Kernel update killed my net

English Network/Internet
#1

I am experiencing the “slow internet” problem (mentioned multiple times in these forums) but it started exactly when I ran an online update, which switched my boot image from vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-0.1 to vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-0.2.

Perhaps a setting somewhere got overridden? When the update occurred, grub couldn’t find the OS because it had the wrong version #, and I manually edited it (via a livedisk) and that fixed it; it also switched my vga resolution in the grub conf.

OpenSUSE is acting like ipv6 is enabled again, but ifconfig doesn’t report that, and my MTU is close to 1500.

Ideas?

#2

Need more info:

openSUSE Forums - View Single Post - Getting Your Wireless to Work

#3

Solved. That shell script found I did have ipv6 running. ifconfig did not list ipv6 but apparently it was loaded as a module anyway. Honestly I’m not sure why it was still activated. I used Yast to edit the bootloader and put in the same options I already had, manually edited /boot/grub/menu.lst to verify the changes looked right, rebooted and now slow net problem is solved. For the record, I’ll reiterate here: to disable ipv6 in OpenSUSE 11.2 put ipv6.disable=1 in /boot/grub/menu.lst (assuming you use grub). Or disable the module in some other way, I suppose, after each boot. I really don’t understand why ipv6 remains enabled by default.

#4

Not really.

Nope, it is not a kernel module, it was compiled directly into the kernel,

zgrep CONFIG_IPV6= /proc/config.gz
CONFIG_IPV6=**y**

otherwise disabling ipv6 via “ipv6.disable=1” would not work.

Very simple, adding a parameter to /boot/grub/menu.lst will not be persistent and be overwritten on the next kernel update.

Have a look at /etc/sysconfig/bootloader, especially the “DEFAULT_APPEND”- and “FAILSAFE_APPEND”-lines and read the comments carefully.

P.S.

https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=539869

#5

Well I’ve been learned.

I thought that using yast to edit /etc/sysconfig/bootloader persisted the options. apparently not. btw there are no comments in mine (and i’ve never edited it manually before)

what is /proc/config.gz? (of course I will look it up as soon as I post)

When I said “I really don’t understand why ipv6 remains enabled by default.” I meant that all the distros of linux I’ve used, every time I’ve wiped & reinstalled, default options have always had ipv6 enabled even though it seems to mostly cause problems for most people

#6

ipv6 was detected by lsmod as a .ko. Is that not a loaded module?

edit: I had already read that bugzilla page. that’s how I knew how to disable ipv6 when it’s compiled into the kernel.

#7

…I am experiencing the “slow internet” problem (mentioned multiple times in these forums) but it started exactly when I ran an online update…

Running 11.2, and I experienced the same problem (Internet speed was at a crawl) after installing a security update. I disabled ipv6 using yast, rebooted, and it seemed to fix the problem. However, the issue I had was it took me a few hours to research and fix. All because I installed a security patch? The good news is all is well now.