Topic: eth1 randomly dying

[penguinzrool]

A month or so ago I put another NIC into my SME box (SME 6.0.1-1), a Netgear FA311 with the half height bracket for my small case. I've now got the server running in Server/Gateway mode, which is working a lot better than the original Server only.

However, eth1 (the Netgear card connected to my broadband modem via an old hub) is randomly cutting out. It's just happened for the second time, about 2 weeks after the last occasion.

There are no warnings other than the fact that the internet doesn't work and the light on the hub to indicate the server connection goes out. The only way to get the NIC working again (I've tried ifup, ifdown, network restarts and even going through the whole config procedure twice) is to shutdown and poweroff the system, then reboot it.

The logs don't provide anything useful:

May 14 14:12:16 server kernel: eth1: Autonegotiation advertising 0x5e1  partner 0x00.
May 14 14:12:16 server kernel: eth1: link down.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? I don't really want to have to schedule a reboot every 2 weeks - have enough trouble with our Windows boxes!

Cheers guys,
Chris.

[Franco]

Try another NIC?!

[penguinzrool]

unfortunately the card in the server is the only half-height PCI NIC i've got. if there is no obvious solution, though, i could test the system with a different NIC and just leave the case off for a bit...

[Franco]

Well, if you look at the new cards, you'll notice that the cards are just as small and only the holder to the case are long. You can hack them so it becomes interchangeable or no holder at all(hoping you don't move your server often).
Trying a full height, if it's not happening too often, then you can wait a long time and leave that case open for too long.
Another thing you can do is change the PCI slot the card is at.
I really don't use Netgear for the reason of not being reliable. All my half height cards are Netline.

hth

[penguinzrool]

This Netgear card was the only one I could find which you could get a half-height bracket for, and the VIA Epia mobo has only 1 PCI slot...

Is there any chance it could be a driver issue or something running causing it to shut down the interface? Looking in the logs there are lots of the 'autonegotiation advertising' entries, but with eth1 coming back up afterwards. This is weird, considering that the broadband modem and server are the only things connected to the hub, and they both have static IPs.

Thanks for the replies, though!
Chris.

[Franco]

I can't tell you if it's a driver issue, I assume if it works then it's not (intermitance is usually something else). But now that you mentioned you have a hub in between, I had the same experience once where all I did was changed the hub to a 10Mbps only. What happens is that the NIC at the modem can't autonegotiate with some 10/100 cards, so putting a "10 only hub" solves the problem.

hth and good luck,

[penguinzrool]

Sounds like I've unintentionally sorted that possible problem already - the only spare hub I had is a 10 only!

I'll see what happens and try with another card in that case, think I've got a Realtek PCI NIC kicking around somewhere...

Thanks!

[penguinzrool]

stuntshell, where do you get these netline cards from? i've just looked on dabs, misco and insight which all return no results for netline. are they only available in the us?!

thanks,
chris.

[Franco]

Chris,
After searching google I couldn't find them either
Netline PN993LP is what I have. They were made by Farallon and they were brought by proxim. So they're no longer available.

[penguinzrool]

was just having a look through the logs and noticed this:

May 15 19:59:44 server kernel: eth1: Autonegotiation advertising 0x5e1  partner 0x00.
May 15 19:59:44 server kernel: eth1: link down.
May 15 19:59:46 server kernel: eth1: Autonegotiation advertising 0x5e1  partner 0x00.
May 15 19:59:46 server kernel: eth1: link up.
May 15 19:59:47 server kernel: eth1: Autonegotiation advertising 0x5e1  partner 0x21.


could this be connected to the issue of the card dying, like it does the above then doesn't reconnect for some reason?

and thanks stuntshell, farallon was just about all google gave me! i've emailed misco to ask if they can source a non-netgear half height card.

[penguinzrool]

ok, i'm trying to get a new, non-netgear card to see if it sorts the problem. so far i've found 2:

allied telesyn at2501 tx/l
d-link dge 530t

which of these is the better choice for use with sme 6.0.1-1, or is there no difference?

thanks,
chris.

[kwok]

i am uing intel 82559 nic , as eth0 aslo dying too.

i am using AMD Sempron 2800+ , 512m RAM ,asus nForce3 board , raid1 ata 80G (no sata) , server mode only .
on board nic no used.

runnig sme 6.5 RC1 as email server with 200 accounts.

the Nic disconnect onec a day , or few day , does anyone help ?