configuring the driver on different distributions

    configuring a network driver to load properly when the system is started is distribution dependent. typically, the configuration process involves adding an alias line to /etc/modules.conf as well as editing other system startup scripts and/or configuration files. many popular linux distributions ship with tools to make these changes for you. to learn the proper way to configure a network device for your system, refer to your distribution documentation. if during this process you are asked for the driver or module name, the name for the linux base driver for the intel pro/1000 family of adapters is e1000.

    as an example, if you install the e1000 driver for two pro/1000 adapters (eth0 and eth1) and set the speed and duplex to 10full and 100half, add the following to modules.conf:

    alias eth0 e1000

    alias eth1 e1000

    options e1000 speed=10,100 duplex=2,1

    viewing link messages

    link messages will not be displayed to the console if the distribution is restricting system messages. in order to see network driver link messages on your console, set dmesg to at least seven by entering the following: dmesg -n 7

    this setting is not saved across reboots.

    jumbo frames

    the driver supports jumbo frames for all adapters except 82542-based adapters. jumbo frames support is enabled by changing the mtu to a value larger than the default of 1500. use the ifconfig command to increase the mtu size. for example:

    ifconfig eth[x] mtu 9000 up

    the maximum mtu setting for jumbo frames is 16110. this value coincides with the maximum jumbo frames size of 16128.