Topic: Dead NIC

[dave]

To All:

I've recently had a problem with my server just shutting down.  I originally thought it was a problem with my UPS but further investigation says it may well be the external NIC.  I have several spares in my parts box and I swapped it out for one of the exact same model and brand but it wouldn't connect.  No error during boot and ifconfig said ETH0 was 'UP' but nothing was working outside the local network.  The 'ENET' LED on my DSL modem was also off which would signal either a bad NIC or bad cabling.  I ran the Configure opion from the SME Server main menu, choosing several different options which let SME reconfigure, reboot, changed the config back, SME would reconfigure and reboot again.  After all this, I still had no external connection.  As a last resort I put the original NIC back in and booted up again and I have internet connectivity.  Problem is, after putting the old NIC back in, the server took a dump twice last night.  So far I've been fortunate in that SME has been able to automatically fix any disk/data errors because of an improper shutdown but I don't know how much longer my luck will hold out.

Is there something special I need to do to swap a NIC?  Do I need to update the MAC address in a file somewhere?

I've done lookups on the forums and though I find several references to NIC problems of one type or another, I didn't see anything that describes changing out an existing network card - that didn't involve reloading SME.

Some system specs:
SME Server 5.5 in Dedicated Server and Gateway mode.
Tyan dual processor MB running dual PII 333s.
512meg RAM.
Compaq Smart 2/P hardware RAID card.
Internal NIC is an Intel 82557 based card.
External NIC is a Compaq Netelligent 10/100.

The error messages that led me to believe it's the NIC related to the TLAN driver not being loaded, ifconfig not showing 'UP' for ETH0 and thousands of entries in the log related to PPPoE not being able to connect.  

The problem appears to be intermittent because after booting from a shutdown state, everything normally works for a while, then we loose internet connectivity, then the server just shuts down.  Sometimes it flashes an error LED on the motherboard.  After being powered down for a couple hours, boot it up again, the automatic repair of the partitions completes and it works for a while - repeat.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave

[mike mattos]

I'd try an old 10mb card for the external interface, one that does NOT use bus mastering, and hope that solves the problem. It will still be faster than the internet connection!

I have a system on the bench now that fails to detect the mouse about 1 boot in 10, the motherboard is going to be replaced since changing all the cards and mouses didn't solve the problem!

not what you wanted to hear, I'm afraid!

Mike

[PC]

Another possibility is that the NIC might have a problem getting a good seat.

I had a server that I was afraid to reboot, because it would only
boot successfully once out of four times.

I traced that problem down to a video card that would not seat fully.
I bent the mounting tab enough to seat it fully and no more problems.

Just a thought.  

[RayG]

My cable modem at home, and I believe the DSL modem at work also, will only respond to the MAC address it first saw at power up. Every time I've changed NIC's, I've had to power cycle the cable/DLS adapter to allow it to accept the new NIC's MAC address.

[dave]

Thanks for the replies, aparently there's no formal procedure required to swap a NIC, I guess it's possible the one I put in for replacement is also bad.  I try to keep track of that stuff and toss dead equipment, maybe I missed one.  I do have others but not the same brand.  The internal NIC has an Intel chipset and I have others that are that same brand, I think I'll try that one next.

Thanks to RayG for your idea there, I know I've power cycled the DSL modem but I don't recall the specific sequence.  I'll give that a try also.

Dave

[Charlie Brady]

dave wrote:

> Thanks for the replies, aparently there's no formal procedure
> required to swap a NIC

Sure there is. Swap the NIC, then boot, login as admin on the console, and go through the configuration option.

Charlie

[dave]

Actually I already tried that, a number of times with no success.  Since I never got a specific reply mentioning a how to beyond your description, I figured the replacement NIC must be bad.

I haven't tried again but will tonight.  I have a number of Intel NICs and I read there should be no probs with 2 identical NICs in the same box - of course as long as both work...