New installation, cannot connect to Internet!

[miket]

Hi Chris !

Mike lights on router remain the same on windows and mint !
here is the typed dnclient report

listening on CPF/eth0/00:1e:0b:aa:e3:dd
sending on " " " " " "
sending on socket fallback
DHCP DISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port67 interval 5
" " " " 10
" " " " 13
" " " " 3
no DHCP offers rec'd
no working leases in persistant database - sleeping


Thanks.
Chris.

OK, so Mint is not getting any reply from the router ? This is very strange ....
So lets setup Mint to have the same IP Address etc as your Windows XP setup ....

What we are going to do is set Mint to use a static IP address, so open your interfaces file in mint using this command in a terminal :

Code: Select all

sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

remove all entries from the file and then enter these entries only :

Code: Select all

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.0.100
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.1

SAVE this and then reboot the Mint machine.
This will assume exactly the same IP Address and gateway as windows XP does .... it should work ... unless there is something majorly wrong with your Mint install !

Let me know how you get on!

Mike.

[chrispbacon]

Mike, did all you said, still broken padlock when I hover mouse message "could not connect to the internet"
Tried firefox just in case, still the same, I am dreading bad install of mint.
Have to go and lie down now with wet sack over my head !
Hope to see you tomorrow (unless I top myself)
Thanks and regards.
chris.

[miket]

Hi Chris !

Mike, did all you said, still broken padlock when I hover mouse message "could not connect to the internet"
Tried firefox just in case, still the same, I am dreading bad install of mint.
Have to go and lie down now with wet sack over my head !
Hope to see you tomorrow (unless I top myself)
Thanks and regards.
chris.

The padlock has nothing to do with networking !!!!
The padlock is BROKEN as the Mint Update has not yet made a connection to the server ... ignore it ....

If you go to a terminal and enter :

Code: Select all

sudo ifconfig -a

What comes back ?
What error does Firefox report ?

There must be something fundamentally wrong with your networking in Mint .... this should work perfectly based on the information you have sent me so far ....
Mint is normally extremely reliable when it comes to simple ethernet connections like what you are using ....

Mike.

[chrispbacon]

Morning Mike, for the first time I had message "no network connection" and a cross by the two screens on bottom bar.
My typed reply to your last instruction.

etho link encap;Ethernet HWaddr 00:1E:0B:AA:E3:DD
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:1219044332 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
Collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0(0.0kb) TX bytes:0(o.0b)
Interrupt:17 base address:0Xa000

lo Link encap: local loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:74 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:74 " " " carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:5420(5.2kb) TX bytes:5420(5.2kb)

Thanks.
Chris.

[miket]

Morning Chris !

Morning Mike, for the first time I had message "no network connection" and a cross by the two screens on bottom bar.
My typed reply to your last instruction.

etho link encap;Ethernet HWaddr 00:1E:0B:AA:E3:DD
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:1219044332 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
Collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0(0.0kb) TX bytes:0(o.0b)
Interrupt:17 base address:0Xa000

lo Link encap: local loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:74 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:74 " " " carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:5420(5.2kb) TX bytes:5420(5.2kb)

Thanks.
Chris.

OK, there must be something not right in your /etc/network/interfaces file as it has not assigned an IP Address to the eth0 interface.
Make sure the files contents are exactly like this :

Code: Select all

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.0.100
network 192.168.0.0
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.0.255
gateway 192.168.0.1

Make sure there aren't any other entries or blanks in the file ....
Then save the file and reboot into Mint and see if the networking is OK.

Mike.

[chrispbacon]

Mike sorry I have been so long, on re-booting Mint after doing the above, I had black screen with flashing parallel cursor, which did nothing,had to pull the plug. windows came back very slowly eventually, and i went back into mint to check that the above was correct again and it was, but still no difference after "save" and rebooting again.

Chris.

[chrispbacon]

Mike I just went back into Mint and re-entered your last instructions (just in case)but after re-booting back into Mint, it no longer accepts my user name or password !
Chris.

[chrispbacon]

Mike I tried failsafe mode and got the black screen that was checking things, and when finished it had "couldn't read interfaces file" (in red)
So now it seems I am really stuffed !
Chris.

[miket]

Hi Chris !

Mike I tried failsafe mode and got the black screen that was checking things, and when finished it had "couldn't read interfaces file" (in red)
So now it seems I am really stuffed !
Chris.

This is beginning to sound like something else is very wrong ?
Are you sure your hard drive isn't on the verge of failing or something ??

When you saved the interfaces file, you did save it as interfaces and not add anything else to the name ???
How are you editing the interfaces file ? Not from within Windows I hope ???

Perhaps a careful reinstall would be the best solution ?
What file system did you install Mint onto ? EXT2, EXT3 ??

Mike.

[chrispbacon]

Mike my machine is only 4 weeks old and it has 500gb HDD.
When I installed mint, I first made a partition of just under 100gb on my "C" drive, and installed mint from live Cd using "install to largest unused space" or similar, and I used G parted to make the partition which still boots at startup along with XP, I left it on just in case, so what is the simplest way to re-install over the top, or is it going to be more difficult than that?
Thanks.
Chris.

[miket]

Hi Chris,

Mike my machine is only 4 weeks old and it has 500gb HDD.
When I installed mint, I first made a partition of just under 100gb on my "C" drive, and installed mint from live Cd using "install to largest unused space" or similar, and I used G parted to make the partition which still boots at startup along with XP, I left it on just in case, so what is the simplest way to re-install over the top, or is it going to be more difficult than that?
Thanks.
Chris.

