# FreeBSD does not recognize DHCP on my system :(



## xsilentmurmurx (Jan 31, 2010)

Hey everyone. I just joined the forums like 10 minutes ago and ive been struggling with a minimal installation of FreeBSD. Basically when I am going through the installation process, the system asks if i want to configure any network devices. I choose rl0 because that is the Realtek NIC card that my  ethernet cable is connected to. Then the system asks if i want to configure this device for DHCP. When i choose yes, it brings me up to the window with the host/domain name/DNS server name etc etc text boxes where one is supposed to enter in the network information for that NIC card. Here is the thing: according to the handbook, if one chooses DHCP, that stuff should be automatically filled in by the system. But for some strange reason, it does not automatically fill up those boxes. Then when I try to manually fill in the information and after the installation has completed and a system reboot has been done, ifconfig -a  informs me that there is no active carrier for that network device and well it wont let me ping to anything. I even tried to add ifconfig_rl0="DHCP" to /etc/rc.conf but still it wont help.. please help.. ALL help is GREATLY appreciate!!!!!


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## tingo (Jan 31, 2010)

And of course you have tried `# ifconfig rl0` in a shell and looked really hard at what it tells you?
If ypu don't understand the output, write it in a message here, and someone will help you.


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## xsilentmurmurx (Jan 31, 2010)

tingo said:
			
		

> And of course you have tried `# ifconfig rl0` in a shell and looked really hard at what it tells you?
> If ypu don't understand the output, write it in a message here, and someone will help you.




hey! thank you for your reply: I ended up just reinstalling FreeBSD and when it asked for me to enter in the network configuration information, i clicked cancel and continued with the configuration of the rest of the options like the mouse , etc etc. I have rebooted my system and this is the output to 

```
ifconfig rl0
```


```
rl0:flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
       options=8<VLAN_MTU>
       ether 00:14:6c:81:d0:18
       media: Ethernet autoselect
       status: no carrier
```


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## tingo (Jan 31, 2010)

Well, thats you problem right there; do you see it says "no carrier"? That means that for some reason therer isn't a signal on the ethernet interface.
I guess you have already doublechecked that the network cable is plugged in, so try this: `# ifconfig rl0 up`, wait a few seconds, and do `# ifconfig rl0` again. If it still say "no carrier" there is a problem with your network card (the driver has a problem with it). We'll try to deal with that if that happens.


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## xsilentmurmurx (Jan 31, 2010)

tingo said:
			
		

> Well, thats you problem right there; do you see it says "no carrier"? That means that for some reason therer isn't a signal on the ethernet interface.
> I guess you have already doublechecked that the network cable is plugged in, so try this: `# ifconfig rl0 up`, wait a few seconds, and do `# ifconfig rl0` again. If it still say "no carrier" there is a problem with your network card (the driver has a problem with it). We'll try to deal with that if that happens.



i found out what my mistake was! The ethernet cable was plugged into a different NIC port, sk0. So what I did was I quickly reinstalled the system, and ran DHCP config for sk0 which filled the network configuration fields with the proper information.. now I can ping with ease 

thank you for your assistance .. next time ill pay more attention to what I am doing! haha


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## psycho (Feb 4, 2010)

HELLO! I have the same problem. DHCP doesn't work.
My interface is called *re0*!
when i do "ifconfig -a" command I get output and re0 is on first place
and I have the same message as xsilentmurmurx 
This is the message for re0 interface:

```
re0: flags = 8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options = 389b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_UCAST,WOL_MCAST,WOL_MAGIC>
ether 00:1a:92:34:04:9b
media:[B]Ethernet autoselect (none)[/B]
status: [B]no carrier[/B]
```

As you can see status is no carrier, i checked cable and it's ok.
I had similar problem before (see thread: [noob] Need help with pdf book)
and I solved it with changing USB cable which modem was connected to computer with for this type of cable: http://www.scorrere.hu/img/vezetekek/RJ11_RJ11_n.jpg and then status changed from "no carrier" to "active"!
But now it doesn't!
when I run "dhclient re0" command i get this:

```
#re0:no link.....................giving up
```
some informations that might be useful for you:
-I have dual boot and on other OS (windows) internet works
-my modem is in routing mode 
-after installation when it asked me do I want to configure network devices I choosed NO
-I have tried to issue "dhclient re0" command with both USB and other cable and no succes
-model of modem is ZyXEL Prestige 600 series

Output of "dmesg | grep re0" is:

```
re0:<Realtek 8169SC/8110SC Single-chip Gigabit Ethernet> port 0x9800-0x98ff me $
re0: Chip rev. 0x18000000
re0: Mac rev. 0x00000000
re0: Ethernet adress: 00:1a:92:34:04:9b
re0: [FILTER]
```

PLEASE HElp me establish internet connection


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## SirDice (Feb 4, 2010)

psycho said:
			
		

> and I solved it with changing USB cable which modem was connected to computer with for this type of cable: http://www.scorrere.hu/img/vezetekek/RJ11_RJ11_n.jpg and then status changed from "no carrier" to "active"!


RJ11 != RJ45. An ethernet cable has an RJ45 connector. They're not exchangeable. RJ11 is mainly used for phone lines.


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## psycho (Feb 4, 2010)

Well ofcourse I used RJ45, this was example only, sorry 

help?


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## SirDice (Feb 4, 2010)

Replace the cable. Try a different port on your router. When you connect the cable at both ends normally an LED lights up. This is your carrier. Without a carrier it'll be pointless to try to use dhclient.


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## psycho (Feb 4, 2010)

I connected the cable but LED is not stable.
I turns on and off all the time:
turns off >> http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/3223/dsc06077a.jpg
turns on >> http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2691/dsc06082l.jpg
(its second from the left | 10/100M)

You mentioned different port but I don't have others on my modem, only two
 one for usb (BLUE) and one for that RJ45 cable (YELLOW) : http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3743/dsc06083a.jpg

So only option which left is that cable is not ok?


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## psycho (Feb 5, 2010)

hey I have done re0 configuration when I choosed POST INSTALL CONFIGURATION from freebsd bootable cd.
When I configured it I am able to ping it but still its  status is : "NO CARRIER"   HELP


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## OH (Feb 5, 2010)

blinking light on the modem, orange even, not green. This looks like a cable-problem to me. Did you try another cable?


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## psycho (Feb 6, 2010)

Oh it has to be green light?
ok
I haven't tried oter cable I will.
Any other solutions?

And question: If you think that something is wrong with cable , then how am I able to ping router?


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