[CentOS] Re: network config files in centos 5 changing

Thu Apr 26 19:04:46 UTC 2007
Scott Silva <ssilva at sgvwater.com>

Jerry Geis spake the following on 4/26/2007 11:53 AM:
>> i believe i had mentioned this already on this list:
> 
>> have had same problems with my asus m2npv-vm board  (onboard
>> forcedepth nic) the first days with the board under fedora 6 - would
>> say no big diff's to centos-
> 
>> the fedora way goes:
> 
>> 1. move or delete /etc/sysconfig/hwconf
>> 2. move or delete /etc/modprobe.conf
>> 3. run kudzu afterwards => this writes new hwconf, modprobe.conf
>> 4. bring your nic's down: ifdown ethx
>> 5. remove the driver via modprobe -rv <your-nic-driver> (forcedepth)
>> 5a. maybe to be sure: lsmod|grep -i <your-nic-driver>
>> 6. reload the driver via modprobe -sv ...
>> 7. fix your mac-addr-settings via system-config-network
>> 8. compare your mac's in hwconf _and_ via ifconfig
> 
>> steps 4-6 are also performed via reboot (grrrrrrrrrr: m$ world tasks),
>> but your are able to exclude if this files were changed again after
>> step 3. (ls -l /etc/sysconfig/hwconf => date/time !)
>> a hint of another problem !
> 
>> if there are still diff's, then it's another problem i don't know a
>> solution for, yet, but i remember ethx order changes and therefore mac
>> mismatches at late fedora 5/early fedora 6 kernels.
> 
>> try and report !
>> okay ?
> 
>> -- 
>>      ronald
> 
> 
> Ronald,
> 
> Thanks for the above. However, sadly it did not work.
> Also I see no way in the system-config-network to set a MAC address.
> I was in the character mode here not X.
> 
> This is SOOO bizzar. Again, when I started I had 2 Asus M2N-MX boards.
> One was giving the invalid MAC address and one seemed OK.
> Both had the forcedeth driver loaded for onboard network.
> 
> I bought 2 gigabyte motherboards (DIFFERENT BIOS) and I have the same
> issue. One board is working and the other is giving the invalid MAC
> address.
> Both gigabytes have the forcedeth driver.
> 
> I tried loading centos 4 but it does not even recognize the forcedeth
> device at all.
> even manually loading.
> 
> I'm at a loss. I have a script file that runs and sets things up the way
> I want after boot up. Not pretty - but I guess it works.
> 
> Jerry
This appears to be a bug in the forcedeth driver and the chipset. The driver
seems to pull the current MAC address from a register, and writes it back
differently. The systems with the trouble must allow this write to take place,
and it changes the MAC address for the next boot.
I think if you add a HWADDR: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx  command to the ifcfg script,
it might stick. You will have to find your real MAC address on your own, but
it might be on a sticker somewhere on the board, or in a service tag on the
equipment.

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