What I'm reporting is some sort of bug with KnoppMyth, or something that would be nice to have a workaround for. I can't boot with the CD because it hangs on DHCP detection. Which means that anyone who has a static network is effed. I'd love to know a workaround. Installing another DHCP server (or two) is something I'd rather not do, especially since it seems like the other guy's problem was the NIC, and I know my NIC works fine under Knoppix.

Dude, just a thought, but you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Cecil wasn't being nasty to you. Terse yes, but that's because he's trying to cover a lot of ground and answer a lot of questions. So even if you're frustrated by the problems you're having, it's no reason to spill bile all over him.

He actually gave you several useful suggestions, although they may have been in a rather telegraphic shorthand. During the install process I belive you can use ALT-F<something> (try F1-F4) to get to console prompt. Once you're there you can try running one of the other DHCP clients he listed to either get an IP address or use netcardconfig to set up a static IP. You might even be able to do this from within the install proper... (Sorry memory fails and I'm already about 5 hours short on sleep for the week.)

A search here in the forums for "netcardconfig" and "install" or "upgrade" should turn up someting useful in short order. If the forums builtin search isn't good enough yu can fall back on the google site:mysettopbox.tv option.

BTW - I use a static IP myself, and during my my most recent upgrade, broke out to an alternate console, to use netcardconfig, to enable networking, so I could copy over my good XF86Config-4, so that X would work on my TV, so i could actually see the screens to finish the upgrade. (Kind of like the song about the old lady who swallowed a fly... ) There should be something about that in my most recent R5A15.1 upgrade walk through.

WHOOPS! - I just looked and that's post isn't available... Here is the relevant section...

You're right, it was just one of those aggravating things... I'd checked the forums, posted detailed hardware info, and while I'm glad to get a suggestion, it wasn't terribly helpful. I'll give yours a shot, and since I had to pull the NIC out in order to get the details, I might as well see if I have another around here - maybe that'll work.

But I still think some way to skip DHCP would be nice.

I think if you already have the network set up it does skip it...

OBTW - it's Alt-F2 when you get to the six option install/upgrade/.../reboot/quit menu. This will give you a root prompt and you can run netcardconfig and the very first question is DHCP yes or no... Continue from there to set up your static IP and that should prevent the DHCP issue from coming up later. To get back to the other screen with the menu it's just Alt-F1

Thanks. However, it never gets that far - during the boot sequence, it gets to the "broadcasting" part, and sits there. It never goes past it get to the screen. If I remove the card, it does, but then the KnoppMyth install screen decides it doesn't like my USB kvm (which is odd, since hitting [enter] to start knoppmyth worked on the boot screen). So I'll muck with it tomorrow. Considering (sure, I think of this after I make an ass of myself) that the 20050505 knoppix has the problem with the DHCP as well, I'll check out their forums to see if there's a solution.

However, here's a solution. I have NO idea what'll happen once you have the machine up and running.

at boot screen:
knoppmyth nodhcp

It then skips the DHCP and goes to the KnoppMyth install screen.
HOWEVER... (from the knoppix forums)
"To disable dhcp you have to give "nodhcp" parameter to kernel at boot. System works fine, but you will not have network access at all. It also hangs, when user would like to set IP address manually using ifconfig command. " I saw this from a couple of posts, so beware.

Running netcardconfig later should take care of it.

This post helped me out a lot. I have the exact problem: Cannot boot from CD with a complete system hang at DHCP broadcast. Using the nodhcp option I was able to install. Now, during the initial configuration, if I choose to use DHCP broadcasts, the system hangs (hard lock, nothing works at all). Or, if I try to configure a static IP, the system hangs in a hard lock at the ifconfig command.

No problems with Red Hat Enterprise 3 or Fedora Core 3.

I've got a extra Linksys wireless card in there that I'll yank out tomorrow and try again. In the meantime, I'll keep checking back for advice here.

Thanks again for getting me this far.

itilguru, one thing I did that worked, I think, was to remove the card and boot - I _think_ that it didn't hang on the DHCP broadcast, but I'm not positive. And if the nodhcp keeps you from getting the card working properly later, then I think it's better to remove the card and put it in later.

One other thing - check the knoppix boards. This is, IMHO, a Knoppix issue, since 3.7 worked fine, but 3.8 doesn't.