Table of Contents
This chapter outlines some of the more common problems you may experience when using SmallWall, and how to troubleshoot and resolve them.
To allow yourself access to log messages even if the SmallWall device is unreachable, you can send syslog messages to a remote syslog server. This way you can see many logs that might help identify the problem. See the section on Logging for more information.
First check your BIOS settings for a "Plug and Play OS" or "OS" setting. For "Plug and Play OS", set it to "no" or "disable". If there is an "OS" setting, typically you can and should set it to "other". This most always fixes the problem.
If that doesn't resolve it, try to upgrade your system BIOS.
Resetting the BIOS to default settings might help. There have been instances in the past where this has resolved this problem, likely due to some strange BIOS setup from past use of the hardware.
Occasionally other hardware like sound cards, and similar, can prevent some or all of your cards from being detected. Try removing any cards in the system that aren't required, and disabling any unused hardware (USB, parallel port, serial ports, any onboard sound, etc.) in the system BIOS. On the other hand, some motherboards will silently disable the nic if you disable the sound card...
Most all Ethernet cards are supported by SmallWall, but if you still cannot see the network cards, ensure they are supported.