I am trying to use a ZimaBoard to replace an existing server that runs Ubuntu Server 20.04 and uses the XFCE desktop. I do not want to rebuild the server from scratch. Instead, I want to clone the the server’s HD to an SSD and run that SSD on the ZimaBoard.
I cloned that drive successfully; the system boots using one of the ZimaBoard’s SATA ports. However, when the SSD boots, no ethernet ports are available, as per this screenshot.
I believe that, since my existing server used a different system, the appropriate ZimaBoard ethernet drivers need to be added/installed. Can you tell me where I can download those drivers?
As you installed the OS originally for other hardware its hard to know what drivers may be in the build or what did not get installed due to your setup choices.
The two onboard NICs will be identified as Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller and should be Realtek 8111’s. You may need need to install the latest drivers, you may just need Ubuntu to rescan for changed hardware, or you may just need to tell Ubuntu to use the different NIC’s as its maybe only trying to use the NIC that was in the old hardware.
Cloning may also have left other similar problems with other hardware as some base drivers not installed or not configured, This may or may not present problems down the line.
Please also bear in mind that 20.04 LTS goes out of support in May of this year (2025) and you should look to upgrade it if you can.
Thanks very much for your detailed reply. First off, I understand that Ubuntu server 20.04 will reach end of support soon. That is why I have embarked on this work at this time.
Also, since this is a server, there’s not much in additional hardware, just keyboard, mouse.
Shown below are the results of sudo lshw -class network
I looked at the UEFI/BIOS and did not find any setting where the ethernet ports might be enabled/disabled. Thus I have to assume they’re disabled due to a driver issue.
As for getting the drivers…I have not found a way to get them without an internet connection. I have tried to use a wifi dongle and a USB/Ethernet adapter, but they don’t work either since the drivers for those devices are missing.
Thanks for your reply. The screenshot below shows the results of:
ip addr
cat /etc/network/interfaces
as well as sudo ifconfig enp3s0 up sudo ifconfig enp3s1 up
Please note that the first time I ran sudo ifconfig enp3s1 up there was an error. I ran it again and got the same results which indicates to me there is an issue with enp3s1.
When I look at the results of cat /etc/network/interfaces, the interface names don’t align with the ZimaBoard’s naming scheme (enp3s0, enp3s1). Could editing the interfaces file to align with the ZimaBoard’s naming scheme help.
We are getting there Can you run cat /etc/network/interfaces as I said I think you will need to add the following two lines to /etc/network/interfaces but seeing what the previous NIC was set up as will help.
auto enp2s0 auto enp3s0 iface enp2s0 inet dhcp iface enp3s0 inet dhcp
Auto brings the NICs up on boot, and the iface tells them to use IPV4 and DHCP
Dumb thought after I posted that, I assume your router has DHCP on and can issue IPv4 address. (the inet part tells it to use IPV4)
Success!!! That last edit to /etc/network/interfaces did it. The screenshot below shows that everything is working as it should.
Just an FYI…during startup, the system struggled with “A start job is running for Raise network interfaces.” At first I only had one cable connected–on enp2s0. Once I connected a second cable on enp3s0 everything else proceeded as normal.
I’m wondering…do you think I need to keep a second cable continuously connected to prevent a lengthy startup?
The lesson learned here is that, when cloning an existing system to run on the ZimaBoard, the /etc/network/interfaces file must be edited as per your suggestion above.
The slow boot is probably as we have set both interfaces to DHCP but there was only one with a cable connected. The disconnected NIC needs to timeout its DHCP before continuing.
We can fix this but how is up to you.
If you intend to only use one network interface then edit /etc/network/interfaces and take out one of these pairs of entries.
auto enp2s0 iface enp2s0 inet dhcp
OR
auto enp3s0 iface enp3s0 inet dhcp
That way we are only bringing up the NIC with the connection and leaving the other down and inactive.
You can also change the ports to
auto enp2s0 iface enp2s0 inet dhcp
allow-hotplug enp3s0 iface enp3s0 inet dhcp
The auto keyword instructs the system to bring up a network interface during boot so it automatically activates our network connection as soon as we power on our Linux device.
allow-hotplug tells the system to wait for hotplug events before considering activating an interface, ie it waits for the insertion or removal of hardware devices.
auto is better. so you’d have that on for the “primary” NIC with allow-hotplug on the secondary in case you plug something in. allow-hotplug sometimes gets the state wrong hence the primary always connected NIC is better set as auto
Hope you had a good weekend. My apologies for not responding to your latest message. Please don’t feel that I’m pressuring you in any way. Your assistance and insights into this issue have been invaluable.
To be honest I’m lagging behind too, and after this week I’m of for holiday for 2 weeks with almost zero connectivity
If you need to have the network port on DHCP the only answer I can think of is to reduce the timeout on the DHCP request. However AutoHotplug is supposed to do that.
It could be there is something left over from the configuration of your “old” hardware / setup that is preventing the detecting the insertion of a network cable but that’s going to be hard to find and troubleshoot
Hopefully when I upgrade to Ubuntu Server 24.04 it will take care of the problem. In the meantime, I’ll see if assigning it a static IP address has any effect.
Can you run cat /etc/network/interfaces as I said I think you will need to add the following two lines to /etc/network/interfaces but seeing what the previous NIC was set up as will help.