Reinstalling from the LiveCD will be the easiest ... just use the same partition you used last time ....
It all seems a little strange to me though that you are having these problems ??
This is extremely basic functionality that has been around in Debian for years and always functions without problem ....
to have so many problems with something as simple as the interfaces file means there is something else happening too !

You didn't say how you were editing the interfaces file ???

Let me know how you get on with the reinstall ...

Mike.

[chrispbacon]

Mike could you just tell me please, I have 2 Mint discs, the one i used (when just opened on Windows) has DISC, CASPER, ISOLINUX, DISC ID, MD5.
The other disc is the same except it has BOOTIMAGES also on it. Surely these 2 discs should be the same ? It was the first disc above that I used to install.
By the way it was Parted magic that I used to install, and I have used parted magic to make just my original unused space of just under 100gb, and have deleted the Linux partitions, I hope this is OK, as I could not boot the live Mint CD with the duff version of Mint already installed.
Thanks.
Chris

[chrispbacon]

Mike I tried booting from the live CD and the same problem is there from the outset, broken padlock and could not connect, I tried booting from CD on other Linux Distro's, and none of them would connect whilst running on a live CD.
If they should have all connected to the web from live CD, then I see no point in re-installing Mint until I can find out why it is only Windows that will connect.
If no Distro will connect when using live Cd and not installed, then I don't see the point of trying a live Cd, perhaps you or someone could tell me, should you be able to connect to the net with any Linux distro live CD?
Thanks.
Chris.

[miket]

Hi Chris,

Mike I tried booting from the live CD and the same problem is there from the outset, broken padlock and could not connect,

Ok, you're not reading my posts fully ... so I'll try again ...
When I boot my fully functional, working Linux Mint installation the BROKEN Padlock says "Could Not Connect" ... this is normal ... the system has just booted ...
It doesn't mean you cannot get networking working .... it is NOT directly related to your networking setup .. this is the Mint Update tool .... it is
just telling you it cannot connect ... which is correct ... as at this point the Network Manager hasn't started, so there are no network connections for it to use ...

IGNORE IT .... it's NOT IMPORTANT.

I tried booting from CD on other Linux Distro's, and none of them would connect whilst running on a live CD.
If they should have all connected to the web from live CD, then I see no point in re-installing Mint until I can find out why it is only Windows that will connect.
If no Distro will connect when using live Cd and not installed, then I don't see the point of trying a live Cd, perhaps you or someone could tell me, should you be able to connect to the net with any Linux distro live CD?

Ok, what make of ethernet card do you have in your PC ?
If you're not sure, boot from the Linux Mint CDROM .... Open a TERMINAL from the MAIN MENU and then enter this command :

Code: Select all

sudo lshw
[code]

Look through the list until your see you ethernet card ... let me know what it is ....
From all the information you have sent me to date I would say your ethernet card is working fine, it's just not being configured properly,
which is probably down to a typo or using the wrong editor to alter the UNIX control files ... or they're not being saved ... 

You still haven't answered my question as to how you have been editing the files ??? 
If you don't give me all the info I ask for I cannot help you ... the more info I have the more I can do ....

Mike.

[chrispbacon]

Mike card Intel realtec RTL8168C(P)8111c(P)PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC.
The way I edit is to open a terminal, and backspace all in it until it is empty, then type in whatever you ask me to type, I then click "save" then I close the terminal, and click the symbol on bottom left of screen and choose restart.
Thanks.
Chris.

[miket]

HI Chris ...

Mike card Intel realtec RTL8168C(P)8111c(P)PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC.
The way I edit is to open a terminal, and backspace all in it until it is empty, then type in whatever you ask me to type, I then click "save" then I close the terminal, and click the symbol on bottom left of screen and choose restart.
Thanks.
Chris.

OK, this is the same ethernet card I have in one of my desktop machines here ... it works perfectly from the LiveCD ....
It uses the r8169 driver if my memory serves me correct ....

When you did the lshw command before, was there a driver=r???? entry ... ??? If so then it has found the right driver ...
I can only put this down as incorrect configuration somehow if the driver is there OK as mine works perfectly out of the box so to speak.

Mike.

[chrispbacon]

Mike sorry i was so long, but I have successfully re-installed mint, I have not touched it except to try Firefox(no joy)
When I typed the lshw, I got only ...pci(sysfs)
Thanks.
Chris.

[miket]

Hi Chris,

Mike sorry i was so long, but I have successfully re-installed mint, I have not touched it except to try Firefox(no joy)
When I typed the lshw, I got only ...pci(sysfs)
Thanks.
Chris.

What can I say .... There is something about your PC that Mint clearly doesn't like .... most unusual ....
May I suggest you try Mandriva or PClinuxOS and see how you get on with either of them ??

Mike.

[chrispbacon]

Mike many thanks for reply, funny you said to try mandriva, as I was talking to my local radio ham, and asked him if he knew any Linux people in his group, and he smiled and pointed to a chap in the corner, who happened to be a Mandriva man! He is coming over on the week-end to give it a try, so I will report back after the week-end, and let you know if we were successful.
Regards.
Chris.

[miket]

Hi Chris !

Mike many thanks for reply, funny you said to try mandriva, as I was talking to my local radio ham, and asked him if he knew any Linux people in his group, and he smiled and pointed to a chap in the corner, who happened to be a Mandriva man! He is coming over on the week-end to give it a try, so I will report back after the week-end, and let you know if we were successful.
Regards.
Chris.

Us radio HAMs are big supporters of Linux .... Please do let me know how you get on ... I would of course like to have had access
to the machine to see exactly why Mint wouldn't work on it .... but it's not always possible

Mike.
F5VKM / M0AWS - http://www.f5vkm.com