"configuring network interfaces" hangs with auto eth0 in /etc/network/interfaces and cable unplugged

[Simon Ruggier]

I like to declare my ethernet interface in /etc/network/interfaces, because DHCP aliases in /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf are ignored when NetworkManager brings up my ethernet. However, I just noticed (under Intrepid as of 2008-10-23) that when booting without an ethernet cable plugged in, the machine hangs indefinitely at the point where "configuring network interfaces" is shown. After commenting out the following:
# iface eth0 inet dhcp
# auto eth0
in the interfaces file, the system boots up properly.

Also, whether or not a cable is plugged in, nm-applet was not showing up in the notification area while the above two lines were in my interfaces file.

[Dan Trevino (dantrevino)]

 Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue for you. Can you try with the latest Ubuntu release? Thanks in advance.

[Simon Ruggier (simon80)]

Have there been any updates in Intrepid that would fix this? It's a pain to test, and I don't want to test it for nothing.

[Casper Madsen (madsen-casper)]

I still have this issue today. 26-02-2009

[EcLiPsE (softinn72)]

Hello,
I had the same issue with the boot process hanging during the "configuring network interfaces" stage and I solved it reverting the change in /etc/network/interfaces that very likely happened during the upgrade from 8.04 to 8.10.

In 8.04 I had in /etc/network/interfaces the following lines:

auto eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp

After the upgrade to 8.10, I found in /etc/network/interfaces that the following line was uncommented:

iface eth0 inet dhcp

and that is what is causing the hang during boot.

I just commented it back and now I have no hang at boot and as a nice side effect, now also the wired network interface can be managed from the Network Manager.

I did not find yet any downside, so feel free to try this change and report back any issue.

Thanks,
Paolo

[Dan Trevino (dantrevino)]

This bug did not have a package associated with it, which is important for ensuring that it gets looked at by the proper developers. You can learn more about finding the right package at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage . I have classified this bug as a bug in network-manager.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for network-manager (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]