I just installed OpenSUSE 11 as a second OS on my old Asus P4PE-based
machine which also runs Windows XP Pro SP3. The P4PE has an onboard
Broadcom NIC.

The SUSE installation and config went normally and the network
connection works fine.

Rebooting to Windows, I find that the network is inoperative.

Windows shows no errors, but no traffic flows over the wire. The only
(but very troubling) external symptom is that the LED for the system's
port on the LAN switch isn't lit.

Disabling and re-enabling the NIC does nothing, as does uninstalling
it and re-installing it. Rebooting does nothing, even with a power
down between sessions.

So far, the only way I can get the NIC back is to make a pass through
the BIOS, doing a "save settings" (without actually changing anything)
before going into Windows. This works reliably, but it's a pain.

I have the latest drivers from Asus, but they're from 2003. I see that
there are later drivers on Broadcom's Web site, which I'll try
tonight.

Searching the Web turns up nothing, but I might have been asking the
wrong questions.

Is this a known problem with a known fix?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | bert@iphouse.com

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:12:54 +0000, Bert Hyman wrote:

> I just installed OpenSUSE 11 as a second OS on my old Asus P4PE-based
> machine which also runs Windows XP Pro SP3. The P4PE has an onboard
> Broadcom NIC.
>
> The SUSE installation and config went normally and the network
> connection works fine.
>
> Rebooting to Windows, I find that the network is inoperative.
>
> Windows shows no errors, but no traffic flows over the wire. The only
> (but very troubling) external symptom is that the LED for the system's
> port on the LAN switch isn't lit.
>
> Disabling and re-enabling the NIC does nothing, as does uninstalling it
> and re-installing it. Rebooting does nothing, even with a power down
> between sessions.
>
> So far, the only way I can get the NIC back is to make a pass through
> the BIOS, doing a "save settings" (without actually changing anything)
> before going into Windows. This works reliably, but it's a pain.
>
> I have the latest drivers from Asus, but they're from 2003. I see that
> there are later drivers on Broadcom's Web site, which I'll try tonight.
>
> Searching the Web turns up nothing, but I might have been asking the
> wrong questions.
>
> Is this a known problem with a known fix?

This, or a very similar problem, has been discussed here before.
Certainly, I've seen NICs that dont 'release' after Suse has been shut
down (led stays on, despite powering off). Obviously its 'impossible' if
power has been cut but I seem to remember reports that the impossible was
happening.

(found it) Try this:
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/alt...browse_thread/
thread/9cf723351df35e29/c5f9aff4757c60a5?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=ethernet+windows
+reboot+#c5f9aff4757c60a5

In news:Xns9ADE5391B3FE2VeebleFetzer@127.0.0.1 Bert Hyman
<bert@iphouse.com> wrote:

> I have the latest drivers from Asus, but they're from 2003. I see that
> there are later drivers on Broadcom's Web site, which I'll try
> tonight.
>

The latest WinXP driver from Broadcom (dated 2006, so it's probably also
the last driver) fixed the problem.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert@iphouse.com