eth0 Debian SheevaPlug

[alexK]

I've successfully installed Debian on the SheevaPlug, and although the installer got what it needed via the internet, my current system doesn't recognize eth0. Is there a fix known, please.
cheers,
alex

[tbm]

Please post the output of "printenv" from u-boot, the complete boot log for Debian, and the output of the following commands:

ifconfig
cat /etc/network/interfaces
cat /proc/net/dev

Is this a SheevaPlug Dev Kit or some other plug?

[alexK]

I have the information that you requested: it can be found at http://kleico.net:5180/Pages/sheevaplug.txt
I put it there rather than inline here because there are so many lines.
In the process I discovered that (for reasons I'd like to know) eth0 was reassigned to eth2.
Once I realize that, fixing the problem was easy.
The question now changes to why is eth0 reassigned and can that be avoided?

Again, thank you very much for helping.
cheers,
alex

[tbm]

Yes, look at /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules and update the info for eth0.

As to the reason: did you by any chance install Debian on one SheevaPlug and then move it to another SheevaPlug?
Not sure what other reasons there might be but looking at the file mentioned above should give you some clues.

[alexK]

Here's what the file you mention has to say  (although it certainly is 'Greek to me'):

# This file was automatically generated by the /lib/udev/write_net_rules
# program, run by the persistent-net-generator.rules rules file.
#
# You can modify it, as long as you keep each rule on a single
# line, and change only the value of the NAME= key.

# Unknown net device (/devices/platform/mv643xx_eth_port.0/net/eth0) (mv643xx_et
h_port)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:50:43:82:32:1
c", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth0"

# Unknown net device (/devices/platform/mv643xx_eth_port.0/net/eth0) (mv643xx_et
h_port)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:50:43:26:20:1
9", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth1"

# Unknown net device (/devices/platform/mv643xx_eth_port.0/net/eth0) (mv643xx_et
h_port)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:50:43:ca:37:2
4", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth2"

Does this give you any clues?
As always, thanks,
alex

[alexK]

I forgot to mention: no, I did not install on one and move to another SheevaPlug; so far I have only one of these little guys.

[pingtoo]

I forgot to mention: no, I did not install on one and move to another SheevaPlug; so far I have only one of these little guys.

You have generated 3 different MAC addresses since your initial installation. that is reason your ethernet become eth2. see the ATTR{address}==....

go back to u-boot, verify your environment variable ethaddr match the one in the back of your plug.

You can safely delete this file. it will get regenerate next time with correct ethernet MAC address.

[alexK]

Thank you very much for your advice.
the situation is getting even more weird!
None of the three MAC addresses match what's on the back of the plug: 00:50:43:01:6C:09
The currently working interface: eth2, reports its hdwr addr as being 00:50:43:ca:37:24
Which fits the output of  /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules although it's  a complete mystery where these numbers came from .
Marvell>> printenv ethaddr                                                     
ethaddr=00:50:43:ca:37:24
There seems to be an incorrect mac addr printed on the back?

[alexK]

I should have mentioned that indeed, deleting that file as you suggested has gotten things to the way I am accustomed to seeing them:
plug:~# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:50:43:ca:37:24 
          inet addr:10.0.0.165  Bcast:10.0.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0 
Advice very much appreciated.

[pancho]

Hi, fellas.

This is a common pitfall, that happens when we update u-boot on the sheevaplug.
The reason is that the u-boot binary has a built-in ethaddr variable.  If we use other people's builds of u-boot, and answer 'yes' to the question 'Override Env parameters? (y/n), we must subsequently update the ethaddr variable on the environment to reflect the actual MAC address of our SheevaPlug.

Marvell>> set ethaddr 00:00:DE:AD:BE:EF      # check the label on the back of your SheevaPlug for the actual value
Marvell>> saveenv

Hope that it helps.

[odoll]

I think it does - I was just on my way to post a request on the odd things ran into since some weeks http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=950.0 and the strange double default route I noticed today.

root@Share:~# netstat -nr
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags   MSS Window  irtt Iface
a.b.c.0         0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U         0 0          0 eth0
0.0.0.0         a.b.c.1         0.0.0.0         UG        0 0          0 eth0
0.0.0.0         a.b.c.1         0.0.0.0         UG        0 0          0 eth0

root@Share:~# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:50:43:00:02:2f
          inet addr:a.b.c.254  Bcast:a.b.c.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::250:43ff:fe00:22f/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:160 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:202 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:16307 (16.3 KB)  TX bytes:24555 (24.5 KB)
          Interrupt:11

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

[alexK]

> u-boot binary has a built-in ethaddr variable.
Thanks for that explanation.

It appears that the mac address on the back of my SheevaPlug is NOT the correct one which is a further complication: even if I had known about the ethaddr variable and 'corrected' it, I'd have put in an incorrect address.

So many places to stumble..

cheers,
ak

[marcus]

> u-boot binary has a built-in ethaddr variable.
Thanks for that explanation.

It appears that the mac address on the back of my SheevaPlug is NOT the correct one which is a further complication: even if I had known about the ethaddr variable and 'corrected' it, I'd have put in an incorrect address.

So many places to stumble..

cheers,
ak

The sticker with MAC address and serial number is to be found in 2 places; once on the outside of the plastic casing, and once attached to the circuit board inside.

I have seen one (and only one, so far) case where an ex-factory MAC address did not match that shown on the sticker.

Such a situation creates a dilemma, whether to leave the MAC address as it is, or to change it to that indicated by the sticker. I would go for the second option, but unless you have multiple Sheevaplugs within your own network (in which case you should review all MAC addresses, just to be sure), there oughtn't to be any problem either way.

[alexK]

Well I guess mine is your second! Thanks for the input. It's reassuring to know this isn't the only time this has been known to happen. I haven't opened it up to see what's written on the inside, but I have to assume that the mac address given by the ifconfig command has to be the correct one.
cheers,
ak

[marcus]

The notion of what is the "correct" MAC address has pretty much gone out of the window by now. Practically, you'll never know. Whether one or both of the addresses that you might have chosen from is unique, or was accidentally duplicated, you'll probably never know. (The label inside surely matches the one on the outside, but knowing what it says doesn't really help either way).