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DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

Ask for help with issues regarding the Installations of the Debian O/S.
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jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#1 Post by jasontan »

I've a new DELL Vostro 230 desktop that comes with a Broadcom Netlink gigabit ethernet. Trying to install Lenny and Squeeze would not detect the network card. This includes using today's daily netinst.iso. Suggestions, please.

Windows 7's control panel says:
ASIC version: BCM67788 A1
Firmware version: sb2 2.05

Output of lspci:

Code: Select all

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset DRAM Controller (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0a66 (rev a2)
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation Device 0be3 (rev a1)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation Device 1691 (rev 01)

acimmarusti
Posts: 397
Joined: 2009-02-27 04:59
Location: Portland, OR USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#2 Post by acimmarusti »

It is clear from this: http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/firm ... ux-nonfree
That you need the packages firmware-linux-nonfree (not available with Lenny's kernel).

Squeeze doesn't work either because it's a nonfree firmware that you need. So my advice is install Debian Squeeze/Lenny from the first DVD or CD. If you choose Squeeze (I recommend this, it works well and it will soon become stable) then manually get firmware-linux and firmware-linux-nonfree and install them with dpkg.
If you decide for Lenny, you'll have to activate the lenny-backports repository and get the latest kernel they have there, along with the two firmware packages I told you.

Both should work. If they don't, look at this: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=525966

Good luck

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#3 Post by jasontan »

acimmarusti wrote:It is clear from this: http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/firm ... ux-nonfree
That you need the packages firmware-linux-nonfree (not available with Lenny's kernel).

Squeeze doesn't work either because it's a nonfree firmware that you need. So my advice is install Debian Squeeze/Lenny from the first DVD or CD. If you choose Squeeze (I recommend this, it works well and it will soon become stable) then manually get firmware-linux and firmware-linux-nonfree and install them with dpkg.
If you decide for Lenny, you'll have to activate the lenny-backports repository and get the latest kernel they have there, along with the two firmware packages I told you.

Both should work. If they don't, look at this: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=525966
I have installed Squeeze from the latest CD. Network card not detected as expected.

After installation, I used dpkg to install the firmwares. What am I supposed to do next? I rebooted but the only network interface I see is still loopback.

What commands do I need to install the network adapter?

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#4 Post by jasontan »

This is the output of lspci -k, if it is of any help.

Code: Select all

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset DRAM Controller (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 3 (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation N10/ICH7 Family SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GT218 [GeForce 310] (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Device 1b0a:9060
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
	Subsystem: Device 1b0a:9060
	Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57788 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e

User avatar
jheaton5
Posts: 1488
Joined: 2008-08-20 01:40
Location: Newnan, GA, USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#5 Post by jheaton5 »

Post the output of lspci -v (only the ethX sections) and the contents of /etc/NetworkManager/nm-system-settings.conf
debian sid

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#6 Post by jasontan »

jheaton5 wrote:Post the output of lspci -v (only the ethX sections) and the contents of /etc/NetworkManager/nm-system-settings.conf
Here is the lspci -v:

Code: Select all

03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation Device 1691 (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 043e
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
	Memory at febf0000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
	Capabilities: [48] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [60] Vendor Specific Information <?>
	Capabilities: [50] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
	Capabilities: [cc] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting <?>
	Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel <?>
	Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 52-a0-23-fe-ff-2d-26-00
	Capabilities: [16c] Power Budgeting <?>
/etc/NetworkManager/nm-system-settings.conf does not exist on this newly installed system.

Please let me know if there is any other info that I can furnish. Thanks.

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#7 Post by jasontan »

I am sad to say that I was able to get networking to run, effortlessly, when I tried Ubuntu 10.4.

I use Debian on all my machines and do not wish to move to an unstable OS for my new workstation. So, I would very much like to get Squeeze running properly on this spanky new pc.

Is there anything I can do to load the drivers correctly in Debian?

acimmarusti
Posts: 397
Joined: 2009-02-27 04:59
Location: Portland, OR USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#8 Post by acimmarusti »

Yes, I have the way to fix this. Sorry I didn't answer before, I was rather busy..

You'll need to install these to packages: module-assistant bcm5700-source
The last one is present in the non-free Debian repositories.

Then type the following as root in a terminal:

Code: Select all

module-assistant auto-install bcm5700-source
This will build the bcm5700 driver module for your current kernel and install it. You can use either lenny or squeeze for this to work.

The only setback of this method (in Ubuntu this is handled automatically I believe) is that everytime you upgrade your kernel, you will have to rebuild this module in the same manner.

Please try this and let me know if it works....it should!

User avatar
jheaton5
Posts: 1488
Joined: 2008-08-20 01:40
Location: Newnan, GA, USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#9 Post by jheaton5 »

acimmarusti wrote:Yes, I have the way to fix this. Sorry I didn't answer before, I was rather busy..

