Do "network overruns" indicate a prooblem?

I have a computer on my home network that keeps becoming
inaccessible on the network. I noticed that an ifconfig -a
(See below) shows 153 overruns in the network interface.
Is this indicative of a network problem? Actually, I'm
not sure if the computer itself is locking up, or just
the network interface. It's running Fedora Core 4 with
the latest updates.

-Thanks



garfield:/etc> ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:01:03E:B1:36
inet addr:192.168.1.2 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::201:3ff:fede:b136/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:6157 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:153 frame:0
TX packets:5294 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:1759566 (1.6 MiB) TX bytes:2099259 (2.0 MiB)
Interrupt:11 Base address:0xa000

In the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.linux.networking, in article
<(E-Mail Removed)>, Fred wrote:

>I have a computer on my home network that keeps becoming
>inaccessible on the network. I noticed that an ifconfig -a
>(See below) shows 153 overruns in the network interface.
>Is this indicative of a network problem?

Yes, that is a problem - but

>Actually, I'm not sure if the computer itself is locking up,
>or just the network interface. It's running Fedora Core 4 with
>the latest updates.

and the network card is...

>eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:01:03E:B1:36

[compton ~]$ etherwhois 00:01:03
00-01-03 (hex) 3COM CORPORATION
000103 (base 16) 3COM CORPORATION
5400 Bayfront Plaza - MS: 4220
Santa Clara CA 95052
UNITED STATES
[compton ~]$

Geez, that smells ancient.

> inet6 addr: fe80::201:3ff:fede:b136/64 Scope:Link

I don't _know_ this to be the case, but do you need IPv6? Do the
problems occur without it?

> RX packets:6157 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:153 frame:0
> TX packets:5294 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
> collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000

That's an awfully high error rate. You can't read the NIC buffer before
the next packet comes in. This could be a DMA problem, busy net, or
a busy system.

> Interrupt:11 Base address:0xa000

Looks like an ISA card - 3C501, 3C503, or an older 3C509.

Old guy

On Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:31:34 -0500, Moe Trin wrote:

> Looks like an ISA card - 3C501, 3C503, or an older 3C509.
>
> Old guy


I replaced the NIC with another "old guy" that works, a
3C509B. Hey, it was free! Problem solved.

In the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.linux.networking, in article
<(E-Mail Removed)>, Fred wrote:

>Moe Trin wrote:

>> Looks like an ISA card - 3C501, 3C503, or an older 3C509.

>I replaced the NIC with another "old guy" that works, a
>3C509B. Hey, it was free!

Nothing wrong with the 3C509 - about half of our PCs in the 1990s were
using them without a hint of a problem. I've still got two or three
stashed away for a rainy day - though they won't work on the 100BaseT
net we're using now. ;-)

>Problem solved.

Glad to hear it!

Old guy