CentOS 5 Hardware :: Asus Eee Thin Box - Ethernet Doesn't Work & Difficulty With X?

Centos 5.2 Asus Eee box with Atom N270 and it came installed with "eLinux" which doesn't even come close to meeting my needs (low demand intranet server). But eLinux did work as far as I tested it.

First, CentOS seems to detect the Intel 945GME video chip but I end up with a blank screen. I used text mode to install CentOS. Then I searched for a solution. Found someone suggested also using the i915 driver with 945GM. That didn't work.

So, I reverted to a VESA driver. That worked except I couldn't get resolution greater than 800x600 even after I added a Mode line for 1024x768 to the xorg.conf file. However, the X interface wasn't that important. I mostly wanted into the utilities so I could fix the network.

I had tried a fixed address (192.168.1.11) since the box is supposed to be a "thin server." No luck. So, I tried DNS and tried activating again. The suggestion was that the network cable wasn't connected. When using DNS, the network hub lights flash. Something is happening.

Rebooted the computer using Puppy Linux (on a usb key). Video comes up in VESA mode. I can set it to 1024x768. It found the DNS server without any complaints. (Note: I didn't so much as touch the ethernet cable during the reboot).

Copying and Pasting isn't easy with a computer that won't connect to the LAN. But the hardware is a Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 2). I since tried Slackware 12.1 and it's pretty happy on that box. Vesa mode gets me 1024x768 and the ethernet works (however it thinks it's on eth1 which may or may not be a clue). I'll try CentOS on an old box for other testing.