[Fwd: Re: Can there be an Ethernet Switch that doesn't work with Linux???]

[Nadav Har'El]

On Sun, Aug 29, 2010, Omer Zak wrote about "[Fwd: Re: Can there be an Ethernet Switch that doesn't work with Linux???]":
> Nadav,
> Did you see the following question?
> I saw no report of tests due to the question.
>...
> 
> Do the replies to the DHCP and ARP broadcasts of the MS-Windows computer
> get forwarded to it by the switch?
> If yes, are they formatted any differently from those of the Linux
> machine?

Hi Omer, I did not yet have time to do more tests (I can't test my home
network while at work ;-)), and frankly, I spent so much time on this already,
that I'm inclined to just buy a new switch (this time I'll look for a 1 Gbps
switch... any recommendations?) and lose the 90 shekels I paid for that one.

In any case, you are right, I can inspect the DHCP (or ARP) requests and
responses and see what, if anything, is different between what Windows and
Linux is doing. But from all the comments I've been getting, it appears more
likely that the problem is not layer 2 (the different kernels on the two
machines, one Windows and one Linux) but rather layer 1 (in the different
NICS) - my current unconfirmed guess is that the switch *does* try to forward
these packets to the my computer, but botch up something in the transfer.
I have a few ideas on how to test this hypothesis, but again, I'm inclined to
just throw this switch into my "museum" (I may need it 10 years from now :-))
and buy a new one... I see I can buy a TP-LINK TL-SF1008D for 65 shekels (!) -
any comments on that?

-- 
Nadav Har'El                        |        Sunday, Aug 29 2010, 19 Elul 5770
nyh at math.technion.ac.il             |-----------------------------------------
Phone +972-523-790466, ICQ 13349191 |When everything's coming your way, you're
http://nadav.harel.org.il           |in the wrong lane.