Can anyone tell me how can I create a lan network between two computers without having to use a router. Eventhough I cant use internet, just for file sharing. I want to know how do I connect the two computers, and with what? I searched the internet and couldn't find anything useful.

You will need two network cards (preferrably standard Ethernet/Fast Ethernet) supported by Linux and one cross-over network cable. Cheap and reliable cards include Realtek 8139-based ones if you don't have the cards already.

A crossover twisted pair Ethernet cable is like $5 to $10 US so it's not much of an investment, but darn useful!

Then hook up the cable and set up the cards using static IP's in a private range, like 192.168.1.1 for the first computer and 192.168.1.2 for the second. That's pretty much it. You can edit the /etc/hosts files on both systems and add the names of the other computer there so you don't need to type out the IP address all the time.

Håkan

I already have a crossover cable and two network cards in my computer. But when I connect them using the crossover cable, isn't the lite in the network cable suppose to come on. But it dosent.

And about the IP thing. Where do I set up the IP addresses? Which program do I open to do this?

I'm using MDK 9.2

You can use Mandrake Control Center under internet and setup a static IP address.

Or via console commands:
(log in as root)

ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

What is the OS of the other PC? What kind of ethernet cards are installed in the computers? When the cable is connected the link light should illuminate.

Both computers have MDK 9.2 . In one of the computers I have "Linksys EtherFast" ethernet card. The other one I have on board card. When I connect them, no lite comes on. But in both when I connect a dsl modem, the lites comes on. I can use internet with no problem. It jsut that when I connect two cards it dosent lite up.

If it works with the MODEM then the cable might not be a configured as a crossover.

Does your MODEM autodetect cable types?

Have you tried configuring eth0 for the two computers yet?