[newbie] Cable Modem

[~Nikki and Dan~]

I just got a cable modem and am having some difficulties configuring it with Linux(Mandrake 7) It works fine with Win98se. I am using a Linksys 10/100 etherfast card. I'm setting the first(and only) adapter at DHCP,eth0,and using tulip. I do a ifup eth0 and nothing happens just returns to the promt. Eth0 also fails at boot? Does anyone know where I could find "newbie" info on this install?   Thank you in advance,                                 Dan