Question: DHCP with PCMCIA 

Forum: PCMCIA Network Adapter Issues
Date: 1999, Dec 06
From: Christopher Keller ckeller

I'm having a problem getting a DHCP client to automatically come up on boot up. It comes up fine after boot-up, which is why I think it's merely a configuration problem, rather than an incompatibility. First the specifics: Dell Inspiron 3200 Caldera 2.3 w/ kernel 2.2.10 PCMCIA 3.0.14 3COM 3CCFEM556B (ethernet + modem) When I hook up to a network which is running a DHCP server the following happens (some is assumption, some is fact, please correct where appropriate): Out of /etc/rc.d/rc2.d/S01network, it tries to start the DHCPcd client using the files in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. Specifically ifup-dhcp. THis fails, I'm assuming because the PCMCIA drivers haven't loaded yet. I haven't been able to find any error messages in the logs, but I've confirmed that the dhcpcd daemon is trying to run. I'm guessing it doesn't log because it doesn't get far enough along due to the drivers not being loaded (although I have confirmed that eth0 is up). Anyway...along comes S07pcmcia. Once again, dhcp setup is tried (this time using cardmgr). I get the following messages in /var/log/messages:   cardmgr[572]: + Trying to obtain network configuration via DHCP. kernel: eth0: found link beat kernel: eth0: autonegotiation complete: 100baseT-HD selected kernel: eth0: remote fault detected dhcpcd[587]: timed out waiting for a valid DHCP server response cardmgr[572]: + No response from DHCP server cardmgr[572]: + eth0: initialization failed and so on.... At any rate, once the login screen comes up, I can log in as root and do a manual "network start eth0" and dhcp comes up perfectly. No problems whatsoever. Or I can accomplish the same thing by the scripts in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup-dhcp. So, it makes sense that the first attempt out of S01network fails, as there are no PCMCIA drivers yet loaded. But the second attempt (above) out of S07pcmcia should work. I can't believe I'm the only one trying to run DHCP on a laptop, so if someone could point me the right way, I'd much appreciate it. The easy solution might be to write a S99dhcp file and kludge the thing together. However, if there is a problem with my knowledge or the PCMCIA packages, I'd rather solve that. TIA.... -Chris

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Not sure if this is Caldera specific Re: Question: DHCP with PCMCIA (Christopher Keller) Date: 1999, Dec 06 From: David Hinds <dhinds@pcmcia.sourceforge.org>

I don't think it is possible to narrow down the problem based on just this information. Are you sure that dhcpcd is being started prior to when PCMCIA loads? (are there system log messages from a second copy of dhcpcd?) I am not familiar with Caldera, but to the extent it is based on Red Hat, I know that Red Hat checks for and delays startup of a PCMCIA network device to avoid exactly this problem. It would be strange for Caldera to have un-done this. Another simple thing to try, is to boot with the card out, then plug it in and see what happens. That will distinguish between various sorts of boot-time sequencing problems, and PCMCIA startup problems. > cardmgr[572]: + Trying to obtain network configuration via DHCP. > kernel: eth0: found link beat > kernel: eth0: autonegotiation complete: 100baseT-HD selected > kernel: eth0: remote fault detected > dhcpcd[587]: timed out waiting for a valid DHCP server response The timing here concerns me, because it looks like dhcpcd may be having trouble because the card has a delay before it has properly sensed the link speed. -- Dave

Hate to say it, but even Red Hat is having trouble with DHCP and PCMCIA Re: Not sure if this is Caldera specific (David Hinds) Date: 2000, Jan 17 From: Nathan Hartwell MageX

I just switched out my generic PCMCIA 10/100 card for a D-Link DFE-650TX card (something on the supported list). As it would turn out, I -still- can't get dhcpcd or pump to grab an IP. At least with pump, I see the messages where it gets an offer, but the offer is never accepted for one reason or another. With dhcpcd, it just seems to sit there like a bump on a log then finally times out. I had these same troubles with the previous card which is why I switched to this D-Link. I even went so far as to re-extract the pcmcia-cs v3.1.6 package and recompile (plus a fresh copy of 8390.c and 8390.h). I have not yet forced a specific IP as I am not wanting to have it set up this way to begin with. I am certain that the card will work fine once I manually set it's IP, however. Any help will be appreciated.

Don't be so sure! Re: Hate to say it, but even Red Hat is having trouble with DHCP and PCMCIA (Nathan Hartwell) Date: 2000, Jan 17 From: David Hinds <dhinds@pcmcia.sourceforge.org>

> I have not yet forced a specific IP as > I am not wanting to have it set up this way to begin with. I am certain > that the card will work fine once I manually set it's IP, however. There is no reason whatsoever for you to be certain of this fact, and you should absolutely test it, because it is the only way to determine for sure if you are suffering from a driver problem, versus suffering from some issue with your DHCP configuration. Just do it. -- Dave

quite right....it wasn't a PCMCIA issue, but a DHCP issue Re: Don't be so sure! (David Hinds) Date: 2000, Jan 19 From: Nathan Hartwell MageX

as it turns out, the DHCP server within the Netgear RT328 does not respond properly for dhcpcd or pump to latch on to the offer, yet Win9x will. however, I run dhcpd on my home Linux server and pump grabs the ip info just fine (though I am manually running it with this setup, defined for work and manually run pump after logging in at home) I plan to configure the Linux server at work (as I'm the primary admin anyway) to run dhcpd. I hope to have a worry free setup after that's done.

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