installer does not find a network - but a live system does ... wtf?

Andi Meier andimeier at gmx.net
Wed Mar 16 08:35:55 UTC 2011


In this post, I included the output of several networking related commands.

I would say, the most interesting output is that of ethtool, look at the last line:
  - network unreachable: last line of ethtool output is:
	    Link detected: no
  - network ok: last line of ethtool output is:
	    Link detected: yes

So, apparently the problem is on OSI layer 1 or 2, which renders all attempts to solve the problem on higher layers useless, IMHO. It is
important to state that it is not DHCP which is failing, but the network link is failing - which is in turn necessary for higher services
like DHCP etc.

However, I really don't understand WHY the problem exists.

BTW: I tried static IP as well, but to no avail, since there is no network available.

The following sections provide the output of the suggested commands which are:

  - cat hostname
  - cat /etc/network/interfaces
  - route -n
  - cat /etc/resolv.conf
  - ifconfig -a
  - ethtool eth0
  - dhclient eth0

Those who are different when network is unreachable than when the network is up, are shown in both versions:


<<<<< cat hostname
koala
============================

<<<<< cat /etc/network/interfaces
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
============================


<<<<< Network unreachable: route-n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
============================


<<<<< cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 192.168.178.1
domain fritz.box
search fritz.box
============================


<<<<< Network unreachable: ifconfig -a
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:26:18:f0:1d:43
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:240 (240.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:26 Base address:0xa000

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:46 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:46 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:15721 (15.7 KB)  TX bytes:15721 (15.7 KB)
============================


<<<<< Network ok: ifconfig -a
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:26:18:f0:1d:43
          inet addr:192.168.178.35  Bcast:192.168.178.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::226:18ff:fef0:1d43/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:24 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:60 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:3348 (3.3 KB)  TX bytes:7542 (7.5 KB)
          Interrupt:26 Base address:0xa000

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:70 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:70 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:19321 (19.3 KB)  TX bytes:19321 (19.3 KB)
============================


<<<<< Network unreachable: ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
	Supported ports: [ TP MII ]
	Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
	                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
	                        1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full
	Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
	Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
	                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
	                        1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full
	Advertised pause frame use: No
	Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
	Link partner advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
	Link partner advertised pause frame use: No
	Link partner advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
	Speed: 10Mb/s
	Duplex: Full
	Port: MII
	PHYAD: 0
	Transceiver: internal
	Auto-negotiation: on
	Supports Wake-on: pumbg
	Wake-on: g
	Current message level: 0x00000033 (51)
	Link detected: no
============================


<<<<< Network ok: ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
	Supported ports: [ TP MII ]
	Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
	                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
	                        1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full
	Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
	Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
	                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
	                        1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full
	Advertised pause frame use: No
	Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
	Link partner advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
	Link partner advertised pause frame use: No
	Link partner advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
	Speed: 10Mb/s
	Duplex: Full
	Port: MII
	PHYAD: 0
	Transceiver: internal
	Auto-negotiation: on
	Supports Wake-on: pumbg
	Wake-on: g
	Current message level: 0x00000033 (51)
	Link detected: yes
============================


<<<<< Network unreachable: dhclient eth0
Internet Ssytems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.3
...[some copyright output]...
Listening on LPF/eth0/00:26:18:f0:1d:41
Sending on   LPF/eth0/00:26:18:f0:1d:41
Sending on   Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 5
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 16
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 18
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 15
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
============================


<<<<< Network ok: dhclient eth0
Internet Ssytems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.3
...[some copyright output]...
Listening on LPF/eth0/00:26:18:f0:1d:41
Sending on   LPF/eth0/00:26:18:f0:1d:41
Sending on   Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3
DHCPOFFER of 192.168.178.35 from 192.168.178.1
DHCPREQUEST of 192.168.178.35 on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
DHCPACK of 192.168.178.35 from 192.168.178.1
bound to 192.168.178.35 -- renewal in 364413 seconds.
============================



*Finding:* apparently I can *always* get the system to work. I only have to do this one time after boot:
  $ ifdown eth0 (output: "send_packet: Network is unreachable")
  $ ifup eth0
Then, network is there. Everythings ok. Just one time this ifdown/ifup combination.

Also, the output of "ethtool eth0" is different before this ifdown/ifup combination and after it - different in 1 line:
  before: Link detected: no
  after: Link detected: yes

Seems the problem is on physical/link layer. Why is eth0 always down initially after boot and why does the ifdown/ifup combination always
cure the problem?

Andi




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