removing network manager to use traditional network config

[blaze1119]

hi i just started using debian XFCE version recently and i am having problems getting all of my eth devices up and running. my problem occured after i tried deleting network-manager and configuring the interfaces file in /etc/network/interfaces with this:

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
#allow-hotplug eth0
#iface eth1 inet dhcp

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address 192.168.1.180
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
broadcast 192.168.1.255

auto eth2
iface eth2 inet static
address 192.168.1.181
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
broadcast 192.168.1.255

auto eth3
iface eth3 inet static
address 192.168.1.182
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
broadcast 192.168.1.255

now everytime i time i try to ifdown either eth2 or eth3 devices i get an error "ifdown: interface eth2 not configured" if ifup this error: "RTNETLINK answers: File exists
Failed to bring up eth2." and if i restart networking i get this error:

Running /etc/init.d/networking restart is deprecated because it may not re-enable some interfaces ..[ (warning).
[....] Reconfiguring network interfaces...RTNETLINK answers: File exists
Failed to bring up eth2.
RTNETLINK answers: File exists
Failed to bring up eth3.

to help here is a list of my NIC's:

sudo lspci |grep Ethernet
07:05.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5706 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 02)
08:04.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5706 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 02)
09:01.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8110SC/8169SC Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)

so what am i doing wrong? so that i can use the traditional method on configuring my Ethernet devices and not network-manager

[sagirfahmid3]

Why are you doing that? Learn to walk first before trying to fly. This is why so many people leave Linux--they come here thinking it's all fun and games, especially when they are new, mess up their Linux from their own mistakes, then blame and diss Linux for being so hard and all and eventually moving back to Windows or Mac.

"Oh looky! Look what I can do! I can connect to the network from the command line!"
No, that's not the point here. The point is you don't need to impress people with your ninja commandline skills.

Learn the basics first before dipping your toes into the harder aspects of the commandline.

[blaze1119]

Thanks nevermind then

[ukbrian]

Wow someones having a bad day

Sorry I can't help you but I'm sure someone will.

Thanks nevermind then

You have a good attitude friend

[rootchick]

Hmm, yes, there's nothing like making the assumption that someone's a noob when it's obvious they're not, then unleashing a rant on them, but anyway...

I too want to manage my interfaces with /etc/network/interfaces. I got it to work, but I *didn't* uninstall network-manager, because for me it was going to uninstall too many dependencies (I'm using Mint 13 MATE edition). All I did was configure it like this:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.199
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1
dns-nameservers 192.168.20.10 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220
dns-namesearch inside.lib

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address 192.168.0.254
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.0.0
broadcast 192.168.0.255

And restarted it with "service networking restart". It complained about /etc/resolv.conf not existing, so I created it, adding my usual dns servers, and restarted the networking again. It said something about resolv.conf not being a symlink, and "doing nothing", but it seemed to work, although at first it still had the dhcp-assigned address for eth0, so I did ifup and ifdown on it and it changed. I also rebooted just to be sure it would keep my desired addresses, and it did. Not sure if that's the 100% correct way to do it now since things have changed with how resolv.conf/dns is handled, but it seems to have worked for me and will hopefully help you.