[ltp] Boot delay with T43, FC5 and unplugged network cable

[Wolf-Jobst Siedler]

Hi!

I am still relatively new to Linux and observed a behaviour I can
neither explain nor solve.
Right now I am using a ThinkPad T43 (2668-CA7) with Fedora Core 5.
Kernel is currently at 2.6.18-2239, but this behaviour has been the same
with all earlier kernels.

Desktop is the default Gnome desktop and for configuring network
settings I use the Gnome panel applets.
My main network connection is a wired one, albeit with changing IPs
(fixed IP, no DHCP). Hence I configured multiple network devices and
assigned each one to a different profile. Profiles are changed depending
on my location.

Whenever I configured a device to be 'activated when the computer
starts', I made sure that only one device has this setting. When a LAN
cable is connected, every thing works fine.
However, when no cable is plugged in - even with fixed IP settings -, I
observe an odd boot delay when Fedora tries to start cups (approx. 15
seconds). Next, gdm starts extremely sluggishly - bringing up the Gnome
desktop alone takes up 90-120 seconds. And afterwards I always get error
messages for several panel applets.

When disabling 'activated when the computer starts' for the (any)
network device (or a cable is plugged in), there occur neither cups
delay nor panel error messages. And the Gnome desktop is up in less then
30 seconds.

The odd thing is that I handled network device configuration in exactly
the same way when I still used FC5 on a ThinkPad T30, even with
identical kernel versions.
And back then it made absolutely no difference whether a LAN cable was
plugged in or not. All network devices had 'activated when the computer
starts' set - and the boot process always went through without any
errors or delays.

So, as I see it, software and configuration were identical on both
systems (I have no access to the T30 anymore, so unfortunately can't
confirm every little detail). All I can think of is a difference in the
NIC in both laptops: The T30 had an Intel-made one (e100), while the one
in the T43 is from Broadcom (tg3).

Can anyone suggest what causes this behaviour? And what I could do to
resolve it?
It is quite annoying to bring up the network device manually each and
every time.

I would appreciate any advice. If any additional information is
required, I will gladly provide that as well.

Regards,
Wolf Siedler