I am looking to get an alternative os to windows. I have heard about linux. I like the concept. But every single time without exception linux has me pulling my hair out saying "I never had this problem with windows!!!"

ELX looks really good. I installed the 597MB version from the webpage alongside my Win98SE and I was impressed. I have tried Mandrake, Redhat, Lycoris, Debian... now ELX. Everything recognized right off the bat... sound... monitor... hardware... everything.. or so I thought. Good! So let's try Mozilla. The package wasn't found. That's cool, there are other browsers here.

But soon I recognized it didn't detect my sis900 onboard ethernet card. Major problem. I must have internet on my OS. So I read around other forums and it looked like some linuxes don't like onboard SIS cards. Odd, I thought, but no sweat. I'll just throw in my Linksys 10/100 network everywhere PCI card and everything will be just peachy right?

WRONG.

It still doesn't detect my network cards (either of them) and I noticed in the bootup sequence it says "checking for eth-0" long pause..... FAILED. Cannot determine IP address. Does this have anything to do with my router?

So I got the 2 cd version elx linux from a friend. I figured since for whatever reason the package couldn't find mozilla, perhaps I had a corrupt install. o.k., 2 cd elx linux, I'll install this, I'll have Mozilla, it'll detect my network card, we'll be in business and windows is history for me. Right on.

Nope. The minute xserver started up from bootup my monitor got possessed. Totally unreadable, static up and down the screen, no v-hold, nothing. Whatever resolution and refresh rate it was detecting (obviously different than the other version because the other version worked) was horribly horribly wrong. I can't read it, so I can't install.

So once again linux has me pulling out my hair. Why can't I get a distribution to work like I need it to? Redhat and Mandrake are great but they don't recognize my sound. Debian doesn't like my hardware at all, lycoris for whatever reason doesn't install at all. ELX is soooo close to being the ultimate linux system ever. But the internet must work. Does anybody have any ideas, or should I delete the linux partition for more windows space?

Sorry for venting, but linux had always promised me so much, but never came through. I am hoping this is the last stop in searching for an alternative OS. But so far linux annoys me.

I am sure that that hardware will work, when you had it booting and looking for the ip address for eth0 it just needed to be configured.


So where are you at now? Are you going to install one of the distros and get it working or what?



In the first case the fix would probably be this

with the linksys it will be this


if you don't have dhcp on the network do this instead of dhcpcd
(ip numbers my need to be different for your network)

then add the name servers to /etc/resolv.conf

Where am I supposed to be altering this exactly?

I went to the control panel and then to network configuration. Here's where things get dicey and I don't understand exactly. I use DHCP on the network so really all that I should need for net access is to "enable DHCP" and then it should work. Workgroup and netbios name should only be for network shares which I don't use. This doesn't produce any results.

So I went back to Win98 did a winipcfg, copied down all of that information and tried statically assigning an ip address. Some sucess. The adapter obtained an ip address and it went through the startup without failing a test. AWESOME!

But it still doesn't work. I still can't go to any webpages. AARRRGH!!

Thanks for the help, but I still do not get it.

oh so you have networking going already

try to use dhcp first

in a command console try this

if that fails just set the ip manually again,
then just put the nameservers in /etc/resolv.conf
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx = your ip address
yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy = default gateway ip address

Thanks for the help Dave, I'll try it a little later today (I've been fiddling with the $@# thing for 2 hours straight). Do you think the router is interfering at all?

I would think that it's not if a windows box setup for dhcp works without anything special being done to it, then just running dhcpcd should do it.


the reason why you cannot open web pages after setting the ip address would be the lack of a nameserver in the /etc/resolv.conf file

the beauty of linux is that you do the work, and you will learn the OS.
windows is system that even a foul can use and only fouls will use.

ELX didn't recognize the command "dhcpcd". That's odd. I have another monitor here that worked with the 2 cd version. I'll give it another crack when I get back from vacation, because I snapped the ELX 1 cd version out of frustration.

I disagree balam. For an OS to be sucessful it MUST NECESSARILY be so easy a fool could use it. It's imperative. Most of the people on this planet have no damn clue how their system works, they just want the easiest fastest way to email, internet and office their way to whatever they have to do. Most importantly IT HAS TO WORK!! It must require 0 configuration on the users end. Do you think the average joe knows what DHCP is? A linux kernel? Editing a file in /etc/bin What again? Where??? How?

I see tremendous power in linux, but until it reaches the usability and point and double clickity click click of windows, Bill Gates owns linux 24-7. If it can't cater to the masses of computer illerate people on this planet, it will remain a tool for technophiles.

I think there's a little bit of Linux in all of us.
I wonder what distro Bill is using these days.