It's probably OK and just trying to help you save battery life according to some odd defaults. My Dell Latitude D's have some power saving defaults and options that will make the NIC turn off at odd times. Various network setup options restore these after I have disabled them. Mine are mainly associated with docking and undocking and whether the wireless or wired NIC is active. Rebooting with the AC power module connected and the LAN connected should make it wake up properly. Track down all the BIOS and NIC driver setup options after that. Chuck > -----Original Message----- > From: tclug-list-bounces at mn-linux.org > [mailto:tclug-list-bounces at mn-linux.org]On Behalf Of Jason Hsu > Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 7:39 AM > To: tclug-list at mn-linux.org > Subject: [tclug-list] Is my NIC card dead? > > > I have a Dell Inspiron B120 laptop with a Broadcom 440x 10/100 network card for the Ethernet connection. I had no > problems connecting to my DSL modem and the Internet (was even plug-and-play) until today. The Ethernet light on the DSL > modem does NOT light up when I connect my laptop to it. > > I know that my DSL modem still works, because my desktop connects to it just fine - the Ethernet light on the DSL modem > does come on, and my connection works. So the DSL modem works. > > The Ethernet cable isn't at fault, either. Even when I move the Ethernet cable connection from my desktop to my laptop, > my laptop still won't connect with the DSL modem. > > Given that I can safely rule out the DSL modem and Ethernet cable as culprits, does this mean the NIC card in my laptop > is dead? If I need to replace the NIC card, what should I buy, and where can I buy it? On the one hand, I'd be inclined > to get the same NIC card. On the other hand, I'm not happy that this one died on me in less than 4 years. > > -- > Jason Hsu <jhsu802701 at jasonhsu.com> > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2411 - Release Date: 10/04/09 18:42:00 >