Mandrake Linux Is Random
 

Mandrake Linux is acting completely random with my internet connection. Atleast Windows in consistent most of the time. When I turn my computer on, I notice my internet connection is as slow as a turtle, Sometimes I don't have internet at all and I look at my /etc/resolv.conf~ file ( Which says:

search Comast.net
nameserver
nameserver

The name servers have numbers after them( usually )

However, my /etc/resolv.conf file has the following in it

search homeland.net

When I copy paste what's in my /etc/resolv.conf~ in it, I can "usually" ( Mandrake Linux is random ) get a internet connection. It's extremely slow, but google still loads after thirty seconds. So I looked this up, and found out I need to add

alias net-pf-10 off

to my /etc/modprobe.conf file, So I did, I reboot, and my /etc/resolv.conf~ file is back to homeland.net, So I change it, but the internet doesn't take affect, so I reboot, and sure enough it's homeland.net again, So I change it to comcast, and the internet works this time, and it's about 60% faster, So I'm thinking cool, I got it.

NOT

I go get a coke and come back and see that my connection is GONE again, so I reboot, and homeland.net does it's usual, I change it to Comcast but this time it doesn't get any better, The internet is still slow

No one has answered my questions previously, So I doubt it will happen this time. What do I need to do to keep /etc/resolv.conf from changing back and screwing me over constantly?!

And, Is adding alias net-pf-10 off to /etc/module.conf do anything?

I'm using Gnome, Mandrake 10 Community, Comcast is the ISP, Cable modem.

I'll give you my right leg if you can fix my problem :cry:

DHCPD Is Failing
Eth0 Is Failing

I'm also geting a
"Validating Rules file"
"Error, Undefined client zone in rule "redirect masq 3128 tcp www-"

Heh? Everything but internet is working fine.. Is this stuff failing doing anything????

The resolve.conf is written by the DHCP client when the network service is started. There are 3 different clients that you could be using. You may want to re-run the Network setup wizards and the Firewall wizard. One of them has an option on which DHCP client you want to use.

Okay, I'll re do my connections... Do I need to enable "Internet Connection Sharing" ? I just have a Windows XP ( geting internet fine ) Mandrake Linux.. linked by a router

If you connect through a router, you don't need to do ICS with either computer. The router should be doing that for you. Mine does. If you want to, you can simply set the computers up to connect with DHCP and they should get online. AFAIK, Comcast is the same as any other cable ISP and simply gives you an IP when you turn on your computer. Thus, you should be technically connected to the net when you fire up your router. If DHCP is giving you trouble, why don't you also try static IPs for the two computers. That's what I have done, for other reasons, but it works well. ( I use cable too - Rogers)

How do I switch my connection to Static on the Windows XP?

And, Should I reboot the modem/router once I switch?

Actually..heres a new and more important question..

When I go to "Manage Connections" My Netmask is set to "No Mask" And my Gateway is empty too.. My netmask should be 255.255.255.0 (Right?) and I'm not sure what the gateway is.

Using DHCP.

Gateway is the IP of the router. My Linksys was set to 192.168.1.1. Many are also set to 192.168.0.1. The XP box, you just change in the TCP/IP section of the net connection properties from "obtain an IP address automatically" to "use this address" and fill in one from the same IP range as your router uses. So, 192.168.x.x matches itself. 10.x.x.x, 172.x.x.x. Thes would be the "private" ranges you'd be exposed to. So, if your router is 192.168.0.1, you'd fill that in as the gateway. Pick an IP in that range for each of the boxes. Say 192.168.0.15 for one and 192.168.0.20 for the other. Netmask for 192.168.x.x and 10.x.x.x is 255.255.255.0 (dunno about the third one - I never have used it - most puters I have hooked up is 3 at a time - don't need 750+ IP's)

OR

If you're going to use DHCP, you don't need to fill in a netmask. DHCP will seek out the IP and netmask together from your router, same as its doing to get your "real" IP from Comcast. Just fill in the IP of the router as the gateway (and it may be required to put in as DNS, but not likely).

Thanks, I think i'm going to do a new fresh install of Mandrake Linux just to start over ( When the box comes up that asks what I want to install i.e Game Station, LSB, KDE ect ) Do I need to check the Firewall/router box?

Also, when you set up your connection was the internet slow? And if so, did you change the module and the modprobe files or just one or the other?..

