and that's the next best thing!