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Linux Token Ring Support Bringing Down Corporate Nets?

mjh asks: "I've been running Debian GNU/Linux on my company supplied laptop for 3 months now. I got permission from my manager to run it on the network, but I did not go through the somewhat rigorous process of getting the software certified. I have legitimate business reasons for using it on the corporate network (which is why my manager approved it). I even managed to get Lotus Notes to run under wine so I never had to boot into Winders at all (unless someone sent me a PPT doc). I was pretty happy...until I brought the entire network down." Anyone else running Linux on a Token Ring network who would care to talk about their own experiences?

"My company runs Token Ring at the office (puke!) I got drivers from the card manufacturer (Madge), and I'd been happily churning along. Then last week, we started seeing a bunch of errors on the network. These errors would bring everyone on the ring down. After a week of this kinda stuff, they eventually isolated it to me.

Reboot the laptop into Windows and the network card works just fine and they don't see any ring errors. Reboot into linux, and suddenly they start seeing ring errors. I don't really grok token ring, so I'm not entirely certain that I know exactly what the problem is. But, whenever I brought the token ring on line under linux, they saw ring errors, which eventually (as I understand it) would bring down the entire ring. Switch cards (same model) and it continues to happen. It looked to me (and the network analysts) that the Linux driver was causing the problem.

I tried switching to an IBM token ring card, but there's a bug and I hadn't patched for this. The people with the fluke would not wait around while I tried to figure this out. I didn't have any other token ring cards that I could try.

In the end, I agreed not to boot into Linux unless I went into the conference room (which is one of the only rooms in the building with ethernet ports). How should I have done this differently so that using Linux would have been a more positive experience for my company?"

15 of 354 comments (clear)

  1. Well, by wurk · · Score: -1, Troll

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  2. Simple... by Caine · · Score: 0, Troll

    Real simple. Don't run Linux.

  3. even better... by levendis · · Score: 2, Troll

    ...don't use Token Ring. It is such an astounding brain-damaged protocal its a wonder anyone ever started using it, and its blasphemous that anyone uses it today. Not to be rude, but your management must be full of complete morons if they are still using token ring.

    --
    ---- I made the Kessel Run in under 11 parsecs.
  4. Re: What box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Glad to see mental retardation is still rampant throughout the USA.

    MOD UP!

  5. CUT IT OUT by Trollcaholic · · Score: -1, Troll

    you fucking troll

    1. Re:CUT IT OUT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Sheesh, what a piece of shit. Did you draw that all by yourself or did you get your gay-ass boyfriend 'egg troll' to help you?

  6. Re: What box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    LOL. This is the funniest thing I read all day.

    Just the thought of a retarded guy stomping some fat Slashdot employee's face... I almost peed my pants.

    Blubber-puss. Tee-hee.

  7. Re:TOKEN RING! by Trollcaholic · · Score: -1, Troll

    Malda is complete shit, whomever named malda deserves to be fucked in the ass a few times.

  8. Re: What box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    i would be honoured to pee inside your mouth.

  9. Re:TOKEN RING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Man, I thought that hairy bitch was Malda's pet dog!

  10. Re: What box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I see. So it's true that you were actually dropped on your head as a child. The post itself was stupid enough, but for you to write the post, and then respond to it like this ... well, you are obviously a complete fuckwit! Enough said, I think.

  11. Re:Put your tokens here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    We, at Goatse.cx, mourn the unprecedented loss of life on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

    Let it be known terrorists, YOUR ASS IS NEXT!

  12. Re:TOKEN RING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    the four ...
    malda's mom, malda's dog, hemos, cowboy neal... all 4 like it up the ass...

  13. Re:Token Ring sucks, Linux TR REALLY sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Wrong, its linux that sucks. At least use something that has more open development vs that fuckwit Linus. At least the BSD'ers don't put in faulty drivers in their kernels. If it don't work, don't distribute it damnit.

  14. Re:Token Ring sucks, Linux TR REALLY sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I bet this gets modded down.

    I also bet that if you replaced "Linux" with "Windows" and "Linus" with "Microsoft", it would not.

    "Wrong, its Windows that sucks. At least use something that has more open development vs that fuckwit company Microsoft. At least the BSD'ers don't put in faulty drivers in their kernels. If it don't work, don't distribute it damnit."