Linux Mint 14 MATE - Internet not working [SOLVED]

[Giridharg82]

Hi, i am new to Linux. I installed Linux mint 14 MATE last week. 3 days ago i took my laptop to my friend's place & used his WiFi. Ever since that i am unable to use my internet connection (I use ethernet connection). When i attempt to access internet, Firefox waits for a minute & finally says "unable to connect".

I tried searching for a solution in many forums including this one. Either the answers did not work or i didn't understand how to use them.

I seek help to solve my issue. Please be a patient with me as i am completley new to Linux. I like the open source philosophy so i decided to try Linux. I do not want to throw it away because every problem has a solution & so does mine.

I ran ifconfig & got the below output.

radhika@radhika-Inspiron-N5110 ~ $ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 18:03:73:9f:ba:8f
inet addr:27.7.129.2 Bcast:27.7.135.255 Mask:255.255.248.0
inet6 addr: fe80::1a03:73ff:fe9f:ba8f/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:375 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:3366 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:100308 (100.3 KB) TX bytes:258263 (258.2 KB)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:240 (240.0 B) TX bytes:240 (240.0 B)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 7c:e9:d3:40:0b:79
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

Thank you, Giri

[Giridharg82]

I tried the following troubleshooting steps:
STEP 1: Checked the network connection settings. Screen shot (a)Network Connections

Network Connections.png (122.54 KiB) Viewed 2166 times

STEP 2: Ran nm-tool & sudo ifconfig eth0. Screen shot (a) Screenshot-Terminal-1

Screenshot-Terminal-1.png (59.3 KiB) Viewed 2166 times

STEP 3: added the below "stanza" in /etc/network/interfaces file
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

STEP 4: Ran sudo ifconfig eth0 up. Screen shot (a) sudo ifconfig eth0 up

sudo ifconfig eth0 up.png (23.72 KiB) Viewed 2166 times

Hope the above info gives a better view to troubleshoot. I would really appreciate a quick help. Thanks.

[Giridharg82]

STEP 5: ifconfig -a (as root)

ifconfig -a (as root).png (86.29 KiB) Viewed 2147 times

STEP 6: inxi -SNx

inxi -SNx.png (37.27 KiB) Viewed 2147 times

STEP 7: lspci

lspci.png (115.98 KiB) Viewed 2147 times

[spandey]

In home are you trying to connect to wired or wireless?
did you tried to ping?

[Giridharg82]

Thanks spandey for answering my request. At home i connect via ethernet cable. I did try ping. I got a timed out response.

[yonnie]

Hi Gridharge,
You see that little icon down in the lower right area of your kicker panel that looks kind of like two plugs? Right click on it and select connect to eth0. Anytime I've had this issue in the past, that has been the solution for me. Going from one place to another place seems to bring up this issue at least once. After that 1 time event, the problem doesn't seem to happen again, well, most of the time. Another way would be to turn-off the wifi on the laptop, connect the Ethernet cable and boot-up from complete off condition. Boot should detect the live ethernet cable and settings automatically. I've noticed this problem on several distrobutions, they want to connect the same way again. You go crazy thinking something is broke and troubleshooting for an hour.

Most ethernet ports have a little activity led built-in, check to see if there is activity, if not maybe you have a bad cable?

[Giridharg82]

Thanks Yonnie. The internet now seems to be running fine! I didn't do anything at all. I booted it up in Linux & right away internet started working fine. Not really sure what the cure was. Thank you all for your help.

[Giridharg82]

I think i spoke too soon. After i restarted my machine, i lost internet again. I see a red 'X' on the 2 plug icons in the kicker tray. How do i switch off Wifi on my machine.

[Jerry]

You should be able to just to to Network Connections>Wireless (tab) > and unselect 'connect automatically'

[Giridharg82]

SealLion, I dódn't have anything under wireless.

Screenshot-Network Connections-1.png (19.95 KiB) Viewed 1973 times

Internet did work yesterday but it lasted about 5 minutes. I dón't think it is physical connection because i didn't disturb anything. When i dual boot into Windows7 internet works fine.

Could WiFi be interfering with ethernet? I tried to

[snison]

Actually you put an o between eth and 0.

sudo ifconfig etho0 up

change your /etc/network/interfaces back to default

Code: Select all

# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback


Make sure your wireless hardware switch is on. Left click on the two cables icon and connect to your wireless network.

[Giridharg82]

snison, i am right now connected but the connection will cut-off in couple of minutes. I do not have WiFi connection. My router has ethernet only.
Also i don't see the "two-plugs" icon at the bottom. Is it supposed to be there?

[Giridharg82]

I have noticed the following so far:
1. Internet works sometimes. Even if it does it disconencts after about 10~15 mins. I have an ethernet cable plugged into my laptop.
2. I do not see the "two -plugs' icons at the bottom right hand corner.
3. Without disturbing the cables when i reboot into Windows7 internet works fine.

I am not sure whats hindering the connection.

[snison]

The two little cables over on the right side of your taskbar...

[Giridharg82]

snison, right now i am connected to internet using Linux but i don't the two cables icons at the bottom. I see the date & time, battery life, volume & update manager

Surprisingly i am unable to save screenshots as well! When i attempt to save a screenshot, i navigate to the desired folder & notice all the other files greyed out. I continue to save the screenshot. Later when i go to the folder the file isn't there..

[Giridharg82]

As i wasn't able to save screenshots, i took a picture using my mobile.

Icon Tray.jpg (570.3 KiB) Viewed 1822 times

[snison]

I'm going to ensure you didn't miss this step

change your /etc/network/interfaces back to default

Code: Select all

    # interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
    auto lo
    iface lo inet loopback


then reinstall the network manager

Code: Select all

sudo aptitude reinstall network-manager

[Giridharg82]

Thank you snison. I think that did the trick. My intenet connection is consistent. No issues encountered so far.