GRUB can no longer find my network card! [PROBLEM GONE]

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jerkins
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GRUB can no longer find my network card! [PROBLEM GONE]

Post by jerkins »

Here's the situation: Up until Friday I had a dual-boot system running prefectly - Windows XP and Linux Mint. All aspects working as they should, full network access, and so on.

On Saturday morning I thought that I'd try to install an old HP Photosmart C5100A slide scanner, which requires a SCSI card. Installed the card, loaded the latest HP Windows drivers, and plugged in the scanner. This worked, and Windows continued to run correctly.

The problem came when I tried to boot into Mint - as GRUB started I could see a brief message "NIC Failure", followed by the usual boot menu. Mint no longer knows of the existance of eth0, so all the usual networking doesn't work. Went back to XP, and that continues to work as expected. To me, it looks like the GRUB startup can't find the network card: XP can start the card by itself, but Mint can't - I presume that it relies on GRUB to get it going.

I have opened the Control Centre and tried to run Network Setting - this just hangs. I have also removed the SCSI card, but the problem remains.

So I'm after ideas - where on earth do I start to look?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Aging Technogeek

Re: GRUB can no longer find my network card! Help!

Post by Aging Technogeek »

I don't think your problem is in Grub. All Grub does is direct the bios to a bootable OS. It has nothing to do with starting Network connections or anything else within the OS. If Mint still boots, Grub is still doing its job as it should. Look at your networking software for the problem.

The error message you quoted
as GRUB started I could see a brief message "NIC Failure"
points to your Network Interface Card. Check it out first and work out from there.
jerkins
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Re: GRUB can no longer find my network card! Help!

Post by jerkins »

If the network card wasn't working when booted into Windows then I'd agree - what is confusing me is that the network card is working 100% OK under XP - I've looked in windows system setup and there is no contention for addresses and IRQs. As far as XP is concerned, it's a valid and working network connection.

It displays "NIC Failure" a split-second before the GRUB splash screen comes up, which is why I was wondering if it was a GRUB issue.

I've also had a look in the Dell machine configuration screens at startup - there's no option regarding the network card.

Sigh...

David
lagagnon

Re: GRUB can no longer find my network card! Help!

Post by lagagnon »

You say you got that message before you see the Grub boot screen. That means that is a BIOS message and has nothing whatsoever to do with GRUB or Linux. Check your BIOS setup once again, especially the "peripherals , PCI devices sections", - you might even try resetting your BIOS to default options.
Last edited by lagagnon on Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
jerkins
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Re: GRUB can no longer find my network card! Help!

Post by jerkins »

OK - I give in - it may well be a motherboard NIC problem, or a BIOS issue. I'm going to put in a borrowed network card to see if the on-board NIC is faulty, and work from there.

It's strange that it works for one system and not the other though... Very confusing, very annoying. :?

Thanks for all your help anyway - I'll have a go tonight, and close this thread if the change-over works.
lagagnon

Re: GRUB can no longer find my network card! Help!

Post by lagagnon »

jerkins wrote:I'm going to put in a borrowed network card to see if the on-board NIC is faulty, and work from there.
Excellent - that is exactly what I would do. Be sure to disable the onboard NIC first in BIOS.
jerkins
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Re: GRUB can no longer find my network card! Help!

Post by jerkins »

How very odd - switched the machine on this evening, and it worked perfectly in Mint...

I think I'll have to mark this thread [Problem Gone Away] rather than [Solved]. :roll:

I hope it's nothing intermittent - I hate that sort of fault. It'll be something to watch in the future, that's for sure.

Thanks for all your help anyway!

David
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