Guest Holbrookau Posted December 19, 2002 Report Share Posted December 19, 2002 Hi all, hope someone can help. This is my first foray into linux. Installed Mandrake 9 - setup hangs at hard drive detection unless I use "linux noauto' command. Install then works OK except none of my on-board (SiS) components (lan/video/sound) are detected - this doesn't worry me except that I have no ethernet connection and cant get to the router or the outside world. The particular lan adaptor is an SiS900, which is listed in setup, but no matter what I try it cannot be found when trying to connect to it. With the SiS900 disabled in bios, I tried an IntelExpressPro (also listed) and 2 variants of Realtek (not listed) but they too were not detected nor can they be setup manually. All of the above work fine in this machine using WindowsME (dual boot). In desperation I loaded up RedHat8 and found exactly the same problem with it - no detection nor can any of the adaptors be configured. Is it just me (being new to this magical Linux thing) and I have/havn't done something, or is the board (ECS K7SOM) just not going to let me do it. I have no wish to purchase another NIC in case it fails as well (plus I have enough spares already :)). Regards, Holbrookau. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmpatrick Posted December 19, 2002 Report Share Posted December 19, 2002 There are reported problems with this MB/chipset. Check out this post on the old board: http://www.club-nihil.net/mub/viewtopic.ph...9&highlight=sis It's not clear what you've done in trying to get your NIC configured. If you haven't already done so, open Mandrake Control Center( in the menu under Configuration or open a console and type mcc as root), tick Hardware then Hardware List and see if your NIC is listed. If it is, click on it and then click on the Run Config Tool button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Holbrookau Posted December 20, 2002 Report Share Posted December 20, 2002 pmpatrick, Not sure that the link is totally related but it does point to there being issues with some ECS/SiS boards. Mine is 740S based with a 1.3 Duron. Sorry I didn't elaborate before. None of the above mentioned NICs are detected, nor can they be manually configured during installation. Once Mandrake is up and running, no NICs are present in the hardware list nor can one be setup in networking. At every stage I get "Loading module sis900 (substitute any Nic name here) failed - Do you want to try again with other parameters?" Whilst I don't actually understand what the parameters do, I think I have tried most combinations that I could glean from Googling. I tried modprobe and got this: /lib/modules/2.4.19-16mdk/kernel/drivers/net/sis900.o.gz: init_module: No such deviceHint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters. You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg modprobe: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.19-16mdk/kernel/drivers/net/sis900.o.gz failed modprobe: insmod sis900 failed I have also turned off "OS is Plug & Play aware" in bios and tried a few other things at various times - nothing seems to help. I'm open to suggestions.... Regards, Holbrookau. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmpatrick Posted December 20, 2002 Report Share Posted December 20, 2002 Well, you've tried several NICs with identical results so the problem must be with something other than your NICs. I suspect it might be in the PCI bus. Are any PCI devices being detected? I ask because the PCI standard requires that all PCI devices have an indentifier hardwired in them. Even if there are no drivers present for the device, it will/should be properly indentified in the hardware list. Yours aren't showing up at all, at least for your NICs. Is the same true for your onboard devices that are on the PCI bus(e.g. sound) or any other PCI cards you are using? A couple things to try: 1. Right after booting, open a console and run the following command: $ dmesg less This will give you a detailed print out of all your boot messages. Look for anything unusual going on with the PCI bus. 2.To get a listing of all PCI devices your system recognizes, run the following command: $ lspci Post back anything you feel is relevant from 1 and 2 above. 3. If the problem is in the PCI bus, you may be able to correct the problem by going into your BIOS setup and changing your PCI configuration. Before you make any changes here, right down your starting settings so you can get back to square one if you need to. You can also try passing boot parameters. On my system, I get the following from dmesg relating to PCI: PCI: if you experience problems, try using option 'pci=noacpi' or even 'acpi=off I'm not sure exactly what this does but it might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Holbrookau Posted December 20, 2002 Report Share Posted December 20, 2002 pmpatrick, Looks like you're right in regards to it being PCI problem. dmesg returns this: PCI: PCI Bios revision 2.10 entry at 0xfdb01, last bus=1PCI: System does not support PCI No matter what I do in BIOS (there is very little to play with anyway) I cannot get this to alter. lspci returns: pcilib: Cannot open /proc/bus/pcilspci: Cannot find any working access method This is the same as part of the error message which flashes past when doing a install that ends with a hang at hard drive detection. No exactly sure what what acpi means but it there is a setting for "OS is ACPI aware" in the Power Managment section of the BIOS - Yes or No made no differance. Thanks for your help but it seems this machine may end up being a Windows only unit again. :? /goes looking for more spares to build a real linux box/ :wink: I do have a USB lan adaptor I could try - how does one add new drivers (if they are actually available for it)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmpatrick Posted December 20, 2002 Report Share Posted December 20, 2002 The only thing I would suggest checking is whether there is an BIOS update for your MB that might take care of the problem. A problem with the PCI bus initialization might be caused by the BIOS. While looking into your problem, I recall seeing a BIOS update to correct system hangs during POST dated 6/02, but I'm not sure it was for