then I did the route -n command...here the result

route -n

table de routage Ip du noyau

destination passerelle genmask ind. metr. ref.
use Iface

65.92.235.1 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0
0 ppp0
10.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0
0 ETH0
169.254.0.0 0.0.0.0 .255.255.0.0 U 0 0
0 ETH1
127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0
0 1o
0.0.0.0 65.92.235.1 0.0.0.0 ug 0 0
0 ppp0


so now I hope I put enought info to get help and finnaly connect to the net via linux...cause last night ou of desperration ..I reinstall win xp ..to have access to the net ...everithing whent ok ...until I log on the net ...just to get the damn message that my machine will be shut down due to error in window ...yep i got there damn virus ...and they say its the best of both world ....yhea right ....

you don't look connected, so far, you should have a "ppp0" interface that is your DSL too.

are you sure you installed a PPPoE dialer programm? Like rp-pppoe.

guess what ! last night out of desperrarion whit microsoft win xp viruse that a cant fix ..I switch to mandrake ..then a gite it a try..one more time ..previously I add reinstalle mandrake whit xp..so I boot mandrake ..open a console do my adsl-start ..open a browser ..then i change the address to http://www.sympatico.ca..just like date ...well it work ..then a got to surf on the web whit my new mandrake machine running ...i'm in even ...I probably din't install the pppo properly the first few time ..but now it seem to whork just fine ..

so half-elf I would like to thank you for your support and help ..and I'm happy to be part of the beautyfull linux world ...

and they are still people out there who think that there are no life after microsoft ..poor them ....

but now that I think of it ..there is one thing i did do different this time ...on instalation I said no to a firewall ...maybe that's the reason ?

I know how Ray66 felt. I'm also trying to coax Mandrake 9.1 into connecting. But his no-firewall trick didn't work for me.

I'm pretty sure that my ethernet card is being recognized (the famous Realtek 8139), but that's as far as I can get.

I'm dual-booting with Win98 and having no problem connecting the Windows side. No router--just me and my Westell Wirespeed hooking up to Verizon DSL.

I've been following this thread and trying the ideas and diagnostics people have recommended, but I'm still stumped. If anyone is willing to take a look, I've got a file of ifconfig and other info.

This newbie will appreciate any help he can get. Thanks

G.

(By the way--a young tech person on the Verizon.net help line told me that they're not allowed to offer Linux help!)