Network Configuration

MINIX supports several Ethernet chips for networking over LAN, ADSL, and cable. These include Intel Pro/100, RealTek 8029 and 8139, AMD LANCE, and several 3Com chips. During setup you will be asked which Ethernet chip you have, if any.

You can determine what network adaptors your computer has by looking at your system's documentation.

Alternatively, from MINIX you can run netconf to see what network cards are recognized.

If you are using Windows, another way is to go to the Device Manager as follows:

Windows XP:     Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager
Windows Vista:  Start > type device > The Device Manager shows up

System requires double clicking; the rest are single. Expand the + next to “Network adapters” to see what you have. Write it down. If you do not have a supported chip, you can still run MINIX, but without Ethernet.

If you are running Linux, you can run the following command to find out which Ethernet card you have.

lspci | grep Ether

You can use the…

netconf

…tool to select your network chip and configure your IP address automatically using DHCP, or manually by providing the address, netmask, gateway, and other information. That tool is limited to one network card only. More advanced settings have to be done by hand. To do that, edit “/etc/inet.conf”. Usually, the format is:

eth0 fxp 0 { default; };

where fxp is the name of the ethernet driver you want to start (it is the name of the process inet looks for, to talk to, for ethernet). Take a look at “/usr/etc/rc” how ethernet drivers are started. Currently, the choices are:

lance rtl8139 rtl8169 fxp e1000 dpeth dp8390 orinoco atl2 dec21140A

For details on inet.conf, please see the inet.conf manpage.

You will now be asked which (if any) of the available Ethernet drivers you want installed. An asterisk (*) will appear next to the closest match for your hardware. Please choose the numerical option (e.g., 1) that corresponds to your driver. The setup script will then save the corresponding driver keyword (e.g., fxp) and some options in the system file /etc/inet.conf.

If you are running MINIX 3 in a Virtual Machine and your Ethernet chip isn't detected, see the following table to determine which selection to make:

The following table tells you shows all the NIC options, as well as the driver name that corresponds to each option.

After changing network settings, you'll need to reboot for them to take effect.