PCMIA Issues

[Rick Stevens]

Norman Gaywood wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 16, 2004 at 04:20:57PM -0700, Rick Stevens wrote:
> 
>>Chris Canavan wrote:
>>
>>>That did the trick.  Is there a way to implement this
>>>fix permanently through the startup routine.
>>
>>This has been a thorn in the side for a long time--especially with
>>pcmcia-based network cards.  The problem is that the network is started
>>long before pcmcia is (the /etc/rc.d/rcx.d sequence number for network
>>is S10, that for PCMCIA is S24).
>>
>>The easiest fix is to:
>>
>>	cd /etc/rc.d/rc(your-run-level).d
>>	mv S24pcmcia S09pcmcia
>>
>>so pcmcia starts before the network.  The network scripts are supposed
>>to work around this issue, but they don't reliably.
> 
> 
> Even easier, and more correct IMHO, is to NOT set "start on boot" option
> of the PCMCIA network card interface setup.

You then have to start the network manually every time--either via an
"ifup eth0" or a "service network start".  That's a pain if this is your
primary machine and that's your sole NIC.

> The network interface will start when PCMCIA starts or when you plug-in
> your PCMCIA network card.

The NIC doesn't always start when pcmcia starts or I wouldn't have made
my suggestion about changing the start sequence.  It's SUPPOSED to, but
in many instances it doesn't.  This may be a glitch in the pcmcia
handling code or the /etc/pcmcia.d setup stuff, but it's not always
reliable.  My "cheap and dirty fix" works every time.

"If it's stupid and it works...it ain't stupid."
			-- Regimental Sergeant Major Henry G. Kester,
			"Warbots"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-          Consciousness: that annoying time between naps.           -
----------------------------------------------------------------------