command line to enable the RealTek NIC from the earlier example:
Click here to view code image
matthew@seymour:~$ sudo modprobe 8139too
After you press Enter, you see this device reported from the kernel’s ring
buffer messages, which you can display by using the dmesg command.
Here’s a portion of that command’s output:
Click here to view code image
matthew@seymour:~$ dmesg
...
eth0: RealTek RTL8139 Fast Ethernet at 0xce8ee000, 00:30:1b:0b:07:0d,
IRQ 11
eth0: Identified 8139 chip type ÔRTL-8139C'
eth0: Setting half-duplex based on auto-negotiated partner ability
0000.
...
Note that at this point, an IP address and other settings have not been assigned
to the device. Linux can use multiple Ethernet interfaces, with the first
Ethernet device numbered eth0, the second eth1, and so on. Each different
Ethernet device recognized by the kernel might have additional or different
information reported, depending on its kernel module. Here is an example:
Click here to view code image
matthew@seymour:~$ dmesg
...
eepro100.c:v1.09j-t 9/29/99 Donald Becker
http://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/linux/drive
rs/eepro100.html
eepro100.c: $Revision: 1.36 $ 2000/11/17 Modified by Andrey V.
Savochkin
Ɣ[email protected] and others
PCI: Found IRQ 10 for device 00:0d.0
eth0: Intel Corporation 82557 [Ethernet Pro 100], 00:90:27:91:92:B5,
IRQ 10.
Board assembly 721383-007, Physical connectors present: RJ45
Primary interface chip i82555 PHY #1.
General self-test: passed.
Serial sub-system self-test: passed.
Internal registers self-test: passed.
ROM checksum self-test: passed (0x04f4518b).
...
In this example, an Intel Ethernet Pro 100 NIC has been recognized. To
disable support for a NIC, the kernel module can be unloaded, but usually
only after the device is no longer in use. Read the next section to learn how to
configure a NIC after it has been recognized by the Linux kernel and how to