your board. However, I have Googled your MB and can find no reports (save one dealing with Md 7.2) of people having similar problems. I would think that if it was a basic hardware compatability issue there would be lots of reports. If your the only one getting this problem, it may indicate a defect on the MB that only appears to bother linux. Either that, or some quirk in your hardware setup. As for your USB lan adapter, I think that's going to be a tough one. Give it a try, see if its recognized and try to configure in mcc. You'll probably have to get on Google to find a driver for the thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Holbrookau Posted December 20, 2002 Report Share Posted December 20, 2002 Thanks once again for your help pmpatrick. My mobo is already using the latest update available and no-go on the USB adaptor (SMC 2206) either, so it's back to the drawing board until a fix (if ever) appears. I'm building up another box as we speak so no doubt I'll be back with other questions... Regards, Holbrookau. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ndeb Posted December 20, 2002 Report Share Posted December 20, 2002 Looks like you're right in regards to it being PCI problem. dmesg returns this: PCI: PCI Bios revision 2.10 entry at 0xfdb01, last bus=1 PCI: System does not support PCI No matter what I do in BIOS (there is very little to play with anyway) I cannot get this to alter. Regarding the error message about no support for PCI, here is a link that may be helpful: http://lists.insecure.org/lists/linux-kern...2/Jul/0001.html . The trick described (adding pci=bios to the boot options) has solved the problem (for that particular case). Is it just me (being new to this magical Linux thing) and I have/havn't done something, or is the board (ECS K7SOM) just not going to let me do it. Here are the details of the motherboard http://www.ecsusa.com/products/k7som.html . Bios updates are from http://www.ecsusa.com/downloads/k7som.html but as u say, u already have the latest BIOS. Is it possible that the kernel has no/buggy support for the sis740 chipset ? No exactly sure what what acpi means but it there is a setting for "OS is ACPI aware" in the Power Managment section of the BIOS - Yes or No made no differance. ACPI is Advanced Configuration and Power Interface, which is a power management interface and should have little to do with improper pci detection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HaloScan Posted December 21, 2002 Report Share Posted December 21, 2002 I have an ASUS P4S533 motherboard which has the same SiS onboard lan. I get the exact same message during and after install of Mandrake ("/lib/modules/2.4.19-16mdk/kernel/drivers/net/sis900.o.gz: init_module: No such device). I worked around it by disabling the onboard LAN and using a Linksys PCI card I had from another box. If someone knows how to get this card working though, please post. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Holbrookau Posted December 21, 2002 Report Share Posted December 21, 2002 ndeb, I'm glad you knew where to look as your advice has solved the problem. 8) (I found it too easily on Google later ) Installed using "linux pci=bios" - install didn't hang at hard drive detection and all peripherals were found except for the on-board SiS640 Video (no driver in the distro for it). I came across an extended version of the above which maybe of use to someone in the future: "pci=bios,biosirq" A list of boot command line options (and what they do) must available somewhere? Anyway thanks once again - I'm off to learn more about Linux servers... :wink: PS - Glad it's fixed as Mandrake on a Pentium100 sucks :shock: :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ndeb Posted December 21, 2002 Report Share Posted December 21, 2002 I'm glad you knew where to look as your advice has solved the problem. (I found it too easily on Google later ) Ha Ha !! Where else do u think I got it from ? Google's the best. Add this entry to ur /etc/lilo.conf (if u r using the lilo boot loader). Installed using "linux pci=bios" - install didn't hang at hard drive detection and all peripherals were found except for the on-board SiS640 Video (no driver in the distro for it). U mean SiS740 video. The stock XFree86-4.2.1 sis driver does not have support for this video but an actively developed driver from http://www.winischhofer.net/linuxsis630.shtml should have it. Give them a try. A list of boot command line options (and what they do) must available somewhere? man lilo or man grub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Holbrookau Posted December 21, 2002 Report Share Posted December 21, 2002 Agreed, Google is the best, but using the correct search terms always helps ;) Ah yes, sorry I meant a SiS 650_651_M650_740 driver (I started writing and forgot what the actual numbers were, meant to come back to it.. ) Checked out that site, thanks. It looks a little involved but I've put it on my to-do list for later (when I learn more). The standard VESA driver does what I need it to do at this stage anyway. Thanks for all the advice - hope it helps others too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HaloScan Posted December 22, 2002 Report Share Posted December 22, 2002 Installed using "linux pci=bios" - install didn't hang at hard drive detection and all peripherals were found except for the on-board SiS640 Video (no driver in the distro for it). So did the Sis Lan card also work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Holbrookau Posted December 22, 2002 Report Share Posted December 22, 2002 HaloScan, sorry if the outcome wasn't obvious. Yes, the lan was detected and now works (the whole point of my original post), but I don't think your problem can be fixed with the method I used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CloakedPenguin Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Okay I'm having the same issue, but I have it working on my Desk top that has the SIS 900, but my laptop doesn't work. Am I taking it from this thread that I need to re-install MDK and use "linux pci=bios"? Thanks! (I don't wanna have to re-install if necessary!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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