[LIVE] Dharma Beta 1, Atheros AR8131 NIC not detected
#1
Hi, Just upgraded from 9.11 to Dharma Beta 1. I'm running on a Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L motherboard that has an integrated Atheros AR8131 chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) for LAN connections.

Using the Live CD to boot into XBMC everyting is fine, network card is detected and I can browse network shares as normal.

When using the same Live CD to install XBMC onto the internal drive the network card isn't detected during installation. The network configuration stage fails, continuing results in XBMC being installed with no network connection.

Weird thing is I could probably fix this if I could get to the terminal but it’s also broken, switching to the terminal results in a blank screen.

After a few hours searching I decided best thing to do was ask the experts... after lurking around since 8.10(Atlantis) I thought I should finally register.
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#2
seems like the debian installer does not support your NIC card.
You can:
* install without network support
* reboot
* press shift or esc to get to the grub menu
* remove "autostart" from the kernel cmdline

you will end up with a plain terminal, with which you could edit your interfaces file.
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#3
Ahhh.... so I can get to the terminal by removing autostart from Grub, perfect, will give it a go, thanks.
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#4
Ok, Ive managed to get NIC card driver installed following these instructions...
http://dtbaker.com.au/random-bits/ubuntu...v-c0-.html

I then added eth0 to /etc/network/interfaces following this guide...
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/ubuntu-network...-line.html

This has allowed XBMC to detect media shares on my NAS box, phew!

Only two small issues, RSS feed on the home screen is missing and I cant browse XBMC.org Add Ons (so no YouTube or iPlayer).

Suggestions welcome Big Grin
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#5
Forgot to say, thanks to l.capriotti, removing autostart got me successfully to the terminal.
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#6
I also stumbled upon missing atheros drivers while testing the new live image. funny thing is, the XBMCbuntu installation using a minimal x64 10.04 had no problems recognizing the stupid atheros LAN chip in my foxconn netbox. is there the possibility that we could get a broader LAN support with the next betas?
OpenElec Standalone --> Asus Chromebox 'Panther' --> Onkyo TX-NR709 --> Sony 55" X85C Android TV (also with Kodi!)
Asus Chromebox EZ Script
Kodi on Sony Bravia Android TVs
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#7
l.capriotti Wrote:seems like the debian installer does not support your NIC card.

I checked it again: 10.04 minimal iso has no atheros NIC support, 10.04 server iso does Oo

I do highly appreciate the work you are doing on the live image but a better out-of-box experience is achieved especially by comprehensive hardware support Cool
OpenElec Standalone --> Asus Chromebox 'Panther' --> Onkyo TX-NR709 --> Sony 55" X85C Android TV (also with Kodi!)
Asus Chromebox EZ Script
Kodi on Sony Bravia Android TVs
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#8
wjsteele Wrote:Ok, Ive managed to get NIC card driver installed following these instructions...
http://dtbaker.com.au/random-bits/ubuntu...v-c0-.html

I then added eth0 to /etc/network/interfaces following this guide...
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/ubuntu-network...-line.html

This has allowed XBMC to detect media shares on my NAS box, phew!

Only two small issues, RSS feed on the home screen is missing and I cant browse XBMC.org Add Ons (so no YouTube or iPlayer).

Suggestions welcome Big Grin

Run the following command:
Code:
cat /etc/init.d/network/interfaces

For your NIC eth(x) there should be an entry for either static or dhcp address assignments. Since you can see things on your own network, but can't get out to the internet, you're probably do not have a default gateway setup. If your interface is set up for dhcp, I'm not sure what could be causing a lack of a default gateway. If it's set up for a static address, you have one of two options.

1) Make sure your IP address, gateway, and subnet mask are entered and correct.
Code:
iface eth(x) inet static
address x.x.x.x (set to match your local subnet)[font=monospace]
[/font]gateway x.x.x.x (set to match your router's IP address)[font=monospace]
[/font]netmask x.x.x.x (set to match your network's subnet mask)

2) Set your interface for dhcp
Code:
iface eth(x)inet dhcp
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#9
Router is setup for dhcp so no idea why I can’t get out to the internet. Video playback from the NAS box is perfect though... weird.

Ended up buying a £8 gigabit ethernet card (based on a Realtek chip), with the onboard NIC disabled everything is now perfect.
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