[K12OSN] Error! dhcpcd failed!

[Les Mikesell]

On Wed, 2006-11-08 at 12:52 -0500, Shane Sammons wrote:

> I plugged my server into port 24, and my client into port 1 (neither
> are shared and I have tried others as well). When I boot the server, I
> get an error on eth1 as I have no network connection down the
> basement. That is the only error I get during boot of the server. I
> then run tail -f /var/log/messages on a terminal as root to ensure my
> client is getting an address. I then use my floppy to boot a Dell 233
> GX1 with 64MB of ram. It starts to boot, gets its DHCP address and
> tail shows this. For awhile it was slow (I was using a normal cat5
> cable at this time on  the server) then it would start to boot and I
> would receive this error: 
> Error! dhcpcd failed!
> Kernel Panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

This sounds like a bad switch to me - can you borrow something else
to try?  The only difference you should see between a switch and
a crossover cable is a slight delay as the switch does spanning-tree
when a connection comes up.  However, this should affect getting
an address if anything, not loading the kernel.

By the way, a GX1 should boot via PXE without the floppy if you
do a flash bios update (download from the dell support site).
I guess there could be a problem with the NIC negotiation with the
switch.  Can you tell if you are getting a 100M, full duplex
connection from the switch lights?  

-- 
  Les Mikesell
   les at futuresource.com