eth0 problem after update

Hi,

my installation details:

server: dell pw bridge x86_64
os: opensuse 11.1
ip allocation: dhcp
networkcard: 82541GI Gigabit Ethernet Controller (eth0)
previous kernel: 2.6.27.23-0.1-default
new kernel: 2.6.27.29-0.1-default
kernel version: SMP 2009-08-15

Problem:

The server has run completely great for a long time even after several updates.
I did an update yesterday which included the latest kernel version 2.6.27.29-0.1-default(auto via updater applet)
When I rebooted, I lost my network connection. After investigating the bootlog, I found the error: eth0 No interface found. I did more investigation and found out that this error could be different reasons.
Bottom line is that networkcard is not detected. With me, after booting, I could manually start other network services that use/rely on the networkcard if they did not start auto as they were supposed to.
But no ip address, eth0 does not get mentioned anywhere in the log and all network commands that I know returned “eth0 is not available” which led me to think that the newly updated kernel 2.6.27.29-0.1-default has no support for my network card.

If my suspicion is true how can I solved this? rebuild 2.6.27.29-0.1-default or install new version?
If not, is there another way to solve this without having to reinstall suse?

Thank you.

Just so you know. After trying a whole heap of things without success (Network remained broken) I decided to upgrade kernel (since I was almost sure it was the kernel that caused the problem) I went ahead and upgraded to 2.6.29.1 and my server is back running smooth!

If you have a relative kernel problem or need to upgrade kernel (build from source) check this tutorial out http://www.suseblog.com/want-the-new-linux-2624-kernel-easy-upgrade-tutorial It’s short, straightforward and it works for me the first time (grateful to the writer!)

Regards,
Smoothgift