Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

dk-user · 2021-02-09 10:33

I'm having problems with my Dell Dimension 8400 tower computer's wired ethernet. The light is blinking, but there is no network on the Q4OS installation. When hovering over the network icon in the lower right, it says;

Device: enp2s0
State: Activated

It's set up as DHCP.

I hope someone can help me :-)

Thank you!

Tolkem · 2021-02-09 14:04

dk-user wrote:

I'm having problems with my Dell Dimension 8400 tower computer's wired ethernet. The light is blinking, but there is no network on the Q4OS installation. When hovering over the network icon in the lower right, it says;
Device: enp2s0
State: Activated
It's set up as DHCP.
I hope someone can help me :-)
Thank you!

Did you check the cable? This seems like a hardware/cable thing to me. I have a similar issue and it is the cable, haven't replaced it yet as I use the wireless too. Check that and the thing you plug in the Ethernet port too.

dk-user · 2021-02-09 14:10

Yes - I verified that it works, by connecting it to my mac (with wireless off) and it works right away.

Anything else I can try? :-)

Tolkem · 2021-02-09 15:14

dk-user wrote:

Yes - I verified that it works, by connecting it to my mac (with wireless off) and it works right away.
Anything else I can try? :-)

Cable checked! Good! Now, I'd check that the PC's Ethernet port where Q4OS is installed in is working fine. You can do that with a Q4OS or any other distro Live USB; boot into the Live OS and see whether the problem persists. If it does, the port might be failing/defective. If it doesn't, it might be a Q4OS/software issue. Can you post the output of

inxi -N

since you haven't mentioned what model and make the network card is, that info will help to narrow down the issue.

crosscourt · 2021-02-09 16:07

Dell Dimension 8400 is a pretty old system using a Pentium 4 cpu/ddr2 and the ethernet is integrated into the motherboard. If all else fails you could buy a new ethernet card and install it which would update your system.
Which version of Q4OS do you have installed which could be an issue given the age of your system.

dk-user · 2021-02-09 17:16

I just installed Lubuntu on a separate drive in the machine. The wired network works right away. So the port is fine - but good point checking it!

inxi -N reports:

Device-1: Broadcom Limited NetXtreme BCM5751 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express
Driver: tg3

Thanks :-)

dk-user · 2021-02-09 17:22

crosscourt wrote:

Dell Dimension 8400 is a pretty old system using a Pentium 4 cpu/ddr2 and the ethernet is integrated into the motherboard. If all else fails you could buy a new ethernet card and install it which would update your system.
Which version of Q4OS do you have installed which could be an issue given the age of your system.

Yeah - it's pretty old. I read somewhere that Q4OS was fast, just something for me on my stone age system :-D So I hope I can keep the Q4OS distro :-)

According to Q4OS it's Q4OS 3.12.1-n1 (Centaurus).

Tolkem · 2021-02-09 19:12

@dk-user I found this thread in the Debian user forum http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=130263 you might try what's suggested there and see if it works for you.

crosscourt · 2021-02-09 21:32

Ubuntu based distros have excellent hardware support which may explain why it works with Lubuntu. If youre going to continue to use this system with newer Q4OS versions like Gemini, switching to a new ethernet card might still be a good choice. It allows you to run any distro without issues in the future. Long term its going to become increasingly difficult to use your system with newer distros.

Last edited by crosscourt (2021-02-09 21:33)

dk-user · 2021-02-11 05:24

Tolkem wrote:

@dk-user I found this thread in the Debian user forum http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=130263 you might try what's suggested there and see if it works for you.

Thank you :-) It didn't work though. I might try with an old wireless card I have at a later point.

dk-user · 2021-02-11 05:25

crosscourt wrote:

Ubuntu based distros have excellent hardware support which may explain why it works with Lubuntu. If youre going to continue to use this system with newer Q4OS versions like Gemini, switching to a new ethernet card might still be a good choice. It allows you to run any distro without issues in the future. Long term its going to become increasingly difficult to use your system with newer distros.

Yes, you are right. I might try with an old wireless card I have at a later point or maybe buy another one. However, for now I'll stick with the Lubuntu version then. Thanks though!

detoo · 2021-02-11 10:24

For what it's worth, I was running Q4OS Scorpion 32-bit (Debian Stretch-based, supported till mid-2022) on a Dell Dimension 2400 with a 2.2GHz Pentium 4. The only modification was an upgrade to 1.5GB RAM.

Aside from a slightly annoying USB flash drive icon bug, everything worked well -- including the ethernet. Had to retire that box because it didn't have enough power to run Zoom.

Last edited by detoo (2021-02-25 09:23)

crosscourt · 2021-02-11 17:08

For now dk-user is probably better off with what hes using.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2021-02-09 10:33

Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#2 2021-02-09 14:04

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#3 2021-02-09 14:10

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#4 2021-02-09 15:14

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#5 2021-02-09 16:07

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#6 2021-02-09 17:16

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#7 2021-02-09 17:22

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#8 2021-02-09 19:12

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#9 2021-02-09 21:32

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#10 2021-02-11 05:24

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#11 2021-02-11 05:25

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#12 2021-02-11 10:24

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

#13 2021-02-11 17:08

Re: Dell Dimension 8400 series wired ethernet problem

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