Procedure for changing ethernet controllers

[Alex]

Hi,

I have an fc17 system in which I've had to change the ethernet
controller from an e1000e card to what I believe is an rtl81391`2. I
recall changing the 70-persistent-net udev config file, but that
appears to no longer exist on my fc17 system.

What is the proper procedure for detecting, initializing, and
reconfiguring the system to use my new card?

I believe I'll also had to use dracut to recreate the initrd. I will
also need to detect for sure which driver the new ethernet controller
uses.

Thanks,
Alex

[Alex]

Hi,

On Sun, Jun 30, 2013 at 12:45 AM, Joe Zeff <joe(a)zeff.us&gt; wrote:
>  On 06/29/2013 08:45 PM, Digimer wrote:
> >
> > You need to get the MAC address for the new card and replace the old
> > card's MAC address value in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-<dev>.
> > Specifically, edit the 'HWADDR="..."' line.
>
>
>  Recently, my onboard NIC failed.  Before installing the new NIC, I edited
>  that file and removed the HWADDR= line.  When I brought the system up with
>  the new card, it found, installed and configured the card without any
>  intervention and It Just Worked.  In fact there's no such line in the file,
>  even now.  (I just checked.)  YMMV, of course, but I'd suggest trying this
>  first, as it's the easiest way. 
It turned out the controller name changed from p4p1 to p6p1. I only
found this out by experimenting (dmesg|grep eth)

Where is this information stored in fc17 and how do I properly set it?
I know how to modify the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts files, but I'd
like to know where this information is determined by the
kernel/networking.

I'd like to change it back to p4p1, or use the old format of ethN.

Thanks,
Alex

[Joe Zeff]

On 06/29/2013 08:45 PM, Digimer wrote:
>  You need to get the MAC address for the new card and replace the old
>  card's MAC address value in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-<dev>.
>  Specifically, edit the 'HWADDR="..."' line. 
Recently, my onboard NIC failed.  Before installing the new NIC, I 
edited that file and removed the HWADDR= line.  When I brought the 
system up with the new card, it found, installed and configured the card 
without any intervention and It Just Worked.  In fact there's no such 
line in the file, even now.  (I just checked.)  YMMV, of course, but I'd 
suggest trying this first, as it's the easiest way.

[Digimer]

On 06/29/2013 11:23 PM, Alex wrote:
>  Hi,
>  
>  I have an fc17 system in which I've had to change the ethernet
>  controller from an e1000e card to what I believe is an rtl81391`2. I
>  recall changing the 70-persistent-net udev config file, but that
>  appears to no longer exist on my fc17 system.
>  
>  What is the proper procedure for detecting, initializing, and
>  reconfiguring the system to use my new card?
>  
>  I believe I'll also had to use dracut to recreate the initrd. I will
>  also need to detect for sure which driver the new ethernet controller
>  uses.
>  
>  Thanks,
>  Alex 
You need to get the MAC address for the new card and replace the old
card's MAC address value in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-<dev>.
Specifically, edit the 'HWADDR="..."' line. You can do this without
rebooting, but it's probably easiest to just do this;

1. Boot the system with the new NIC
2. Run 'ifconfig -a', the new NIC will appear despite not being
configured. Copy it's MAC address.
3. Edit the old card's config file and change the HWADDR value to the
new NIC.
4. reboot.

hth

-- 
Digimer
Papers and Projects: https://alteeve.ca/w/
What if the cure for cancer is trapped in the mind of a person without
access to education?