You'll need to install these to packages: module-assistant bcm5700-source
The last one is present in the non-free Debian repositories.

Then type the following as root in a terminal:

Code: Select all

module-assistant auto-install bcm5700-source
This will build the bcm5700 driver module for your current kernel and install it. You can use either lenny or squeeze for this to work.

The only setback of this method (in Ubuntu this is handled automatically I believe) is that everytime you upgrade your kernel, you will have to rebuild this module in the same manner.

Please try this and let me know if it works....it should!
Don't you need to modprobe the driver after it is built?
debian sid

acimmarusti
Posts: 397
Joined: 2009-02-27 04:59
Location: Portland, OR USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#10 Post by acimmarusti »

Yes, I forgot that part Joel, thanks

You can also simply restart your computer

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#11 Post by jasontan »

Running after successfully installing bcm5700 using dpkg:

Code: Select all

module-assistant auto-install bcm5700-source
I get this error instead.

Code: Select all

Build of the package bcm5700-source failed! How do you wish to proceed?

module-assistant, log file viewer

debian/rules:9: /usr/share/dpatch/dpatch.make: No such file or directory
make: *** No rule to make target `/usr/share/dpatch/dpatch.make'. Stop.
This is a new install of Lenny from DVD Disc 1. Do I need to install something else?

acimmarusti
Posts: 397
Joined: 2009-02-27 04:59
Location: Portland, OR USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#12 Post by acimmarusti »

Try installing dpatch and then build the module again

Code: Select all

aptitude install dpatch

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#13 Post by jasontan »

acimmarusti wrote:Try installing dpatch and then build the module again

Code: Select all

aptitude install dpatch
Here's my attempt after installing dpatch. Error log below:

Code: Select all

rm -f build-stamp configure-stamp
test -f src/Makefile &&  /usr/bin/make -C src clean || true
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
rm -f bcm5700.o bcm5700.ko b57um.o b57proc.o tigon3.o autoneg.o 5701rls.o tcp_seg.o b57diag.o bcm5700.mod.c bcm5700.mod.o
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
dh_clean
rm -f debian/control
/usr/bin/make  -f debian/rules kdist_clean kdist_config binary-modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700'
rm -f build-stamp configure-stamp
test -f src/Makefile &&  /usr/bin/make -C src clean || true
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
rm -f bcm5700.o bcm5700.ko b57um.o b57proc.o tigon3.o autoneg.o 5701rls.o tcp_seg.o b57diag.o bcm5700.mod.c bcm5700.mod.o
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
dh_clean
make[1]: dh_clean: Command not found
make[1]: [kdist_clean] Error 127 (ignored)
rm -f debian/control
for templ in /usr/src/modules/bcm5700/debian/bcm5700-module-_KVERS_.postinst.modules.in /usr/src/modules/bcm5700/debian/bcm5700-module-_KVERS_.prerm.modules.in; do \
    cp $templ `echo $templ | sed -e 's/_KVERS_/2.6.26-2-686/g'` ; \
  done
for templ in `ls debian/*.modules.in` ; do \
    test -e ${templ%.modules.in}.backup || cp ${templ%.modules.in} ${templ%.modules.in}.backup 2>/dev/null || true; \
    sed -e 's/##KVERS##/2.6.26-2-686/g ;s/#KVERS#/2.6.26-2-686/g ; s/_KVERS_/2.6.26-2-686/g ; s/##KDREV##/2.6.26-21/g ; s/#KDREV#/2.6.26-21/g ; s/_KDREV_/2.6.26-21/g  ' < $templ > ${templ%.modules.in}; \
  done
dh_clean -k
make[1]: dh_clean: Command not found
make[1]: *** [binary-modules] Error 127
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700'
make: *** [kdist_build] Error 2

acimmarusti
Posts: 397
Joined: 2009-02-27 04:59
Location: Portland, OR USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#14 Post by acimmarusti »

What are you using to install your packages from the Debian repositories?
If you use aptitude, once you asked to install module-assistant, it should have pulled the package debhelper as a dependency. Which is what you are missing from the error log you provided.

Anyways, lets play it safe this time, please install: debhelper, dh-make, build-essential
and the kernel headers (according to the version of your kernel image, in lenny, the main kernel is 2.6.26)

Now try again. I assume it will throw no errors this time. If it does, post the error log again.

EDIT: I added stuff, mainly the recommendation of installing the kernel headers

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#15 Post by jasontan »

acimmarusti wrote:What are you using to install your packages from the Debian repositories?
If you use aptitude, once you asked to install module-assistant, it should have pulled the package debhelper as a dependency. Which is what you are missing from the error log you provided.

