my ethernet to my laptop/getting the tcp/X11 socket up

[Chuck Robey]

wizlayer wrote:
> On Thursday 31 March 2005 12:41 pm, Chuck Robey wrote:
> [snip]
> 
>>I installed it, it worked with the rl0 driver. 
>>Sometimes.
>>
>>Why sometimes?  Smart guy, that's question 1.  The indication I
>>get is, I get an error (tcp error) soemthing like this one
>>below (they're not all alike):
>>
>>Mar 30 21:37:52 september kernel: rl0: discard frame w/o
>>leading ethernet header (len 2 pkt len 2)
>>
>>Well, the result is always the same, which is that the rl0 line
>>stops dead in it's tracks.  I can do a ifconfig down/ifconfig
>>up and clear it, but every time I do that, I take a 1 in 5
>>chance of getting a kernel panic.  It's not something I crave
>>to do a lot, so I can't just dismiss it by making a utility to
>>down/up the interface.  I need this fixed.
>>
>>[snip]
>>
>>I'm quite, *quite* willing to buy another ehternet card.  The
>>one I have is a D-Link, the dmesg reports:
>>
>>miibus0: <MII bus> on rl0
>>Mar 30 21:44:23 september kernel: rlphy0: <RealTek internal
>>media interface> on miibus0
>>Mar 30 21:44:23 september kernel: rlphy0:  10baseT,
>>10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, auto
>>Mar 30 21:44:23 september kernel: rl0: Ethernet address:
>>00:0d:88:27:c4:38
>>
>>OK, so I'm looking for advice on the ethernet problem, and
>>maybe
> 
> [snip]
> 
> Are you sure the network card itself isn't hosed?
> 
> I had a cheapo network card that did something very similar.  In 
> fact, I'm pretty sure it had a realtek chipset too (although I'm 
> not lifting a finger in their direction)...  Worked fine, then 
> weird errors and *lights out*...  Turned out to be the NIC itself 
> (why sometimes?  who knows...  temperature, defunct buffer 

After a lot of swimming thru the mail search page, I found that there 
are a LOT of problems that have  in common these items:

1) rl0 interface
2) FreeBSD5.3
3) error messages of the form "rl0: discard oversize frame"

There are a pretty fair number of these, from various sources.  Fact. 
At least one of them claimed it was solved in RELENG_5.  Sure wish I 
could locate the other mails in THAT chain (I spent 20 minutes trying to).

So my fix sounds like it boils down to one of two items: either getting 
someone who knows 5.3 better than I do to recommend a cardbus device 
that would be sound (a vendor) and I would run right out and buy it, or 
I suppose I could get the required sources burnt onto a cdrom, and get 
them on that laptop that way, recompile, and see about reinstalling.

I am loath to try that second method only cause I have all that userland 
software that I mustn't lose compatibiilty with, and it's got all those 
dependencies (sleepycat database, python, gtk, 3 1/2 pounds of my 
coding).  I want to do the minimum necessary to get it working.

So, if one of you folks can recommend a cardbus card that I oughta buy, 
that doesn't use the rl0 driver, that would be nice.  mail me a *.ko for 
it, and I would love you forever.  Skip that last part if you want, 
cause maybe I could do it, but I wasn't joking about wanting to mess 
with this the least I can, it's a fragile stack of software.

> maybe?).
> 
> my .02,
> 
> WizLayer
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Chuck Robey         | Interests include C & Java programming, FreeBSD,
chuckr at chuckr.org   | electronics, communications, and SF/Fantasy.

New Year's Resolution:  I will not sphroxify gullible people into looking up
fictitious words in the dictionary (on the wall at my old fraternity,
Signa Phi Nothing).
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