Network Device Control keeps swithching device to inactive

eppo#1 · #1 7th July 2008, 11:10 AM

Hi everyone,

I have configured the internet connection in Fedora 9 and everything works just fine. Just when I reboot or start my computer the Network Device Control keeps forgetting to activate the device eth0. When I do that manually it works, but it is not nice to have to do that every time I start up. Does anybody have any suggestions how to make the Device Manager remember to activate the eth0 device?

Oh, and another thing is that Firefox 3 is always in "Work offline" mode, so I have to untick that every time I startup FF as well. Any ideas for that as well?

Thanks in advance!

bee · #2 7th July 2008, 11:12 AM

On system-config-network you can select your eth0 device and click on "enable" to allow that autostart.

eppo#1 · #3 7th July 2008, 11:26 AM

Hi bee,

Thanks for your quick reply. I typed system-config-network in the terminal and the Network Device Manager opened. I could not select the eth0 device and click "enable". I can double-click it and a configuration tab pops up. In the Ethernet Device tab I ticked "Activate device when computer starts", but it still doesn't work.

eppo#1 · #4 8th July 2008, 08:26 AM

Hi everyone,

I managed to get the automatic activation of the network and untick Firefox "Work offline" by the following commands:

Code:

su -

Code:

chkconfig NetworkManager off

Code:

chkconfig network on

That fixed it. Of course, after I fixed it I found a thread about it

(http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/sho...d.php?t=189118).

Cheers!

sujoykroy · #5 13th September 2008, 10:49 AM

Thanks eppo#1 for the thread. I had similar problem. I have Fedora 9 (32bit), which used get connected to ADSL internet at startup and Firefox used to open up without "Work Offline" status. I also had Windows installed via KVM + Qemu using virt-manager . Then i tried something with virtual LAN which was ultimately resulted in Internet disconnection at startup and Firefox "Work Offline" issue which is now resolved by following instruction given on this thread.

I had also found that instead trying from bash/command prompt, you can try the same from GUI. Go to "System->Administration->Services", there you will find "NetworkManager" and "network". Disable the first one for "Firefox Work Offline" issue and enable second for internet connection at startup. But I think this is temporary fix/work around, the real reason behind the problem is something else, we should be able to enable both of them. Hope someday I(or somebody) will find it out

SteveHillier · #6 13th November 2008, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eppo#1

Hi everyone,

I managed to get the automatic activation of the network and untick Firefox "Work offline" by the following commands:

Code:

su -

Code:

chkconfig NetworkManager off

Code:

chkconfig network on

That fixed it. Of course, after I fixed it I found a thread about it

(http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/sho...d.php?t=189118).

Cheers!

Sorry, guys. I have got to reopen this thread.
I am running fc8 and have the same problem with eth0 needing manual activation on startup.
I am running fixed IP addresses (this is acting as a web server so need fixing for DNS) and I suspect from the posts you guys are running DHCP dynamic addresses.

I have tried all the helpful notes in this thread (and in the quoted thread) but I still have to activate network card manually.

Any further hints anyone? Would be most grateful.

eppo#1 · #7 13th November 2008, 02:46 PM

Hi SteveHillier,

Did you try to reboot? When I followed the above recipe it also did not work right away, but after I rebooted it worked.

Cheers, eppo#1

SteveHillier · #8 13th November 2008, 05:16 PM

Thank you eppo#1,
Yes I did reboot and it resets itself to inactive.
I just get a feeling that it is because I am using fixed IP whereas from the posts I looked at everyone else is working on the basis that the router is allocating addresses with DHCP.
Regards

sej7278 · #9 13th November 2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveHillier

I just get a feeling that it is because I am using fixed IP whereas from the posts I looked at everyone else is working on the basis that the router is allocating addresses with DHCP.

nope, i always used fixed ip (can't see the point of dhcp) and disabling networkmanager and enabling the network service is the first thing i do when installing a recent fedora.

you have configured the interface in system-config-network since you disabled networkmanager haven't you?

how about looking at /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 does it have onboot=yes?

does /etc/resolv.conf have nameservers in it?

what does netstat -rn show as your gateway?

we need more info than you're giving us.

SteveHillier · #10 14th November 2008, 01:15 AM

Thank you sej7278,
I will look at those things in the morning and see what is set. I will let you know what happens

eppo#1 · #11 14th November 2008, 05:50 AM

Also, if you're running on different systems it may influence. I tried to run Fedora 32 bit on a 64 bit laptop, which worked fine in a way, but there were still weird things like the same problem you are having.

SteveHillier · #12 14th November 2008, 10:19 AM

Thanks sej7278

nope, i always used fixed ip (can't see the point of dhcp) and disabling networkmanager and enabling the network service is the first thing i do when installing a recent fedora.
In my experience, where home users are using ISPs that allocate their ip address then using DHCP is a better way of getting connection. When you are playing with network printers and servers then fixed IP works better.

you have configured the interface in system-config-network since you disabled networkmanager haven't you?
I was going to say "yes" but just as I was going to write it I thought have I switched off networkmanager. I have been using the system->administration->services to run the 'network' configurator but I have not explicitly switched off anything else. I will investigate this.

how about looking at /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 does it have onboot=yes?
My system does not have a directory '/etc/sysconfig'. it does however have '/etc/network-scripts' but whenever I try to access this (either 'cd', 'ls') I get no such directory. I can see it if I list /etc/ and is has drwxr-xr-w permissions. So I am at a loss with that one.

does /etc/resolv.conf have nameservers in it?
Yes, it has a single line "nameserver 192.168.0.200" which is correct.

what does netstat -rn show as your gateway?
It does after I have activated the eth0 but not before. It correctly lists the gateway on 192.168.0.253 which is the correct address.

we need more info than you're giving us.
Do you still need more?

ebbo#1 also made these comments
Also, if you're running on different systems it may influence. I tried to run Fedora 32 bit on a 64 bit laptop, which worked fine in a way, but there were still weird things like the same problem you are having.
Short answer is I don't think this is the case. The system if (from memory) Pentium 530 on Foxconn m/b so I think that is all 32 bit stuff.

The wierd thing is that this is my second install. I screwed up the first install by putting webmin on it so easier just to reinstall. I did not have this problem on the first install. I would normally not worry and just leave the machine running but my landlord does not like any computers being left on overnight and I push my luck by refusing to shut down the domain server so I have to switch this web server on and off daily.

Thanks again.
Steve