IP address not set with ifconfig on Mandrake 9.1 boot in VMware 4.0

Please accept my apologies for cross-posting, but I have a Linux
networking problem that could be caused by a problem related to my
Mandrake 9.1 or VMware 4.0 configuration!

Environment:
- Host: VMware 4.0 (build 4460), Win2k SP2, Pentium III 750Mhz, 256Mb
RAM, network=NAT (IP=172.16.138.1)
- Guest: Mandrake 9.1, 80Mb RAM, boot from sda1 (4Gb), network=eth0
(driver=pcnet32, IP=172.16.138.3 allocated using Mandrake Control
Center)

Symptoms:
- nmbd fails to start at boot with 'No local interfaces' error.
- ping 172.16.138.3 gives 'Network is unreachable' error.
- eth0 can be allocated IP=172.16.138.3 manually using ifconfig, but
loses the IP address on reboot.

Comments:
- I know VMware 4.0 does not support Mandrake 9.1, but I have recompiled
VMware Tools with the correct kernel headers, and the GUI interface
works fine.
- When IP address is manually allocated using ifconfig I can see the
Samba shares from the Win2k host, after I restart smbd and nmbd, so the
networking does work.

Request:
- Why is the IP address not getting set at boot?
- Is this a problem with Mandrake Control Center in 9.1?
- Where should the ifconfig IP allocation command be written to be
picked up correctly at boot? I don't want to have to run ifconfig by
hand every time I want to connect my Linux guest to my Win2k host.

Thanks in advance........Phil Holland
--
--------------------------------------------------------
Holland Numerics Ltd
94 Green Drift, Royston, Herts SG8 5BT, UK
mobile : +44-(0)7714-279085
email : <(E-Mail Removed)>
URL : http://www.hollandnumerics.com/
--------------------------------------------------------

Phil Holland wrote:
> Please accept my apologies for cross-posting, but I have a Linux
> networking problem that could be caused by a problem related to my
> Mandrake 9.1 or VMware 4.0 configuration!


Crossposting is good in moderation. Duplicate posts are bad in any
amount...

Your mandrake system should have configured the NIC to use DHCP after
it ways detected. However, there is a problem running a Mandrake (And
Redhat too) VM that uses the dhcp client that comes with Mandrake (And
Redhat ).

See here http://tinyurl.com/i5zu Note that this URL redirects to the
VMware knowledge base.


<snip>
> Request:
> - Why is the IP address not getting set at boot?
> - Is this a problem with Mandrake Control Center in 9.1?
> - Where should the ifconfig IP allocation command be written to be
> picked up correctly at boot? I don't want to have to run ifconfig by
> hand every time I want to connect my Linux guest to my Win2k host.
>
> Thanks in advance........Phil Holland
All answered in above knowledge base article.

Cheers,
Michael

Michael,

I followed the instructions given on the VMware site:

>To work around this problem, become root (su -) and use a text editor
>to edit the following files in the guest operating system:
>/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth[n]
>/etc/sysconfig/networking/devices/ifcfg-eth[n]
>In both cases, [n] is the number of the Ethernet adapter -- for
>example, eth0.
>
>In each of the two files, add the following line:
>
>MII_NOT_SUPPORTED=yes
>
>Then run the command ifup eth[n] (where [n] is the number of the
>Ethernet adapter) or restart the guest operating system.

However, I had to create the ifcfg-eth0 file in
/etc/sysconfig/networking/devices by copying and editing the ifcfg-lo. I
also removed the line:

BOOTPROTO=dhcp

as ping 172.16.138.1 contacted the host OK, but ping 172.16.138.3 seemed
to try to access 172.16.138.128, but I'm still getting the error
'Destination Host Unreachable'.

The most important effect, though, was that the host can now see the
Guest via the network without any more manual intervention!

Many thanks, Michael.

.........Phil

In article <bfvdlk$ohb$(E-Mail Removed)>, Michael <(E-Mail Removed)>
writes
>Phil Holland wrote:
>> Please accept my apologies for cross-posting, but I have a Linux
>> networking problem that could be caused by a problem related to my
>> Mandrake 9.1 or VMware 4.0 configuration!
>
>
>Crossposting is good in moderation. Duplicate posts are bad in any
>amount...
>
>Your mandrake system should have configured the NIC to use DHCP after
>it ways detected. However, there is a problem running a Mandrake (And
>Redhat too) VM that uses the dhcp client that comes with Mandrake (And
>Redhat ).
>
>See here http://tinyurl.com/i5zu Note that this URL redirects to the
>VMware knowledge base.
>
>
><snip>
>> Request:
>> - Why is the IP address not getting set at boot?
>> - Is this a problem with Mandrake Control Center in 9.1?
>> - Where should the ifconfig IP allocation command be written to be
>> picked up correctly at boot? I don't want to have to run ifconfig by
>> hand every time I want to connect my Linux guest to my Win2k host.
>> Thanks in advance........Phil Holland
>All answered in above knowledge base article.
>
>Cheers,
>Michael
>
>
>

--
--------------------------------------------------------
Holland Numerics Ltd
94 Green Drift, Royston, Herts SG8 5BT, UK
mobile : +44-(0)7714-279085
email : <(E-Mail Removed)>
URL : http://www.hollandnumerics.com/
--------------------------------------------------------