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. -- MailScanner is like deodorant... You hope everybody uses it, and you notice quickly if they don't!!!!