525 full install has problem recognizing network card

[tempestuous]

First let's clear up the confusion over pcnet_cs versus axnet_cs:
The Netgear FA411 contains the Asix AX88190 chipset and the fully compatible Linux driver is axnet_cs, however,
the FA411 is also backwards-compatible with (the more basic) NE2000 devices, using the pcnet_cs driver.
In theory you could use either driver, but you would only achieve the highest data throughput from the axnet_cs driver.

bugminer, I suggest you attack the problem in 2 stages;
First, delete any old fixes you have attempted, such as your BootManager settings.

Stage 1)
Both drivers claim the same device ID (and sub-device ID's) and it seems that the pcnet_cs driver gets priority ...
but there's code written into the pcnet_cs driver which should auto-detect any Asix-based devices and send a kernel-event to "bail out" and let the axnet_cs driver take over.
I have done some reading on the web about this portion of the driver code, and it seems that it's unreliable. I have found a patch (which is an update of an earlier patch) which might fix the problem ... but why bother!!
The most straightforward solution would be to disable the pcnet_cs driver, and this will let the axnet_cs driver do its job unencumbered.

So use ROX to browse to /lib/modules/2.6.33.2/kernel/drivers/net/pcmcia/
and there you will see the (driver) file "pcnet_cs.ko"
Open a second ROX window, which will default to the /root location, then drag pcnet_cs.ko into /root
Now you need to "register" the changed state of your system's drivers, by running this command -

Code: Select all

depmod-FULL

Now reboot, and the axnet_cs driver should certainly load. Try it for a while, and see if it's stable.

Stage 2)
It's possible that the axnet_cs driver may still be unreliable, and there are reports on the web of Asix-based devices having trouble interacting with a laptop's bios to get the correct resources (IRQ/DMA).
So using IRQ-related boot options, as rjbrewer suggested, is certainly a good idea, especially since you have an older laptop. I'm certainly familiar with this situation, since I originally used Puppy Linux back in 2005 with a VAIO Pentium1 !

First get into your laptop's bios and see if there's a setting for "PnP OS = YES/NO". If so, set it for "NO".
Save bios settings, reboot, and I suspect that will work well.
But if you don't have that bios option, or the device is still unreliable, these are the best three boot options you should try:

pci=biosirq

acpi=noirq

irqpoll routeirq

[bugminer]

Thank you for the great reply, I'll put your advice into practice when I'm next using the laptop. I'll get back with results after a few days of testing.

[bugminer]

Sorry for taking so long!

I'm up to trying "acpi=noirq" to see if that fixes the problem and it's worked twice so far. Hopefully it'll keep on working but I won't be happy until it works properly for a decent amount of time. It's just taken me long to test which works due to various reasons.

Hopefully I'll get through testing things before too long.

[bugminer]

ok, it looks like I'm up tp trying "irqpoll routeirq". I haven't used the laptop is a fair while so it's not like it's worked with "acpi=noirq" for ages before not working.