[vox-tech] Re: troubleshooting internet connection

[Robin Snyder]

> > I came back from the Installfest very happy to finally have X running
> > (thanks, Mike!) but now have no internet connection.  I'm sure it's
> > something stupid, but I can't figure out what.
> >
> > My setup: I'm on a fixed IP address, using a DSL line.  I have two
> > ethernet cards.
> >
> > What I've checked so far: I'm pretty sure I'm plugged into the
> > correct ethernet card.  I know the DSL box works, because I can use
> > my housemate's computer to get to the net.  The ethernet cable should
> > be fine because it was working at the Installfest.  There's nothing
> > amiss that I can see in either dmesg or /var/log/syslog.
> > netstat -rn gives me the correct IP address but Gateway is listed
simply as
> > 0.0.0.0.  However, that strikes me more as symptom than cause.  What
> > other probes can I use to figure out what's gone wrong?

> it appears that you don't have DNS for some reason...
>
> to clarify, you need to get the IP address for a nameserver or two into
> /etc/resolv.conf -- if your ethernet configuration was/is hard-coded you
> can do this by directly modify the file; if you/someone used a fancy gui
> tool to configure the interface you'll need to use that tool.  the required
> contents of the file are simple, e.g.,
> first line: "search somedomainname.net"
> second line: "nameserver 1.2.3.4"
> modified to reflect the specifics of your provider, of course.

I don't think this is the problem.  While I'm able to ping the IP
address for yahoo successfully, I can't ping the IP of my machine at
UC Davis.  I should say that I was able to connect successfully to
both IP addresses and named machines before, so this is unlikely to be
a configuration issue.  (Just to be sure, I checked /etc/resolv.conf.
I search ucdavis.edu, and the nameserver has a plausible IP address.)
I did notice that when the machine is booting up, it says IPchains:
protocol not available.  (I doubt that's it, but I don't really
understand IP chains, so I thought I'd mention it.)  Incidentally, the
problem isn't a down server at Davis.  I'm using my housemate's
machine to connect to UCD to send this message.

			- robin.