No NIC nohow - DFE-530TX+
I am *brand* new to any NIX environment, besides an ocassional web server stuff, telnet. I really need a Solaris environment (not Linux) for some applicaiton development.
I have installed Solaris 10 x86, and it did not recognize the ethernet onboard chip (I believe it is a "SiS900"). As a brand new user, it was very hard to even understand what is installed form the GUI (no graphical device manager like even Windows 95 has?). I finally found some command lines (ifconfig, prtconf -pv ) I read some instructions for installing drivers : http://homepage2.nifty.com/mrym3/taiyodo/eng/. I can not follow those instructions, seems too advanced, requires compiling, arcane refrences (to me), etc.
So I bought a new D-Link DFE-530TX+ one becuase it was listed on the HCL http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/data/sol/components/details/990.htm some posts said buying HCL hardware should be the easiest, makes sense.
Rebooted, no NIC.Now I'm not sure if it is because it is not compatible and requires driver installs (what I was trying to avoid), or:
With Solaris 10 already installed ,if I did install a new PCI NIC card that is supported, will it be picked up automatically? I saw a lot of references online to editing driver_alias, all sorts of things to install a NIC, which suprises me. Is it possible it is that complicated to add a new piece of hardware on this OS?
I'm not sure if I have a compatible NIC driver, and if I did would Solaris pick it up?
That is the main question.A follow up: How in the world do I get a NIC card/internet to work with Solaris 10x86 without being a Unix Guru.Which card exactly? The HCL doesn't seem to be reliable.I'll buy my way in if I can. Just can't spend much more time on step 1.
[1767 byte] By [
choppen5a] at [2007-11-26 18:03:36]
# 1
Hello.
a) The HCL entry mentioned is not submitted by Sun but by a private Solaris user.
b) The user wrote that he had to use the following command before the network card was detected:
update_drv -a -i '"pci1186,1301"' rtls
This is an indication that the exact card type is not supported by Solaris but that the driver of another card can be used for this card, too, when using this command. (Under Windows in such a case you could just throw away your network card.)
You must be logged in as root to run the command update_drv.
Martin
# 2
I would like to recommend a bit different approach. Dowload "install_check" app from SUN web page. It is ISO bootable image. Next burn CD using no-brainer Nero. Next check Your hardware with this CD. It performs quite thorough test of hdw. After this test You will be able to search for really specific solution in Int/SUN/support forums.
Good luck.
# 3
Thank you much for the replies. Here is the progress:
- Downloaded the install_check. It reported two ethernet devices with third party drivers as follows:
1.Sis900 PCI Fast Ethernet
2. VT6105 [Rhine-III]
and listed http://homepage2.nifty.com/mrym3/taiyodo/eng/ as the source for both my NIC drivers with associated compiling instructions.
I also determined from prtconf -pv that my vendor/device id for the D-Link (VT6105) is:
vendor-id: 1106
device-id: 3106
name: 1189,1406.
I tried the instructions on the HCL: which was
use this command to update the driver_aliases.
/usr/sbin/update_drv -a -i '"pci1186,1301"' rtls
It shows the following output:
devfsadm: driver failed to attach: rtls
"Warning: Driver (rtls) sucessfully added to system but failed to attach"
After which it doesn't to appear to have added anything to ifconfig -a.
I also tried several things:
changed the command to "pci1186,1406" - as that is the name id listed for the card. Same result as above about failing to attach. However, this command does not change the /boot/solaris/devicedb/master - wouldn't that be required?
The other thing I followed is the instructions from this forum post:
http://www.solarisforums.com/forum_viewtopic.php?21.64
D-Link DFE 530TX+, where a user reported he sucessfully got a D-Link DFE 530TX+ (same as mine except it was 1301 vs my 1406 - is that significant?). When I download and install the driver from Realtech, it also gave a driver failed to attach error/didn't appear to work. Not sure if I was close with this one, or RealTech will not work with my vendor/device id combo even though the consumer model name is exactly the same as mine. Realtech doesn't seem to be the same as Rhine-III ?
Would anybody recommend:
a. downloading and compiling the VT6105 [Rhine-III] compatible driver from nifty.com
b. trying to use the RealTech driver
c. or try to get a new card - if so which one?
Thanks a lot,
Charles
# 4
Ah, been down this road before.
For starters, get familiar with the hardware compatibility list (HCL). When putting a system together to run Solaris, try to pick things from the HCL as it will make your live *MUCH* easier. OTOH, it seems you have picked a device from the HCL for which there is a driver in the distribution.
(For others: http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/data/sol/)
Vendors are quick to provide drivers for Windows but not so quick to provide drivers for Solaris. OTOH, most of the various flavors of *NIX are able to use a driver that is generic to a chip regardless of the manufacturer of the board.
If you want to plug in a NIC and have it work, stick with the Intel NIC cards. They will end up using either the iprb or e1000g drivers, both of which are included in your distribution. I have had good luck with them.
If you want to use your SiS900 e-net (I have a couple of machines with that e-net chip on the motherboard running Solaris x86) you will need the SiS900 driver that is not provided by Sun. Here is the link to the entry in the HCL:
http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/data/components/details/2667.html
Follow the link to download the driver. The readme file in the installation explains the installation pretty well.
Now the DFE-530TX+ is reported to work. (Here is the link to the HCL.)
http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/data/components/details/990.html
Follow the instructions but don't forget to do a reconfigure reboot. That ensures that the OS will check for new hardware. You do this either by:
touch /reconfigure
and rebooting or by:
reboot -- -r
Once the system knows about your new adaptor don't forget to plumb it so it becomes an available network interface. The device for the DFE-530TX+ should be 'rtls' so your first card should be 'rtls0'. You will need to do at least:
ifconfig rtls0 plumb
before you can do anything with it. Here, this should make it work:
ifconfig rtls0 192.168.1.25/24 plumb up
it will assign an IP address of 192.168.1.25 to interface rtls0 and ensure that the interface is available for use by the IP stack and is up.
Hope this helps.
--
Brian
# 5
With regard to the GUI tools, I am finding that what few GUI tools exist in Solaris, most don't work very well. You are better off figuring out how to do things from a shell prompt (command line).--Brian
# 6
Brian et all, thank you for the advice. I did download and compile the driver for the Rhine III (for DFE-530TX+ ) and manaed to get it compiled. The modload command failed though. So I never got the card working, or even showing up in the ifconfig -a after following the driver install instructions.
In the mean time, the Intel Pro/100 card I bought off eBay for $4.95 arrived last night. I threw it in the machine and did a reboot -- -r that should work right? No quite. Looked around and a bewilering set of instructions for adding a Nic card and decided to reinstall from the CDs. After a total of 4 network cards (onboard Sis900, wireless Netgear MA311, DFE-530TX+), and finally a used Intel Pro/100 +, I am finally posting from my new Solaris x86 WITH an internet connection!
Now, my machine doesn't have host name, because I set it up as DHCP and my Netgear router doesn't provide a hostname seems like from research. Open up the "Networking" panel and correct that? Not on Solaris, I guess I'll have to edit an archane series of text files, some of which could easily prevent my machine from rebooting. Maybe reinstall from CDs ? That only takes 3 hours or so an is the only place I've found a network confiuration dialog so far.
But, I am updating for a reason (besides the joy of complaining), I hope any complete novice to the system in the future who wants to install Solaris goes ahead and getts a FULLY compatible network card (Intel seems the best) that does not require compiling BEFORE installing Solaris it will make your life much easier as Brian posted. Runnig the install_check as recommended by Eastern_Wall is highly recommended too. Thanks all.
