NETWORKING-NIC-NE2000 ISA

Applicable to most linux systems: Redhat = /etc/conf.modules, others = /etc/modules.conf

ISA Network cards require paramaters to establish which resources (interrupts) to use.

Many ethernet network adaptors (NICs) handle the ne2000 protocol. Regardless of actual OEM the following popular chipsets are supported (among others).

RTL 8019   (standard ne 2000 compliant chip)
RTL 8029   (improved version)
RTL 8109   (100 base card of above)

To install, state in /etc/modules.conf the following

alias eth0 ne
options ne io=0x300 irq=10

When the network starts (/etc/rc.d/init.d/network start) the kernel will request the 'eth0' module loaded. Kmod (part of the kernel) will make a request of modprobe, which in turn will check in modules.conf and discover the actual module required is ne2000.o, It will also detect a second module 8390.o is also needed and take apporpriate action.

the options line declares the very standard 'traditional' place for a network card in an ibm-pc. YMMV

There is no reason however, to suppose your card is as above. Only you, not Linux, can establish which io address, and which interrupt to use. With Isa, it normally involves plug and play, and you are invited to read ISAPNP to fix your system.

You can force-install this at any time as su by

modprobe eth0

As noted above, because this module is dependent on 8390.o, attempts to install via insmod ne are doomed to fail. In fact, insmod should simply NEVER be used for installing ANY module.

You can check the module is loaded via lsmod

Enjoy