Mesa ethernet setup for 7i92, 7i96, 7i76E and other ethernet Mesa boards.

---Warning : IF using this tutorial, NEVER edit the /etc/network/interfaces file as mentioned in the official documents, using BOTH causes a lot of issues, so use this OR the other, never both!!! ---
--This is valid for all Linux versions that use network manager, like Debian Wheezy or Jessie or Stretch, Ubuntu, Linux Mint etc.
--Mesa card should be wired directly to the PC, not over a switch or HUB or router.
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Edit:
User "jtrantow" suggested adding this as the new 2.8 release uses Debian 10 Buster with WiCD network manager, making it harder to configure the network for simultaneous use of Mesa cards and WiFi. This requires replacing WiCD with "network-manager" by using the two lines in a terminal:
====Network setup for mesa cards: ======
- left click on the network manager on the bottom right side or upper right side where the clock and volume is.
- choose "edit connections"
- double click on the network you want to edit ( usually "wired connection X")
- click on the "IPv4 settings" tab
- choose "manual" on the "method" drop down menu
- click on "add"
- write the address as 10.10.10.11
- never use 10.10.10.1 or 10.10.10.10 for the above
- netmask should be left as is ( usually 8 )
- gateway should always be 10.10.10.1
- additional DNS servers should be 10.10.10.1
Save, close, left click on the network manager and click on the "wired connection X", it should take about 3 seconds to reconnect.
Now open a terminal and do Ping 10.10.10.10, you should get normal reply form the Mesa card. If you do not get a reply, double check your settings.
To check the Mesa card configuration, in terminal enter :ororThere should be a lot of info in the terminal about the card and the available stepgens, PWM's, IO's, etc

>>> If you want to use another connection or a wireless connection for internet, you have to set up everything as above, set up internet, and ONLY after having internet working edit the wired connection X going to Mesa card again as follows:
- network manager>edit connections>wired connection X>IPv4 settings> ROUTES > just click on the "use this connection only for resources on its network"> OK>save>network manager>reconnect to that network.
Failing to do this will cause the link to Mesa or to internet to fail at random

---Recommendation from PCW for use with built in Intel ethernet PC cards.
If using intel ethernet that in some cases looses the connection, there should be the following line added in a terminal

Replace the eth0 with the name of your ethernet connection, to find out right click on the network manager in the taskbar ( always on the right side, top or bottom depending on the flavour of Linux you are using ) and choose connection info. Sometimes that name is quite strange like " enp4s0 " or similar.
Test the ping again and check the reply time.

You can use this to readhmid without the device name.
From the man page
JT