Networking problem on Solaris 10 x_86 Dell Dimension 4600

Dear Group,

to make a small test-site, I have two computers: a Dell Dimension 4600
and a Dell Dimension 4550.

I have followed the instructions of the Hardware Compatibility List
([url]http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/data/sol/systems/details/76.html[/url]) and
I succeeded to use the network adaptor on the motherboard of the 4600:

add a line to /etc/driver_aliases: iprb "pci8086,1050"
touch /reconfigure and reboot.

ifconfig iprb0 plumb
ifconfig iprb0 inet 193.0.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast +
ifconfig iprb0 up
and make a /etc/hostname.iprb0

As far as I know, the Dimension 4550 is officially not supported, but I
managed to install Solaris anyway. The NIC on the motherboard was not
recognized, so I screwed in a Realtek network adaptor, downloaded its
driver and installed it (rtls0).

Now, I have both computers connected with each other by a crossover
cable, the 4600 I gave the IP address 193.0.0.2 and the 4550 is called
193.0.0.1 but they are not able to ping each other.

When I take a laptop, give it the IP address *.1 and connect it with
the same crossover cable to the Dell with IP address *.2; this laptop
and that Dell can ping each other.

When I take a laptop, give it the IP address *.2 and connect it with
the same crossover cable to the Dell with IP address *.1; this laptop
and that Dell can ping each other.

It really baffles me that pinging from or to the laptop does not give
any problem, but among each other there is no reaction at all.

I have done a 'route add' for both of the machines.
At the *.2 I did "route add default 193.0.0.1" and at the *.1 "route
add default 193.0.0.2", but this seems quite useless to me, no? Anyway,
it did not help.

To make sure that both NICs use 100Mbps Full Duplex, I have changed
their configurations.
At the *.2, which uses the motherboard network adaptor (iprb0), I have
added the following line to /kernel/drv/iprb.conf :
"ForceSpeedDuplex=4;".
At the *.1, which uses the Realtek (rtls0), I have added the same line
to the file /kernel/drv/rtls.conf . This was suggested to me by
mAbrante (Thanks Magnus).

If I reboot them now, I get the following messages:

*.2 gives me:
iprb0: No MII link detected

and *.1 is so stubborn to stay in Half Duplex:
rtls0: link up -- 100Mbps Half Duplex

I thought that "No MII link detected" means that there is no cable
connected, but the cable is plugged in (*). Maybe it appears because
*.2 is booted up faster than *.1 ?

What might I have done wrong, is there something I overlooked?

Any help or comments are greatly appreciated. Many kind greetings,

Wim Deprez

(*) it is a cross over cable and the test with the laptop proves that
it works, no?

In article <1148300820.461029.173610@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
wim <wim.deprez+google@student.luc.ac.be> wrote:[color=blue]
>As far as I know, the Dimension 4550 is officially not supported, but I
>managed to install Solaris anyway. The NIC on the motherboard was not
>recognized, so I screwed in a Realtek network adaptor, downloaded its
>driver and installed it (rtls0).[/color]

What is the output prtpci for the 4550?
<URL:http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/dmick/20050317#prtpci_digest_and_display_prtconf>
[color=blue]
>To make sure that both NICs use 100Mbps Full Duplex, I have changed
>their configurations.[/color]

Should not be necessary.

As a sanity check, lets start fresh.

Remove those setting from iprb.conf and rtls.conf.

On the 4550,
# echo 10.0.0.1 > /etc/hostname.rtls0

On the 4600,
# echo 10.0.0.1 > /etc/defaultrouter
# echo 10.0.0.2 > /etc/hostname.iprb0

Reboot both machines.

On the 4550,
# snoop -r -d rtls0

On the 4600,
# ping -s 10.0.0.1

John
[email]groenveld@acm.org[/email]

Dear Sir,

[...][color=blue]
> As a sanity check, lets start fresh.
>
> Remove those setting from iprb.conf and rtls.conf.
>
> On the 4550,
> # echo 10.0.0.1 > /etc/hostname.rtls0
>
> On the 4600,
> # echo 10.0.0.1 > /etc/defaultrouter
> # echo 10.0.0.2 > /etc/hostname.iprb0
>
> Reboot both machines.
>
> On the 4550,
> # snoop -r -d rtls0
>
> On the 4600,
> # ping -s 10.0.0.1[/color]

thank you very much for the explanation, it is very clear, I deeply
appreciate this. Unfortunately, the problem was the crossover cable.

Yesterday, I have been able to put both Dell's on our internal network
and both are alive and pinging.

I am sorry to have troubled you for such a silly matter. I am still
astonished about this fact, because I had tested the cable before (like
I explained in the original message) and no problems had appeared.

Many kind greetings and thank you for the answer. If there are no more
remarks, I would like to consider this thread closed.

Wim