Best Version of Linux for Me

[SpankySTD]

i still cant get red hat to get online...it finds my network card but nothing! if anyone can help, plz holla.... untouchablemike5 on aim, 9852854106 on cell... thanks

[SpankySTD]

BUMP BUMP BUMP, BUMPIDTY BUMP BUMP.....

i still cant get linux on line, finds my card still, but no connection, the card shows a orange light but not a green one for the connection, i can also access my network but just cant connect! HELLLLLPPPPP

[gowator]

what distro are you trying from ???

Id start off with knoppix and see if you can get online,

you haven't said either which card (DSL/modem etc.)

first Id try knoppix live then if yuor happy Id
a) Do a HD install
b) install Debian from netinstall (a bit harder)
c) install kanotix which is a knoppix deriviative BUT more standard debian once its installed. It doesnt make sense to try and learn your first distro with knoppix as a HD install becuase its not designed for it.

If all you wanna do is the same as Windows its fine but for some of the more advanced stuff its a pain to get it behaving like a real debian install.

nothing wrong with slack ... and if you go that route I'd also start off with a live CD becuase you cant accidentally wreck anything while learning!

[SpankySTD]

well it works under knoppix and std. but when i got into Red Hat, it wont work, i can access my network files but no connection. im on a 4mb connection, dsl. regular linksys wireless-g hub and running a cable right to it like normally... so i dunno...
I went to Red Hat... but if it seems borring, should i just format the hd and do a different distro?

[eco2geek]

According to one of my books there should be an applet in RH9 called Network Device Control, under System Tools. If you only have one ethernet card, it'll probably show up as a device named "eth0", and its status should show as "Active". You can configure it by highlighting it and choosing "Configure..." (for example, to set it to use DHCP).

Does that help?

[SpankySTD]

already did that, its active and its set for the auto ip. still no twirkage...

[eco2geek]

Rats & mice. Does DSL mean you get a static IP, or do you use DHCP? (I'm on a cable connection and it uses DHCP.)

Couple of other things to try: Can you ping your router or another computer on your local LAN? (For example, using the command ping 192.168.0.1, replacing the IP address with your router's IP address. Press Ctrl+C to stop the pinging.) Does the output of the ifconfig command indicate that your Ethernet connection is running?

[SpankySTD]

i did that, and it does show that its running because it pings at 64 byters... but still no luck on what to do for a connection...

[eco2geek]

OK, so you know your equipment is working correctly. Obviously, this is over my head, so please head on over to the Configuring Linux section of the DSL HOWTO (also available at the Linux Documentation Project).

This quote may be relevant to your situation:

"If you are subscribing with one of the Baby Bells in the U.S., you can count on [the ISP's implementation] being PPPoE, and thus you will need a PPPoE client."

[garyng]

if you can ping your router(better post the ping result here), the only thing that would stop you from accessing the net is DNS setting. try ping a known site like www.yahoo.com.