Network fails upon load, run dhcpcd and it gets an ip and works

Question

Here is my /etc/rc.conf:
# /etc/rc.conf - Main Configuration for Arch Linux
# LOCALIZATION
# LOCALE: available languages can be listed with the 'locale -a' command
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime"
# USEDIRECTISA: use direct I/O requests instead of /dev/rtc for hwclock
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: found in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-US)
# CONSOLEMAP: found in /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
LOCALE="en_US.utf8"
HARDWARECLOCK="UTC"
USEDIRECTISA="no"
TIMEZONE="US/Eastern"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"
# HARDWARE
# MOD_AUTOLOAD: Allow autoloading of modules at boot and when needed
# MOD_BLACKLIST: Prevent udev from loading these modules
# MODULES: Modules to load at boot-up. Prefix with a ! to blacklist.
# NOTE: Use of 'MOD_BLACKLIST' is deprecated. Please use ! in the MODULES array.
MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
#MOD_BLACKLIST=() #deprecated
MODULES=(forcedeth b43 !bcm43xx snd-mixer-oss snd-pcm-oss snd-hwdep snd-page-alloc snd-pcm snd-timer snd snd-hda-intel soundcore !snd_pcsp !pcspkr)
# Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
USELVM="no"
# NETWORKING
# HOSTNAME: Hostname of machine. Should also be put in /etc/hosts
HOSTNAME="laptop"
# Use 'ifconfig -a' or 'ls /sys/class/net/' to see all available interfaces.
# Interfaces to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each interface then list in INTERFACES
# - prefix an entry in INTERFACES with a ! to disable it
# - no hyphens in your interface names - Bash doesn't like it
# DHCP: Set your interface to "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
# Wireless: See network profiles below
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0)
# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
# - prefix an entry in ROUTES with a ! to disable it
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)
# Enable these network profiles at boot-up. These are only useful
# if you happen to need multiple network configurations (ie, laptop users)
# - set to 'menu' to present a menu during boot-up (dialog package required)
# - prefix an entry with a ! to disable it
# Network profiles are found in /etc/network.d
# This now requires the netcfg package
#NETWORKS=(main)
# DAEMONS
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
# - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it
# - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network @openntpd netfs hal crond gdm fam alsa)
I was able to manually place the dhcpcd commands in /etc/rc.local. Why is this necessary, though?

Answer 1

MarcoRosso wrote:The reason why it is happening is because it is timing out. Thats it for me. Since it says timeout after the status fail message. Unless i am wrong?
This is unlikely because the OP stated that adding dhcpcd eth0 in /etc/rc.local works. If it was timing out that solution would not work. Unless if the OP modified /etc/conf.d/dhcpcd and set a very low timeout limit, I doubt that is the problem here.
aglarond wrote:
I had commented those lines out because the first time I loaded Arch my default gateway wasn't being set, even though I was using dhcp. I commented both of those lines and everything started working. It's possible I messed with something else, though.
-mS
I find that hard to believe. When you comment those lines out no gateway would be being set. You probably did not have ! before routes=(GATEWAY), which would then set an incorrect gateway, if you don't use 192.168.0.1.
@OP
/etc/rc.d/network should be calling dhcpcd to activate the networking on eth0. You haven't modified /etc/conf.d/wireless by some odd chance have you?