Okay.. So I reinstalled Mandrake, Set up a LAN connection, DHCP, But in my "Manage Connections" The Netmask and the IP address are both marked "No IP" and "No Mask"

I looked in my files for anything that might be different, and I found

#ppp temp entry

In my /etc/resolv.conf

Any ideas? No internet connection at all now

You don't need to check the firewall if you don't want to. It can be done if you feel like it, but you've got the router and its a good firewall in its own right. If you use a fairly good root password and run as a user unless necessary, you'll likely be fine. But you can install the firewall if you feel like it.

BTW, if you want more choice in what's not installed, you may want to check off that little box on the bottom to select individual packages, you can go through the list that the big "category" chose for you and eliminate what you know you don't want installed. Just a thought.

My Linksys ethernet card wasn't slow, but I have had a few glitches when the 2.6 kernel first came out. That's overwith now, though.

timing is everyithing....
 

Looks like we were writing at the same time...

What is the output of lsmod? Is the module for your network card loaded?

"What is the output of lsmod? Is the module for your network card loaded?"

Erm, I'm really sorry, i'm a real
:newbie:

here, How exactly would I find this information out?

Open a terminal window. Log in as root - "su". Type your root password. Type "lsmod". Copy the output. Paste it here. :D Can you do the same for "lspci" while you're at it (just whatever looks like your ethernet card, actually). I await...

Module Size Used by
nls_iso8859-1 3904 1
nls_cp850 4736 1
vfat 13760 1
fat 45120 1 vfat
sd_mod 16800 0
md5 3872 1
ipv6 232352 6
sg 38044 0
sr_mod 17060 0
cs4281 51808 1
soundcore 9248 2 cs4281
af_packet 20520 0
hid 53312 0
ide-floppy 18752 0
ide-tape 34864 0
ide-cd 40548 0
cdrom 37184 2 sr_mod,ide-cd
floppy 59444 1
ipt_TOS 2240 12
ipt_REJECT 6464 4
ipt_LOG 5312 6
ipt_state 1728 12
ipt_multiport 1856 0
ipt_conntrack 2304 0
iptable_filter 2624 1
iptable_mangle 2624 1
iptable_nat 23116 0
ip_conntrack 31152 3 ipt_state,ipt_conntrack,iptable_nat
ip_tables 16704 9 ipt_TOS,ipt_REJECT,ipt_LOG,ipt_state,ipt_multiport,ipt_conntrack,iptable_filter,iptable_mangle,iptab le_nat
tulip 45248 0
supermount 37876 1
intel-agp 17372 1
agpgart 31016 1 intel-agp
ppa 12296 0
parport_pc 32832 0
imm 12360 0
scsi_mod 114744 5 sd_mod,sg,sr_mod,ppa,imm
parport 38952 3 ppa,parport_pc,imm
uhci-hcd 29104 0
usbcore 99132 4 hid,uhci-hcd
rtc 11576 0
ext3 110376 2
jbd 54328 1 ext3


There is lsmod... Ispci wasn't recognized as a command, Sorry for long respond, had trouble finding a darn floppy disk

Oops. That was "L"spci. That tells what your PCI hardware is, as read when booting up (the true hardware chip lookups, so to speak)

From your lsmod output, I surmise you have a Network card from the DEC 410xx model family. The "tulip" module is loaded (Isame as the Linksys bastard I use - which is a clone of that chip family). LSPCI (in lower case) will tell you for sure if that's right, whcih it likely is. I also see that you enabled the firewall stuff too. If you're not online with all that, I can't help you, as I haven't enabled a software firewall since I got my router (I forget that stuff). Others here will know exactly what to do.

Aside, I see you have something IPV6 enabled. That's not really necessary, as almost no internet servers will be using that protocol soon.

If you can disable the firewall with Mandrake Control Center, it may be a good idea, to see if you're actually configured to be online. If so, you can figure out what the firewall is blocking that prevents you surfing away, so to speak.

Thanks for your help.. Would you reccomend reinstalling Mandrake and not checking the "firewall/router" box? That might be causing my problems?

If you wish, but you can likely remove the firewall with RPMDrake. Up to you. I'd disable the firewall to see if you could get connected and work from there

I finished reinstalling Mandrake Linux. I'm still not geting a internet connection, but I think it has something to do with my /etc/resolv.conf and /etc/resolv.conf~ files being empty... What exactly should be in these?

/etc/resolv.conf~ is the "backup" from when it was modified. If you're using DHCP, put in a line like thisin the /etc/resolv.conf file.

