I have read the other threads related to my issue, but i think i have lost my whole brain!!!! lol....i couldnt follow. If possible, could someone please assist me. step by step...if anyone has the time and patience to help a computer challenged person as myself. thanks

I'm sure there will be enough patience in all of us as long as there's some willingness in you as well It would be helpful, though, if you could describe the problem in MUCH more details.

Let's start with the following:

1. Which distro
2. Wireless or Wired?
3. Are you connected through a router?
4. What's the output of ifconfig and iwconfig?

And some more depending on your answers to the above.

ok...let me see if i can answer these question.
1. which distro...(i dont know), where would i go to check the distro?
2. wireless or wired....i am trying to connect wired to ubuntu. (i also have enlightenment or enlightment installed (macpup) where i can connect to the internet with no problem)
3.connected with a router? no i am connected with a modem
4. What's the output of ifconfig and iwconfig? now i dont know what the output for those are...how do i find the output?
I will try as hard as i can to assist you with whatever info you need. thanks

OK, you seem to be running Ubuntu (that's what you mentioned in the title). To identify which release(eg. 10.04, 10.10, 11.04, etc.), please have a look at this article and report back.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ch...rUbuntuVersion

The typical method would be:

1. use an ethernet cable to connect your computer's network card to the modem
2. turn on computer
3. surf the web!

Have you tried this simple basic method yet? If so, what were the results/errors?

@snowpine...i have tried the simple way of connecting and it doesnt work for ubuntu...
@sycamorex..i will look at the article and report back in a few min.

Hmmm, do you have another operating system on the computer (like dual-boot with Windows)? If so:

4. Try steps 1-3 from Windows.

I have Ubuntu 12.04 lts

What does the connection manager say? See the screenshot here:
http://www.sitepoint.com/ubuntu-12-0...ps-and-tricks/

Alternatively, what is the ouput of ifconfig (from the command line interface). Just type 'ifconfig' and post the resulting messages.

This is what is says when I type ifconfig
Etho link encap:Ethernet header 00:c0:a8:85:5a:56
. inet addr:192.168.1.117 Bcast:192.186.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
. inet6 addr:fe80::2c0:a8ff:fe85:5a56/64 Scope:Link
. UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
. Rx packets:68 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
. Tx packets:402 errors:0 drooped:0 overruns:0 carriers:0
. collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
. Rx bytes:6340 (6.3 KB). TX bytes:30040 (30.0 KB)
. Interrupt:17 Base address:0xc000

Lo. Link encap:Local Loopback
. inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
. inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
. UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 METRIC:1
. RX packets:185 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
. Tx packets:185 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
. collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
. RX bytes:15845 (15.8 KB) TX bytes:15845 (15.8KB)........
Sorry for the long pause...im having to type everything out. Lol

When I type iwconfig it says lo no wireless extensions and eth0 no wireless connections

What's the output of these commands?

When I right click on the connection information it says (error displaying connection information: no valid active connections found)

when I typed ping -c www.google.com it said command not found and the same for .8.8.8.8
When I typed hostname its response was ubuntu

@snowpine...i have enlightenment also installed on my desktop. That is how I get online now, I like the way Ubuntu works, just can't get online