'bringing up interface eth0:' takes ages ...

when my laptop is not connected to a LAN ...
is there a way around this ??

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 12:49:35 +0100, Rob wrote:

> when my laptop is not connected to a LAN ... is there a way around this ??

Well you don't tell us anything at all about your system so there's no way
to guess. What distro is it, does the interface use DHCP, if so what DHCP
client software, what is the ethernet card?

My laptop which runs Debian Woody which uses the ISC "dhclient" with a
Xircom IIps Combo ethernet/modem card does not have this trouble.

If you are using DHCP, changing the client software might help.

Regards, Ian

Rob wrote:
> when my laptop is not connected to a LAN ...
> is there a way around this ??

The delay you're seeing is the interface startup
script waiting for DHCP configuration.

There is a tool called ifplugd, Interface Plugging
Daemon
<http://www.stud.uni-hamburg.de/users/lennart/projects/ifplugd/>.

It initializes the interface only if a network is
connected to the interface. It helps for the
totally unplugged case. However, it cannot speed
up the DHCP wait on a live network without a
working DHCP server.

HTH

Tauno Voipio
tauno voipio @ iki fi

"Rob" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> when my laptop is not connected to a LAN ...
> is there a way around this ??

Recent RedHat/Fedora distributions have added a check for
an interface being connected before trying to get a DCHP
address. I don't know about other versions, but updating
is probably your answer.

---
Les Mikesell
(E-Mail Removed)

Rob wrote:

> when my laptop is not connected to a LAN ...
> is there a way around this ??

Yes, either start it manually or from a script that runs after bootup.

--

Fundamentalism is fundamentally wrong.

To reply to this message, replace everything to the left of "@" with
james.knott.

James Knott wrote:

> Rob wrote:
>
>> when my laptop is not connected to a LAN ...
>> is there a way around this ??
>
> Yes, either start it manually or from a script that runs after bootup.
>

Perhaps I should elaborate a bit. Many distro have an option to start eth0
(or any other interface) at boot. Turn this off and then later start the
interface. In SuSE, you could start it from boot.local.

--

Fundamentalism is fundamentally wrong.

To reply to this message, replace everything to the left of "@" with
james.knott.

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 12:49:35 +0100, Rob wrote:

> when my laptop is not connected to a LAN ...
> is there a way around this ??

Ever tried to press CTRL-C?

--
Vicious Vogon - Experienced in dealing with human trash in any form and country.

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 16:14:47 GMT, Tauno Voipio wrote:

> The delay you're seeing is the interface startup
> script waiting for DHCP configuration.

ah ok, i thought Linux was smart enough to see that no cable was
attached - even Windoze works that way ;-)

>There is a tool called ifplugd, Interface Plugging Daemon
><http://www.stud.uni-hamburg.de/users/lennart/projects/ifplugd/>.
>
>It initializes the interface only if a network is
>connected to the interface.

great, there's even a RPM for Mandrake 9.2 which i'm using !

>However, it cannot speed up the DHCP wait on a live network
> without a working DHCP server.

that should not be a problem, there should alwsy be a server when i'm
'plugged in'

thanks again !
also to all others who replied.

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 13:46:10 +0000, Ian Northeast wrote:

>Well you don't tell us anything at all about your system so there's no way
>to guess. What distro is it, does the interface use DHCP, if so what DHCP
>client software, what is the ethernet card?

Sorry .. i'm running Mandrake 9.2 on a Dell Latitude C-640 laptop and
the card is a "3Com 3C920 integrated fast ethernet controller
(3C905C-TX compatible)".
Most of the time i'm either at work on our LAN or at home on my LAN
and both have a DHCP server, so no problems there, but when i'm not
'connected', it takes about 4 minutes for the boot process to decide
that bringing up eth0: does not work ... :-(

>My laptop which runs Debian Woody which uses the ISC "dhclient" with a
>Xircom IIps Combo ethernet/modem card does not have this trouble.
>If you are using DHCP, changing the client software might help.

I also use the ISC client, version "dhcp-client-3.0-1.rc12.2mdk" ...
checked on the Mandrake site and that's a recent version. There are
some rc's and a beta, i'll check if the changes mention anything.

The real problem seems to be that the 'system' does not detect that
there's no cable so DHCP can be skipped ... ?? I'm dual-booting on the
laptop with Win2K and there's no delay there ...

Another reply mentions a daemon "ifplugd" that does the 'cable check',
so i'm going to try that.