[wplug] 'I surrender'

[Jason Carr]

Bob + group:

First, if you want to skip how to (most likely) fix Bob's problem,
search for "to start the pissing contest" about 4 paragraphs down.
Also, I can't spell correctly or produce grammatically correct
sentences, so if you get easily irritated, stop reading now.

I'll be 100% up front with you, I am not a SuSE expert, I have no
clue how to setup drivers to work with SuSE in it's own little way.
That being said, in a generic linux sense, this is how I would have
proceded.

A quick search for "linux DFE-530TX+" finds a page from D-Link's own
website.
http://support.dlink.com/faq/view.asp?prod_id=487&question=General%20Linux

This states that if you have DFE-530TX+ Rev. A, B, C you need to use
the driver named "rtl8139.o".  Otherwise you need to compile the
module from a floppy disk.  This might be outdated information, but
try this method first (if you haven't already killed your linux
install.)  Startup and look in /lib/modules/2.6.10(or whatever
version of the linux kernel you run)/net and see if you have a
rtl8139.o file listed.  If you do, great, type in modprobe rtl8139
at a root prompt.  Now type ifconfig -a and make sure that the new
device is listed.  If it is not listed, you might have a different
revision of the chip and need to compile a new driver.  That
probably goes out of the scope of this email.

As long as your cable modem is hooked up to your ethernet card, you
will should have no problems doing the following, either dhcpcd eth0
and automatically getting an address or pump -i eth0 for dhcp.  It
depends on the distro and what tools are available.

Okay, now that took me all of 5 minutes to figure out.  I'm
intellegent, not god like or anything, but if you had a tech support
(maybe help desk) they would have already known this issue and would
have been able to help you with it.

Now, to start the pissing contest, why are big companies (like IBM)
switching their desktops to linux?  There are several people in our
office that run linux on their laptops and desktops for day to day
usage.  It's ready, don't just say it's not because you couldn't
figure out how to use Google and it didn't work 100% out of the box.

- Jason



On Mon, Jan 31, 2005 at 04:04:14PM -0500, Bob Melder wrote:
> Hi:
> 
> 
> 
> I like Linux but have given up trying to get on the Internet with my recently purchased SuSE 9.2.
> 
>  
> 
> At the outset, let me first explain that when Adelphia hooked me up to its high-speed Internet service, the tech used a USB port and didn't install an Ethernet card. (Keep this in mind as I proceed.)
> 
>  
> 
> The plot:
> 
>  
> 
> 1) I'm a newbie, but after a while I got SuSE 9.2 installed and working internally. However, I couldn't connect with the Internet.
> 
>  
> 
> 2) Called Adelphia, a SuSE support address (got a guy in England) and some other knowledgeable people and basically was told I needed drivers so my Terayon modem could talk to my computer,
> 
>  
> 
> 3) Checked with the Terayon website and found this out from a Q&A page:
> 
>  
> 
> QUESTION 7. Where can I download drivers for Linux?
> 
> ANSWER: We don't support Linux so there are no drivers. If you use Ethernet as your connection you won't need drivers and it will work.
> 
>  
> 
> QUESTION 14. I have connected my Terayon modem to an Ethernet card inside my computer. Where can I download the Ethernet drivers for my modem?
> 
> ANSWER: You can't. There is really no such thing as an "Ethernet driver" for a cable modem. Only USB drivers for USB connections. NOTE: Your Ethernet card itself will need its own driver in order to function. The card should have come with its own floppy disc or CD ROM with the drivers on it. If your computer came with an Ethernet card already installed, and you need to re-install the drivers for the card, contact the manufacturer of your computer for assistance.
> 
>  
> 
> My D-Link DFE-530TX+ PCI Fast Ethernet card DID come with a CD-Rom disk and after a lot of messing around and with some help from a tech at Adelphia got the damn thing to work on Windows after disconnecting the USB line. I thanked her and then tried to get it to work on SuSE.  No luck. I can see all the icons listed on the DVD disk on my Linux screen when I put in my CD-ROM but can't get them into the system or for the system to even recognize them. On Windows, a screen asks if you want to Install Drivers and you click on that, shut down the computer, install the ethernet card, reboot, and finish the installation from there. This doesn't happen on the Linux side of the computer. Of course, I can't get Email either.
> 
>  
> 
> Conclusion: I love Linux but at this point I'm waving the white flag. The whole trip cost me about $125 and a lot of time and effort.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm convinced there is one small thing I failed to do or someone forgot to tell me to do. However, I'm also convinced that because Linux is not supported with the same gusto that Windows is, installing any Linux distribution makes it difficult for the average person to get on board. And, it would help if Internet providers made it a little easier of us.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not extremely computer literate. However, I'm not stupid either. I've replaced boards, chips and transformers in computers and can navigate in Windows comfortably enough to do what I have to do. If I wanted to do more I'm sure I could find a way.
> 
>  
> 
> So, the moral of this tale is: Linux is great, but for newcomers, more help and corporate support is needed.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for listening.
> 
>  
> 
> Robert

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-- 
jason (jason at flacid.org)