Broadcom NIC on Kernel 2.4.18

[Andrew Mann]

    Sorry I can't be much help on this, but I think Dell and Broadcom 
are the least likely parties to blame for any of this.  You're 
installing an unsupported OS on new hardware because a third party 
vendor (presumably?) locked you into a specific OS and kernel version 
long ago and isn't supporting you through migration to an OS that isn't 
end of life.

    This is exactly the situation you should have an "enterprise linux" 
license for, since those versions are more likely (though not 
guaranteed) to add support for newer hardware.  You should have 
addressed this issue in January 2004 when the April 2004 End of Life for 
RedHat Linux 8 was announced.

    Your best option short of kernel hacking might be to find an older 
piece of hardware which has a network adapter supported by that kernel.  
Either way, by installing RHL8 now you're just pushing this problem off 
for another 2-3 years - at which time it'll be even harder to address.

Andrew


Adrian Walker wrote:
> Hi Linux Poweredge List --
>
> Newbie here....  Just bought a Poweredge 850.
>
> Dell and Broadcom seem to have set up a neat catch 22. 
>
> I have to use RedHat 8.0 with kernel 2.4.18, to keep compatibility 
> with other software.
>
> The Dell install software only works with later Redhat versions.
>
> So, I went to the Broadcom site and downloaded their tg3 driver source 
> code.
> It does not compile!  (The Broadcom site confirms that "the driver may 
> not compile on kernels older that 2.4.24")
>
> Does anyone know of a workaround please?
>
> Thanks in advance,    -- Adrian
>
>
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