Okay, I finally got Eth0 to work, It's doing something it's never done before, Before it OK's, it does something like

Sending probe 3 for 255.255.255.127
Sending probe 1 for 255.255.255.127
Claiming ownership over 255.255.255.127
Watching for collisions

( Starting Up Internet Connection does the same thing, but they both "OK" )

I checked my /etc/resolv.conf file, Which had the following in it

search Comcast.net
nameserver 63.240.76.4
nameserver 204.127.198.4

/etc/resolv.conf~ is empty. Should I erase one of these name server lines and put
nameserver 198.162.1.1 ( My router ) In it? or?...

No. Leave them there. If you're connecting with DHCP, your DNS info is being sought and written to that file as you boot up. Its perfectly ok. The next reboot of your machine will probably populate /etc/resolv.conf~ with what's in /etc/resolv.conf.

That's just the way linux "backs up" config files that are modified. For example, I usually tweak my /etc/X11/XF86Config file (AKA XF86Config-4 or Xorg.conf) because when my Rage 128 Pro is recognized, the driver runs the card at 1x AGP, when it's capable of 4x. My motherboard only supports 2x, so I force it to enable at 2x instead of 1x. When finished, I still have a /etc/X11/XF86Config file (which is the modified one) and now I have /etc/X11/XF86Config~, which is the old file before the modification. If the new file is crap, you can always remane the old one and you're back where you were.Does that make sense?

I'm not geting an internet connection still.. As soon as I try to enter an address It can't be found, While before it would look for it for 20-25 seconds before it told me it couldn't be found.

Heres my ifconfig ( On my linux ) I didn't copy my old one when internet was working, and was slow, but this one looks alot different....

taeth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:80:C6:EB:33:34
inet6 addr: fe80::280:c6ff:feeb:3334/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:18 errors:1322 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:2031
TX packets:82 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:4620 (4.5 Kb) TX bytes:18396 (17.9 Kb)
Interrupt:9 Base address:0x3000

eth0:9 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:80:C6:EB:33:34
inet addr:127.255.255.255 Bcast:127.255.255.255 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Interrupt:9 Base address:0x3000

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:73 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:73 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:4918 (4.8 Kb) TX bytes:4918 (4.8 Kb)




And heres my lsmod, because i'm bored :P

Module Size Used by
sd_mod 16800 0
md5 3872 1
ipv6 232352 6
sg 38044 0
sr_mod 17060 0
cs4281 51808 1
soundcore 9248 2 cs4281
af_packet 20520 2
hid 53312 0
ide-floppy 18752 0
ide-tape 34864 0
ide-cd 40548 0
cdrom 37184 2 sr_mod,ide-cd
floppy 59444 0
ipt_TOS 2240 12
ipt_REJECT 6464 4
ipt_LOG 5312 6
ipt_state 1728 12
ipt_multiport 1856 0
ipt_conntrack 2304 0
iptable_filter 2624 1
iptable_mangle 2624 1
iptable_nat 23116 0
ip_conntrack 31152 3 ipt_state,ipt_conntrack,iptable_nat
ip_tables 16704 9 ipt_TOS,ipt_REJECT,ipt_LOG,ipt_state,ipt_multiport,ipt_conntrack,iptable_filter,iptable_mangle,iptab le_nat
tulip 45248 0
supermount 37876 1
intel-agp 17372 1
agpgart 31016 1 intel-agp
ppa 12296 0
parport_pc 32832 0
imm 12360 0
scsi_mod 114744 5 sd_mod,sg,sr_mod,ppa,imm
parport 38952 3 ppa,parport_pc,imm
uhci-hcd 29104 0
usbcore 99132 4 hid,uhci-hcd
rtc 11576 0
ext3 110376 2
jbd 54328 1 ext3

The tulip module is being loaded, so you must have either a DEC 410xx or a clone, or the module loaded is wrong. What's lspci say about your eth card?

"L"spci isn't showing up as a command in gnome terminal.

I have a Macronix, Inc MXIC 1MX987x5 Net device.

On this page, it seems that the author has trouble with your type of card too. It hangs. This might be a module problem. The correct module for the card seems to be the tulip, but he's having trouble too.

You may need to be root to gat lspci info.

1. When you open up a terminal and su in as root use this command

su -

and then type in your root password. The hyphen will give you root's environment when you log in. It will put /sbin in your path, among other things, so that when you type lspci it will find it in /sbin/lspci. If you simply type

su

and then enter your password you are logged in as root but with the environment of the person you were when you typed su.

2. To keep your /etc/resolv.conf from being overwritten add this line

PEERDNS=no

to the appropriate ifcfg file. If your ethernet card is device eth0 then the file to add that line to is /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0.

Oh well... I think I'm going to try mandrake linux some other time. What is the best way to reinstall windows? Do I need to reinstall the bootloader? and if so, how?

Throw in the disk and follow the prompts...