Anyways, lets play it safe this time, please install: debhelper, dh-make, build-essential
and the kernel headers (according to the version of your kernel image, in lenny, the main kernel is 2.6.26)

Now try again. I assume it will throw no errors this time. If it does, post the error log again.
I am installing only from DVD 1 as eth is not working.

I installed debhelper and dh-make, since the headers and build-essential were already installed. I ran the m-a but still encountered errors although some progress were made. The log is as follows:

Code: Select all

rm -f build-stamp configure-stamp
test -f src/Makefile &&  /usr/bin/make -C src clean || true
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
rm -f bcm5700.o bcm5700.ko b57um.o b57proc.o tigon3.o autoneg.o 5701rls.o tcp_seg.o b57diag.o bcm5700.mod.c bcm5700.mod.o
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
dh_clean
rm -f debian/control
/usr/bin/make  -f debian/rules kdist_clean kdist_config binary-modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700'
rm -f build-stamp configure-stamp
test -f src/Makefile &&  /usr/bin/make -C src clean || true
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
rm -f bcm5700.o bcm5700.ko b57um.o b57proc.o tigon3.o autoneg.o 5701rls.o tcp_seg.o b57diag.o bcm5700.mod.c bcm5700.mod.o
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
dh_clean
dh_clean: cannot read debian/control: No such file or directory

make[1]: [kdist_clean] Error 1 (ignored)
rm -f debian/control
for templ in /usr/src/modules/bcm5700/debian/bcm5700-module-_KVERS_.postinst /usr/src/modules/bcm5700/debian/bcm5700-module-_KVERS_.postinst.modules.in /usr/src/modules/bcm5700/debian/bcm5700-module-_KVERS_.prerm /usr/src/modules/bcm5700/debian/bcm5700-module-_KVERS_.prerm.modules.in; do \
    cp $templ `echo $templ | sed -e 's/_KVERS_/2.6.26-2-686/g'` ; \
  done
for templ in `ls debian/*.modules.in` ; do \
    test -e ${templ%.modules.in}.backup || cp ${templ%.modules.in} ${templ%.modules.in}.backup 2>/dev/null || true; \
    sed -e 's/##KVERS##/2.6.26-2-686/g ;s/#KVERS#/2.6.26-2-686/g ; s/_KVERS_/2.6.26-2-686/g ; s/##KDREV##/2.6.26-21/g ; s/#KDREV#/2.6.26-21/g ; s/_KDREV_/2.6.26-21/g  ' < $templ > ${templ%.modules.in}; \
  done
dh_clean -k
/usr/bin/make -C src
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.26-2-686/build SUBDIRS=/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src modules
make[3]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.26-2-686'
  CC [M]  /usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.o
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c: In function ‘bcm5700_init_board’:
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:1000: error: implicit declaration of function ‘SET_MODULE_OWNER’
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c: In function ‘bcm5700_init_one’:
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:1201: error: ‘struct net_device’ has no member named ‘poll’
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:1202: error: ‘struct net_device’ has no member named ‘weight’
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c: In function ‘bcm5700_start_xmit’:
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:2188: warning: ISO C90 forbids mixed declarations and code
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c: In function ‘bcm5700_poll’:
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:2266: error: ‘struct net_device’ has no member named ‘quota’
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:2267: error: ‘struct net_device’ has no member named ‘quota’
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:2272: error: ‘struct net_device’ has no member named ‘quota’
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:2287: error: too few arguments to function ‘netif_rx_complete’
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c: In function ‘MM_ScheduleRxPoll’:
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:4658: error: too few arguments to function ‘netif_rx_schedule_prep’
/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.c:4659: error: too few arguments to function ‘__netif_rx_schedule’
make[4]: *** [/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src/b57um.o] Error 1
make[3]: *** [_module_/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src] Error 2
make[3]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.26-2-686'
make[2]: *** [default] Error 2
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700/src'
make[1]: *** [binary-modules] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/modules/bcm5700'
make: *** [kdist_build] Error 2

acimmarusti
Posts: 397
Joined: 2009-02-27 04:59
Location: Portland, OR USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#16 Post by acimmarusti »

I am sorry, but all we have done has been in vain. It appears bcm5700 no longer works with kernels >= 2.6.26. See http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=495336

It appears that this driver has been replaced by one called tg3. They mention it in the bug report.
I did some "googling" around and found several things. First of all, tg3 was removed from the kernel in Lenny because the code wasn't openly available.

I do, however, have the solution for your problem (and it's much easier than our previous attempt). You have two options:

1. Keep lenny, and install a newer kernel (by manually downloading it from the debian lenny backports website) along with the packages firmware-linux, firmware-linux-free and firmware-linux-nonfree (the last one includes the tg3 driver, so your NIC should work upon rebooting after installing all these packages). To implement this solution do the following:

Go to http://packages.debian.org/search?keywo ... lla-search
Take your pick of the kernel you want (I suppose you'll probably be interested in either linux-image-2.6.32-bpo.5-686 or linux-image-2.6.32-bpo.5-amd64 depending on your processor and OS architecture).

