Help: Loss of network connectivity

[rp4000]

A couple of days ago I started having a problem whereby my FC 12 firewall would go off the network. The interfaces would show lots of dropped packets and frame errors.

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:BB5:B3:68
inet addr:192.168.1.1 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::219:bbff:fed5:b368/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:27825 errors:4294944423 dropped:4294944423 overruns:0 frame:4294852931
TX packets:18218 errors:4294944423 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:4294944423 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:14343315 (13.6 MiB) TX bytes:74330168 (70.8 MiB)
Interrupt:17

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:17:3F0:55:09
inet6 addr: fe80::217:3fff:fed0:5509/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:157875 errors:0 dropped:4294966252 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:111948 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:190001245 (181.1 MiB) TX bytes:16106264 (15.3 MiB)
Interrupt:18

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:1789 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1789 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:165341 (161.4 KiB) TX bytes:165341 (161.4 KiB)

ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
POINTOPOINT NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)


I added another ethernet card and tried combinations to see if card was problem. I also replaced switch connected to local network.

I found that in messages I get the following:

Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: ------------[ cut here ]------------
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: WARNING: at net/sched/sch_generic.c:246 dev_watchdog+0xc6/0x12d() (Not tainted)
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: Hardware name: HP Compaq dc7600 Small Form Factor
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth2 (e100): transmit queue 0 timed out
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: Modules linked in: fuse sunrpc cpufreq_ondemand acpi_cpufreq ppp_synctty ppp_async crc_ccitt ppp_generic slhc ipt_MASQUERADE iptable_nat nf_nat ip6t_REJECT nf_conntrack_ipv6 ip6table_filter ip6_tables ipv6 uinput snd_hda_codec_realtek snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep snd_seq snd_seq_device snd_pcm snd_timer ppdev snd parport_pc parport e100 iTCO_wdt iTCO_vendor_support soundcore tg3 8139too snd_page_alloc wmi 8139cp mii dm_multipath i915 drm_kms_helper drm i2c_algo_bit i2c_core video output [last unloaded: microcode]
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: Pid: 0, comm: swapper Not tainted 2.6.31.12-174.2.19.fc12.i686.PAE #1
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: Call Trace:
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c043db4b>] warn_slowpath_common+0x70/0x87
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0701cdc>] ? dev_watchdog+0xc6/0x12d
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c043dba0>] warn_slowpath_fmt+0x29/0x2c
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0701cdc>] dev_watchdog+0xc6/0x12d
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c04575d9>] ? getnstimeofday+0x57/0xe0
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0446ce7>] ? internal_add_timer+0x93/0x97
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0446d78>] ? cascade+0x50/0x63
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0701c16>] ? dev_watchdog+0x0/0x12d
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0446ed9>] run_timer_softirq+0x14e/0x1af
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0442df2>] __do_softirq+0xb1/0x157
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0442ece>] do_softirq+0x36/0x41
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0442fc0>] irq_exit+0x2e/0x61
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c041cf37>] smp_apic_timer_interrupt+0x6d/0x7b
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c04099f5>] apic_timer_interrupt+0x31/0x38
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c040f38b>] ? mwait_idle+0x67/0x85
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c040813f>] cpu_idle+0x96/0xaf
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c0767a64>] rest_init+0x58/0x5a
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c09ab8c3>] start_kernel+0x32b/0x330
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: [<c09ab081>] i386_start_kernel+0x70/0x77
Feb 19 08:36:07 localhost kernel: ---[ end trace f3923d9841321fd2 ]---
Feb 19 08:36:11 localhost mgetty[3820]: init chat failed, exiting...: Interrupted system call
Feb 19 08:36:11 localhost mgetty[3820]: failed in mg_init_data, dev=ttyS0, pid=3820
Feb 19 08:36:11 localhost init: ttyS0 main process (3820) terminated with status 1
Feb 19 08:36:11 localhost init: ttyS0 main process ended, respawning
Feb 19 08:36:19 localhost abrt: Kerneloops: Reported 1 kernel oopses to Abrt
Feb 19 08:36:19 localhost abrtd: Directory 'kerneloops-1266586579-1' creation detected
Feb 19 08:36:19 localhost abrtd: Getting local universal unique identification
Feb 19 08:36:19 localhost abrtd: New crash, saving
Feb 19 08:36:19 localhost abrtd: RunApp('/var/cache/abrt/kerneloops-1266586579-1','test x"`cat component`" = x"xorg-x11-server-Xorg" && cp /var/log/Xorg.0.log .')
Feb 19 08:36:34 localhost pppd[3830]: LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Feb 19 08:36:34 localhost pppd[3830]: Connection terminated.
Feb 19 08:36:34 localhost pppd[3830]: Modem hangup
Feb 19 08:36:38 localhost pppoe[3831]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Feb 19 08:36:38 localhost pppd[3830]: Exit.
Feb 19 08:36:38 localhost pppoe-connect: PPPoE connection lost; attempting re-connection.
Feb 19 08:36:43 localhost pppd[3849]: pppd 2.4.4 started by root, uid 0
Feb 19 08:36:43 localhost pppd[3849]: Using interface ppp0
Feb 19 08:36:43 localhost pppd[3849]: Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/pts/1
Feb 19 08:36:57 localhost mgetty[3836]: init chat failed, exiting...: Interrupted system call
Feb 19 08:36:57 localhost mgetty[3836]: failed in mg_init_data, dev=ttyS0, pid=3836
Feb 19 08:36:57 localhost init: ttyS0 main process (3836) terminated with status 1
Feb 19 08:36:57 localhost init: ttyS0 main process ended, respawning
Feb 19 08:37:14 localhost pppd[3849]: LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Feb 19 08:37:14 localhost pppd[3849]: Connection terminated.

(Note there are some ppp messages interspersed that are not relevant)

It is necessary to power the box off and on to get the network back.

These timed out messages occur on the ethernet interface connected to my DSL modem, irrespective of which interface I connect (hence eth2 above.

If I leave the box in this state it will eventually go into an "undetermined" state - keyboard doesn't respond and no monitor and nothing reported to /var/log/messages - not sure if its died or is just hanging.

The box ran for 6 weeks with no problems.

Any ideas? Anybody seen a similar problem?