Unable to see 802.1q tags in Ethereal

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of networking hardware.
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adam
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 10 Dec 2007, 11:53

Unable to see 802.1q tags in Ethereal

#1 Post by adam »

Ladies and gents,

please go easy on me, this is my first post. I have just come in to contact with Puppy for the first time last week and I can only describe myself as a Linux novice.

So far I have successfully managed to get my NIC's working and ethereal up and running. I know this question is extremely biased towards networking (unfortunately I'm a network engineer). Ethereal is working as expected, but I am unable to see 802.1q tag information within ethereal. Does anyone know how puppy treats the network stack, does it strip the 802.1q header out of the L2 headers prior to passing the frame on, or is the issue down to the NIC. Any assistance would be appreciated. Apologies for the non-specific puppy question

regards

adam
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 10 Dec 2007, 11:53

#2 Post by adam »

Just to let people know this issue is now fixed.

Very happy with Puppy and ethereal combination

regards

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Béèm
Posts: 11763
Joined: Wed 22 Nov 2006, 00:47
Location: Brussels IBM Thinkpad R40, 256MB, 20GB, WiFi ipw2100. Frugal Lin'N'Win

#3 Post by Béèm »

You probably know that ethereal has ended and is replaced by wireshark.
Time savers:
Find packages in a snap and install using Puppy Package Manager (Menu).
[url=http://puppylinux.org/wikka/HomePage]Consult Wikka[/url]
Use peppyy's [url=http://wellminded.com/puppy/pupsearch.html]puppysearch[/url]

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Flash
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Joined: Wed 04 May 2005, 16:04
Location: Arizona USA

#4 Post by Flash »

If you could give some details of what the problem was and how you fixed it, it would make the forum more useful and maybe help out the Linux community. Thanks. :)

adam
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 10 Dec 2007, 11:53

#5 Post by adam »

Flash, thanks for that, not actually used wireshark yet, but I do know of it's existance.

Béèm, of course you are right, I'll try and explain here.

The problem was nothing to do with the way Puppy handled the TCP stack or stripping of information in software. It was actually a hardware related issue. Some NIC's strip the 802.1q header and place it in registers which drivers can then access (should they have the ability) as opposed to letting the driver deal with the header directly (my understanding). This can, on some cards, be circumvented with alterations to drivers (or regsitry in windows).

If you do experience this problem, firstly try a different card, to ensure your NIC isn't preforming as aforementioned. If this isn't an option, occassionally special drivers can be located, possibly on your NIC manufacturers website.

Not a great solution but hopefully of some use

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