Go here http://packages.debian.org/lenny-backpo ... ux-nonfree and here http://packages.debian.org/lenny-backpo ... linux-free (note that the first one has a list of the binary drivers it includes, this list contains tg3). Download these to packages.

Once you are able to carry your packages to your Dell vostro (using a usb key or something like this), you install them using:

Code: Select all

su
dpkg -i packagename1.deb packagename2.deb packagename3.deb
Reboot (make sure the kernel selected in grub is 2.6.32) and you should have a functional NIC.

2. Use Squeeze. You will only need to manually get firmware-linux-nonfree from http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/firm ... ux-nonfree and install it with dpkg. Upon reboot it should work.

Hope everything goes smoothly now.

Cheers

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#17 Post by jasontan »

acimmarusti wrote:I am sorry, but all we have done has been in vain. It appears bcm5700 no longer works with kernels >= 2.6.26. See http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=495336

It appears that this driver has been replaced by one called tg3. They mention it in the bug report.
I did some "googling" around and found several things. First of all, tg3 was removed from the kernel in Lenny because the code wasn't openly available.

I do, however, have the solution for your problem (and it's much easier than our previous attempt). You have two options:

1. Keep lenny, and install a newer kernel (by manually downloading it from the debian lenny backports website) along with the packages firmware-linux, firmware-linux-free and firmware-linux-nonfree (the last one includes the tg3 driver, so your NIC should work upon rebooting after installing all these packages). To implement this solution do the following:

Go to http://packages.debian.org/search?keywo ... lla-search
Take your pick of the kernel you want (I suppose you'll probably be interested in either linux-image-2.6.32-bpo.5-686 or linux-image-2.6.32-bpo.5-amd64 depending on your processor and OS architecture).

Go here http://packages.debian.org/lenny-backpo ... ux-nonfree and here http://packages.debian.org/lenny-backpo ... linux-free (note that the first one has a list of the binary drivers it includes, this list contains tg3). Download these to packages.

Once you are able to carry your packages to your Dell vostro (using a usb key or something like this), you install them using:

Code: Select all

su
dpkg -i packagename1.deb packagename2.deb packagename3.deb
Reboot (make sure the kernel selected in grub is 2.6.32) and you should have a functional NIC.

2. Use Squeeze. You will only need to manually get firmware-linux-nonfree from http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/firm ... ux-nonfree and install it with dpkg. Upon reboot it should work.

Cheers
Yesterday, I finally managed to download a DVD for Squeeze. I had trouble downloading huge files earlier, and was limited to CD iso's.

I installed squeeze on another new desktop with almost similar hardware (eth) and the network worked correctly. I guess I will now go with your option 2, now that I have DVD No.1 in my hands.

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#18 Post by jasontan »

Both my new DELL desktops of different models now have working eth using Squeeze. Thank you all for advice and guidance.

However, I now have video issues with the NVIDIA GPU. I'll start another thread on this.

acimmarusti
Posts: 397
Joined: 2009-02-27 04:59
Location: Portland, OR USA

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#19 Post by acimmarusti »

fantastic!

I've also had issues with nvidia cards using Squeeze default installation. Debian keeps using the open source nv xorg driver by default, but nvidia recently stopped supporting it. It's really a terrible and unreliable driver. I recommend you use vesa if you just want it to work without many features, or use the newer open source alternative called nouveau (but 3d support for it is basically non-existent at the moment, and some cards might be missing features). Naturally using nvidia's proprietary driver works the best.

Cheers

jasontan
Posts: 82
Joined: 2007-10-04 04:27

Re: DELL Vostro desktop Broadcom Netlink eth not detected

#20 Post by jasontan »

acimmarusti wrote:fantastic!

I've also had issues with nvidia cards using Squeeze default installation. Debian keeps using the open source nv xorg driver by default, but nvidia recently stopped supporting it. It's really a terrible and unreliable driver. I recommend you use vesa if you just want it to work without many features, or use the newer open source alternative called nouveau (but 3d support for it is basically non-existent at the moment, and some cards might be missing features). Naturally using nvidia's proprietary driver works the best.

Cheers
I managed to solve the video card based on discussions in this forum. I installed what was suggested plus nvidia-xconfig.

Code: Select all

aptitude  install nvidia-kernel-dkms nvidia-settings nvidia-xconfig
Then reboot the pc to load the modules, run nvidia-xconfig and reload X again.

This solved all the problems on both computers. This is definitely much easier than all the others steps that I've googled. I'm really impressed.

Edit: Grammar nazi forced me to edit.

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