First, autonegotiation is in the hardware. You can use ethtool(8) to change the NIC parameters. Years ago I had a similar problem with the DEC Alpha on my desk connecting to the switch in the lab. Try adding this to your ifcfg-eth1: |This turns off autonegotiation and sets the card to 1GB. ETHTOOL_OPTS="speed 1000 duplex full autoneg off"
Also it is important to set it to full duplex.
Sorry it took so long, but just wanted to thank you for your suggestion. It seems to speed things up *when* the kernel is in control, but I still have problems during the diskless boot. For that it seems that I would need someting that could be downloaded into the ethernet card (or a switch) Im not sure Im upto digging around deep enough into the diskless boot programs to find where they bring up the interface.