NASLite Network Attached Storage

Hi,
I just purchased NASlite2 CDD and i got it working no probs with a netgear 100MB NIC but i want higher speed so I purchased a Gigabit network card (generic) and it didnt load it auto shutdown. I got another GB NIC this time I got a Dlink DGE-530T. I still get the same shutdown problem. I looked on the net and on these forums and it has a lot of people saying that this card works and others that say they had issues. Just wanted to know if there is a way of adding the drivers to the actual CD that is loaded into RAM? Does anyone have any ideas of whether this is possible?
Cheers

In the BIOS, make sure you disable everything that is not necessary. Things like COM and LPT ports, Audio, etc. are not needed by NASLite and can therefore be disabled. That will free up IRQs for other devices including your NIC.

The next thing to do is to reboot with PNP toggled in the BIOS. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure the new NIC gets a dedicated IRQ. Otherwise, it may not be detected, which seems to be the case.

Hope that helps.

Thanks,
I tried it but it didnt fix the issue. I tried freenas and it seemed work straight away. I am using that for the time being till I can get the gig nic working. It makes such a difference with the gig Nic in place.
Cheers

I've used that dlink on a bunch of naslite servers and have never had a problem. I've got no clue what's up with your setup.

I am not clear on what "it didnt load it auto shutdown ..." and "the same shutdown problem" means ... but ... let's see if I can be of assistance anyway. I am not sure if the netgear 100MB NIC is an on-board NIC since you have not provided that info. But if it is, and you are trying to add a PCI card with gigabit you should check in the admin menus ("Network Configuration Menu") if choosing "Select Interface" as LAST or FIRST makes a difference.
Hope this helps ...

Try flashing the BIOS on the MB to the latest version and give it a go again.

FreeNAS is slow compared to NASLite so it is worth the effort to get it working.

Mike

All,
With the Netgear it is a 100MB PCI NIC. I have tried all the PCI slots on the MB and even different IRQs for the PCI card with the GB NIC in it. The Autoshutdown thing is just when NASlite doesnt detect a NIC it auto shutsdown when it gets to that check in its own startup. I tried the First and Last NIC option but i still got the same problem of the autoshutdown (not detecting the GB NIC).
I agree I think the DLINK should work I have read a lot of forums that people haev got it working. I will try out the BIOS flashing next and see if it works.
I will give a heads up on the hardware that I am running at the moment if it so see if this helps

MB: MSI 865PE Neo2
CPU: P4 2800mhz
NIC: Dlink DGE-530T
HDD: Seagate 1TB 32MB X 2
CONT CARD: Sata 2 port raid card

I just tried to flash the BIOS but the GB Nic still isnt detected. It comes up with a line about "grep pattern" and then it says that there is no Network adapter FAIL and auto sutdown in progress etc......shutdown
I changed heaps of bios settings to get it working even all the IRQ's and set the bios to optimal then default but still nothing. It doesnt seem to like the NIC.

if you have other cards in pci slots change the order - had a similar instance last night with a sata card - the bios did not see it so naslite did not -

moved it along the line and it was immediately seen by bios and then by naslite

no idea why

I tried swapping the NIC into different PCI slots but it still didnt detect it. I didnt try and swap it with the sata raid controller though. I will try this next. Just a question..so people have actually had this NIC working on their systems?

Or remove the SATA Raid Controller completely until you have NIC working ... and (now that it's like getting "desparate") try disabling Hyperthreading (if there is such an option in BIOS) and, if you suspect the CMOS battery is old, try a new one (don't ask ... over the years I've had the strangest symptoms boil down to wacky solutions) ...

I just removed the SATA raid card...still no joy.
I disabled Hyperthreading...still no joy
I tried the NIC in a different PCI slot without the raid controller present...still no joy.
I then replaced the CMOS battery with a new one and nothing either...I dont know what is going on.
thanks for the ideas though

Stumped now ...
You mentioned mobo is "MSI 865PE Neo2". MSI website (here) lists 4 different versions. Some come optionally with onboard regular or gigabit ethernet. Does your board not have any on-board NIC at all ?

Mine does not come with any ethernet at all. The gigabit card is PCI. I have used other PCI network cards before though a netgear one and a generic one.

I have, in the past, run both that card and the generic cards based on the same chip with no problems. The performance was good and there were no issues. At this point I would recommend that you simply try either a new MB or a different Gbit card. Older 3Coms and most of the Intels are a good bet.

Mike