ethernet interface with at91sam9260 not working

I developed a custom AT91SAM9260 based board. For ethernet, I have used Cortina lxt9972 MII mode. I successfully loaded the u-boot on the system via USB (ATMEL SAMBA). after loading the uboot (after setting ipaddr,ethaddr & serverip) i try pinging the server from the terminal. but doing so, my uboot is hanging indefinetly. please suggest on where i am going wrong. since my ethernet is not working, i am not able to go ahead and upload the linux image (which is my ultimate goal)

even if ethernet is not working, can i upload the linux via ATMEL SAMBA itself ?

thanks

vikram