Very Computer

This question may be too dumb. In my home network configuration, I have
a DFE-530TX in a linux (RH6.0) box, a PCMCIA 10base-t card in a win98
laptop. Both of them are connected to a dual speed (Ethernet/Fast
Ethernet) hub. I assigned the linux box to 192.168.1.1 and win98 to
192.168.1.2. From the hub, I can see the 10mbps light is on of the port
connecting laptop's NIC and 100mbps light on of the port connecting the
linux. But when I ping from linux to the win98, it just does not have
any response. The same thing to the laptop. Simply, these two machines
don't know each other at all. Strangely, if I assign same IP address to
both machines, pinging from linux, a window popped in the win98 saying
"The system has detected a conflict for IP address 192.168.1.1 with the
system having hardware address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx". The address is my
linux NIC.

I must missed something basic in network wiring. Please someone tell me
what's wrong with the above configuration.

Thanks,

David

Quote:

> This question may be too dumb. In my home network configuration, I have
> a DFE-530TX in a linux (RH6.0) box, a PCMCIA 10base-t card in a win98
> laptop. Both of them are connected to a dual speed (Ethernet/Fast
> Ethernet) hub. I assigned the linux box to 192.168.1.1 and win98 to
> 192.168.1.2. From the hub, I can see the 10mbps light is on of the port
> connecting laptop's NIC and 100mbps light on of the port connecting the
> linux. But when I ping from linux to the win98, it just does not have
> any response. The same thing to the laptop. Simply, these two machines
> don't know each other at all. Strangely, if I assign same IP address to
> both machines, pinging from linux, a window popped in the win98 saying
> "The system has detected a conflict for IP address 192.168.1.1 with the
> system having hardware address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx". The address is my
> linux NIC.

> I must missed something basic in network wiring. Please someone tell me
> what's wrong with the above configuration.

Try going over your other networking options, like system names, gateways,
installed protocols, etc.  Check to be sure that your eth0 device is
installed in Linux.

--
Rod Smith

http://www.channel1.com/users/rodsmith
NOTE: Remove the "uce" word from my address to mail me
Author of _Special Edition Using WordPerfect for Linux_, from Que;
see http://www.channel1.com/users/rodsmith/books.html

Hi David,

THe problem is that although the hub is dual speed, 10/100, it can only
be in one mode at a time. So all hosts need to be either 10Mb, or all
100Mb not a combination of the both.

In order to have a combination of the both, you would need a switch. A
switch provides the circuitry to buffer traffic coming in on a 100Mb
port
before forwarding it to a 10Mb port. A hub does not provide this.

Cheers, Mark.

Quote:> I must missed something basic in network wiring. Please someone tell me
> what's wrong with the above configuration.

> Thanks,

> David

Quote:> Depends on the model of hub. The NetGear DS104 hub ( and the equivalent
> 6-, 8- and 16-port models ) is a 10/100 per-port hub that allows
> mixing of 10-megabit and 100-megabit NICs on the hub without any
> problems.

Mark.

--
Collin was right. Never give a virus a missile launcher.
                                -- Erk, Reality Check #8

[mixing 10 mbps & 100 mbps]

Quote:> > Depends on the model of hub. The NetGear DS104 hub ( and the equivalent
> > 6-, 8- and 16-port models ) is a 10/100 per-port hub that allows
> > mixing of 10-megabit and 100-megabit NICs on the hub without any
> > problems.

some hubs have a "switch module" options, it does not turn the hub into
a switch, it adds a 2 ports switch between the 10 mbps collision
domain and the 100 mbps one.

if you only have a small network at home or at a small office, I would
recommend using a low end PC with a 10 mbps NIC and a 100 mbps NIC
to do the forwarding - it will also give other services.
(I say low end because there is no need to process the 100 mbps
at full wire speed - just the 10 mbps...)
you can partition you lan between subnets or use the bridge functionality
in the linux kernel, which acts exactly like a switch, learning the
network topology.

--
Collin was right. Never give a virus a missile launcher.
                                -- Erk, Reality Check #8

Quote:> some hubs have a "switch module" options, it does not turn the hub into
> a switch, it adds a 2 ports switch between the 10 mbps collision
> domain and the 100 mbps one.

--
Collin was right. Never give a virus a missile launcher.
                                -- Erk, Reality Check #8

--
Rod Smith

http://www.channel1.com/users/rodsmith
NOTE: Remove the "uce" word from my address to mail me
Author of _Special Edition Using WordPerfect for Linux_, from Que;
see http://www.channel1.com/users/rodsmith/books.html

The main difference from a user's POV between a hub and a switch is in
where the packets go. On a hub, any packet that comes in any port is
sent back out all ports except the one it came in on. A switch watches
for which Ethernet hardware (MAC) addresses send packets in through which
ports and builds a table of which MAC addresses are attached where. When
a packet comes in, the switch looks at the MAC address it's being sent
to and, if the address is in the table, only sends the packet out the
port that MAC address can be reached through.

--
Collin was right. Never give a virus a missile launcher.
                                -- Erk, Reality Check #8

--
Collin was right. Never give a virus a missile launcher.
                                -- Erk, Reality Check #8

Efficiency is a somewhat broad term, bandwidth is the issue. In a hub,
if A has a socket to B and C to D, they each see every packet, a so have
only 10Mbit (or 100Mbit) to share for all machines. In a switch the
shared limit is the bandwidth of the backplane of the switch, usually
500MB to 5GB, so both sockets can run at full speed.

This can make a huge difference in latency and throughput for a system
where traffic is distributed.

--

  The Internet is not the fountain of youth, but some days it feels like
the fountain of immaturity.