|> Hmm, ok, but the networks file is stock, set up by the debian |> install. I have upgraded the kernel from 2.0.38 to 2.2.15 - would |> this be the "route" of the problem?
Yes, this is why you're getting the SIOCADDRT error messages. Actually, one of the changes between slink and potato that's not that easy to find out about (it seems to me anyway) is that the use of the /etc/initd./networking script is deprecated in favour of a new system in which the commands ifup and ifdown (run at boot time) bring the necessary interfaces up or down and do the necessary configuration. The behaviour of those commands is controlled in turn by files in the directory /etc/network/ the most relevant one being the file `interfaces'. The default settings in this file seem to assume a 2.2.x series kernel. Editing the file in a minimal way (uncommenting the line for the loopback interface, putting in the relevant local numbers) and deleting or re-naming the old /etc/init.d/networking script should take care of the error messages as well as bringing you to the happy state of not using any `deprecated' mechanisms. The advantages of this system are discussed briefly in the man page for ifup/ifdown, Jim
