Topic: eth0 RX errors - no LAN access?

[Drew]

Good morning all,

Could someone take a look at the 'ifconfig' output - below - and help me troubleshoot the eth0 errors?

===========================================
[root@tbcsrv1 /root]# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:50:BF:19:75:A5
          inet addr:192.168.1.23  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:450273 errors:1 dropped:1 overruns:1 frame:0
          TX packets:289802 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
          Interrupt:10 Base address:0xdc00

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:50:BF:43:4F:BA
          inet addr:192.168.1.50  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:290900 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:449278 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
          Interrupt:11 Base address:0xe000

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:3924  Metric:1
          RX packets:12759 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:12759 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
==


Or does someone know what's causing this to occur, and how do I fix it?  Bad nic?

This is a generic box - AMD Duron 700mhz/256mb RAM with 2 generic Realtek 8139 nics.  Running SME v5.1.2-updt3 (upgraded from 5.0 last year) in server/gateway mode.  The hardware is several years old, but it has been up and running SME for almost 2 years.

Anyway - for the past few months or so it seems that about once a week (not EVERY week like clockwork) SME loses connection on the eth0 nic - causing the LAN to have no access.  I can still get into the SME server from the "outside" across eth1, and everything seems to be working.

I end up rebooting the SME server and things work fine - until the next time.  It appears that there are RX errors on eth0 which might help to explain the problem.

Thoughts/ideas?  Is there a way to "clear" or restart eth0 instead of rebooting the server?

Reagards,
Drew

[Drew]

Okay...

So before you guys flame me or tell me I'm a total noob (which I'm not, but close)...I found the commands which I guess will restart the network without rebooting the whole server

# /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifdown eth0
# /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup eth0
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/network restart

Do I - or should I - run all three when eth0 acts up and gets the errors?  Or just one, and if so which one?  Just restart the network?

Thanks,
Drew

[Brian Barber]

This one will 'reset' eth0:
> # /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifdown eth0
> # /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup eth0

This one will 'reset' both NICs:
> # /etc/rc.d/init.d/network restart

I would try the former and then, if it doesn't work, the latter.  I had similar problems on my public NIC (I can't remember if it's eth0 or eth1).  Since it was for a home network, I just rebooted the machine.  When I upgraded to the latest version, I backed up the server, did a fresh install and restored the backup.  After that, I haven't had a single problem.  You might also want to ensure that all available updates have been applied.  You never know; the fix could be in there.

BB