On Thu, Jun 27, 2002 at 03:14:49PM -0400, Keith Winston wrote:
I have the strangest network problem with SuSE and a Dell Optiplex G110 slimline desktop PC. Is anyone using SuSE on one of these?
The trouble is that the network card stops responding to outside requests after about 15 minutes. When it first comes up, I can ping it, bring up the default web page, ssh, etc. However, after a short time, no pings, no web page, no ssh. Funny thing is that if I log onto the machine, it can still ping out and access the network.
There are no error messages in the boot log or messages log.
The PC has no firewall. The problem happens with the integrated 3Com NIC, which was then replaced with a 3Com 3C905B in the PCI slot, then replaced with an Intel Etherexpress Pro 100 in the PCI slot. Same problem. This seemed to eliminate any issue with the drivers.
Then, I upgraded the BIOS to the latest (A08), turned off all peripherals, and all power management in the BIOS. Same problem.
Then, I booted SuSE with "apm=off acpi=off". Same problem.
I googled for similar issues and searched the SBD and Dell forums. No luck. I have exhausted all my resources. The only thing left to try is Deadrat or other distro. All suggestions appreciated.
With some blind luck, I stumbled on to the solution. The Dell Optiplex GX110 slimline PCs share IRQs between the USB controller and the network card. This is true whether you are using the integrated 3Com NIC or another NIC in a PCI slot. When you change the IRQ assignment of either one in the BIOS, it changes the other to the same IRQ. They are linked somehow on the motherboard. The only way to unlink them is to turn off the USB controller in the BIOS. Obviously, not a good solution if you have to use a USB device. Fortunately for me, I don't need USB on this PC. With USB turned off, the IRQ is not shared and the network port stays alive. This problem affects Win2K (and likely any OS) on these PCs. We saw the same problem sharing a printer from Win2K where it would stop responding after a short time. Best Regards, Keith -- LPIC-2, MCSE, N+ Right behind you, I see the millions Got spam? Get spastic http://spastic.sourceforge.net