Parameters for NIC During SUSE 9 Installation

[Hexonx]

Linux newbie, here! I'm installing SuSE 9.0 and want to use FTP installation, but first need to load the NIC driver. I need the RTL8139 driver, but it the installation asks for parameters. What do I need to enter there? I'd prefer DHCP, but a static address is fine.

 

[ianicr]

Can you not just leave it blank? I've installed suse over ftp several times using PCI and ISA network cards and only the ISA ones needed any parameters. It should ask you later on about dhcp etc..

 

[Hexonx]

Thanks for reply. I left it blank and it gave the red error screen that the driver could not be installed.

I'm installing SuSE in an instance of VirtualPC. VPC supports Linux installations, but maybe it's interfering.

 

[ianicr]

I've only used VMWare never VirtualPC but I guess they are similar things. However the thing with VMWare is that it doesn't set up your network card as the card that you've got. VMWare sets up as an AMD NIC. You'll need to check the VirtualPC docs to find out what sort of card it sets up as and set your suse installation to check for this type of card rather than a RTL8139.

 

[ianicr]

Looks like MS have bought out VirtualPC on the MS website it says for Connectix VirtualPC each guest operating system will have:
DEC/Intel 21140-A PCI Ethernet controller
See if you can find this in the Suse Install list and selecting this.

 

[Hexonx]

Good call! I didn't realize that VPC was emulating devices. You're correct about the NIC and I also looked up the vidoe adapter (I have a Windows Server 2003 image installed, so I could look).

Thanks again!

 

[Hexonx]

There were a few Intel drivers, but none that matched the Intel 21140 adapter. After looking thru system information screens, I saw it detected a DEC 21140 FasterNet chip and began looking for a similar driver. There's one for DEC Tulip (driver name is 'tulip'). I left the 'Parameters' prompt blank and it installed.

So I'm at the Installation Settings screen, but the Software section reads, "Cannot read package data from installation media. Media error?" in red letters. It knows I'm installing via FTP and am connected to the FTP server (I connected with a separate FTP client on another box on network to make sure connection was good). What gives?

 

[ianicr]

I'd try a different mirror. Suse 9 is still relatively new and the mirrors are being used quite a lot. It may just be a timeout or something. Just because you can connect from another machine doesn't mean that the connection is stable. Does it drop straight away or take a while? and are you using the name of the ftp server or the straight IP address?

 

[Hexonx]

ianicr,

The mirror I'm using is Oregon State (ftp.oregonstate.edu, 128.193.0.0) and I'm using the IP address. I started the install before going to bed because it had to download ~47MB and I have a slow connection. Maybe the connection was closed and the YaST didn't try to reopen it. I'll try again and keep you posted. The main thing I wanted to know is if I'm doing something wrong. Being new to Linux, I don't know many places to look when I have a problem and must rely on others.

 

[Hexonx]

I was able to successfully install SuSE Linux 9.0. The "Cannot read package data from installation media. Media error?" continued to occur on ftp.oregonstate.edu site. I switched to this mirror and installed successfully:

StorageTek
199.117.145.110
/pub/systems/suse/i386/current

For those installing in Connectix Virtual PC:
I used v5.2.
NIC driver: DEC Tulip FasterNet (driver name 'tuplip')
All other devices auto-detected correctly.

 

[ianicr]

How does suse 9 work in virtual pc? I tried to install it the other day on vmware and got problems installing glibc. It was failing because of an i586 package installing on i386 hardware? If it works ok in vpc i might have to find a copy from somewhere..

 

[Hexonx]

I was pressed for time and installed the Default installation, which is basically a well-equipped desktop (no development). I may try to install the dev tools, but I'm a .NET developer. I'm interested in the Mono project (.NET impl on Linux), Apache web server, and a database (MySQL or something).