I have spent the last few hours trying ot find the answer to this one. I just build a new linux box using LFS as a base. It is on my network and can ping by IP address just fine. Also if I put the site I want into my hosts file I can get to it without a problem. However if I don't have it in my hosts file and I try to ping or otherwise use a site by domain name it fails with uknown host. I have used nslookup server and got the following:

Default server: 127.0.0.1
Address: 127.0.0.1

I know this is where my problem is but I can't seem to fix it. I have the correct dns entries in my resolve.conf file
my nsswitch.conf has:

hosts: files dns

What else would be helpful to figure this out or please give me a solution. All my other machines (Mepis based) are working perfectly.

Try to edit /etc/resolv.conf and put in your ISPs or networks DNS servers.

edit..


Just to point out there is is no "E" in that file name..

Just guessing here, but that's a typo above, right? Your DNS servers should be listed in /etc/resolv.conf (without the "e").

As I stated in my first post I have the correct DNS entries in my resolve.conf file. That was the first thing I checked.

you picked up on it. Thanks. my resolv.conf file was named resolve.conf. once I renamed it everything worked. Guess 3 days of working on this machine made my eyes tired. Thanks again.