Cannot connect to internet through Lan..

**geokok** · 11-19-2005, 02:13 AM

Hi....i am a newbie in linux. I wouldn't be one but every time i tried to install or run a live cd somethings just wouldn't work...well please don't let this be one of those times again.
I have the latest version of knoppix (4.02 I think).
As usual the problem is:
1. No internet

I have been trying for some time now to fix them but i had no luck so far. I ll provide some details here, hoping that u can help me become a linux user as well.....Please FEEL FREE to ask any additional information u might need...ANYTHING at all...

1. Internet
I am connected to the internet through my university's lan network. In windows all I had to do was go to another (already connected pc), register my mac address, change my computer's name and workgroup, plug the lan cable on the wall and that was all......
However in knoppix although in the initial loading (text) screen I see that it says "network card found eth0. Broadcast (backgrounding)" I can not connect to the internet. Using network card configuration from the GUI, if I say "yes" when it asks about dhcp (the very first question) it ALWAYS says failed after a while. I did try to set up manually based on settings taken from windows "ipconfig/all" and although i tried many things (not sure they were the right ones though) I still couldn't connect. Just to be sure the card was indeed found I tried to set up a dsl connection (I dont have one, I did it just to see what it would say) I got the message that my device was the eth0. Also I could get feedback from ifconfig list eth0 (not sure about the command now...).

My hardware:
I use a Clevo laptop which is quite new model. P2.0 mobile cpu, ati x700 intel wireless, card reader, bluetooth, pcmcia input, Irda. For the network adapter I know it's a Marvell Yukon someting and for the sound all i know is that is realtech (hd I believe....)

Note: Knoppix will boot only with "nopcmcia" parameter
Note 2: In windows ipconfig/all it says : dhcp activated: YES
.................................................. ........Automatic setup activated: YES

**Harry Kuhman** · 11-19-2005, 02:16 AM

http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16574

**geokok** · 11-19-2005, 02:20 AM

I guess I have to apologize...I just got carried away and wanted everything solved...Anyway my main concern is the internet so I ll modify my post and ask for the sound somewhere else....Again sorry,,,,I hope it's ok now..

**Harry Kuhman** · 11-19-2005, 02:28 AM

Originally Posted by geokok

...Anyway my main concern is the internet so I ll modify my post and ask for the sound somewhere else...

Yes, edit your post; change the subject line to something useful.

No, don't ask "somewhere else"; this is the right forum; but as I tried to make clear the issue is using a subject line that is completely useless, not where you posted. When I started complaining about this peopole would respond with the flawed logic "everyone else does it", so now I make it a point of responding with this link whenever I see a generic uninformative subject line.

**geokok** · 11-19-2005, 03:13 AM

This is the fourth distribution I have tried the last weeks and this will be the fourth community forum from which I won't be getting ANY answer at all.
I was under the impression that linux communities are very supportive. Furthermore problems like mine that seem huge to me aren't like "a piece of cake" for regular users like yourselves??
Well I guess it is not fair to complain for this forum yet since my message has been posted only for a short period of time....
But I am afraid that the same pattern with other forums will repeat here as well... If u dont get an answer soon u dont get an answer at all.
I am not trying to pull off any tricks or make an impression here....just saying what I ve seen so far...

**Harry Kuhman** · 11-19-2005, 03:34 AM

Originally Posted by geokok

This is the fourth distribution I have tried the last weeks and this will be the fourth community forum from which I won't be getting ANY answer at all.r...

Well, if all your past posts in the other forums used uninformative subject lines like you first used here, that's not unusual. Now that you have started using subject lines that actually give an idea of what you are posting about that may change.

Originally Posted by geokok

In windows all I had to do was go to another (already connected pc), register my mac address, change my computer's name and workgroup, plug the lan cable on the wall and that was all......

when it asks about dhcp (the very first question) it ALWAYS says failed after a while. I did try to set up manually based on settings taken from windows "ipconfig/all" and although i tried many things (not sure they were the right ones though) I still couldn't connect.

It's not clear (at least to me) what type of system you are connecting to that you would do the setup steps for. So you might want to ask the network people that run your network if they have any help to offer for running Linux, they very likely will be able to give you good answers quickly.

Normally Knoppix will get it's setup by DHCP. If DHCP is not working for you, you likely can plug in the configuration information by running natcardconfig from a shell and answering the DHCP question NO. Then it will ask for all of the information that you have from the windows ipconfig. By the way, the Linux version of ipconfig is ifconfig, which you can use to see how you are set up in Linux. And see man ifconfig and man netcardconfig for more details.

**geokok** · 11-19-2005, 03:45 AM

Well to give u an idea I am living in accomodation provided by the university. They offer internet to every room for every student through lan. It is their official position "to support only windows. Mac and linux may require adjustments from you...." even though they use a novell server to run their clusters......
Anyway I have already tried "no" to dhcp and i did try to set it manually but somehow i just cant get it to work,,,,maybe i am putting something the wrong way......For example, I get pretty much everything that is needed from ipconfig/all but I don't get a broadcast address...I tried various things but no luck so far.......Is there anything from my settings I could tell u that might help to break through this????I am really becoming desparate here...I try to use as much open source as possible and I cant run linux (I ve been trying for years BUT i never had the "proper" hardware....).

**Harry Kuhman** · 11-19-2005, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by geokok

... It is their official position "to support only windows. Mac and linux may require adjustments from you...."

Anyway I have already tried "no" to dhcp and i did try to set it manually but ....

While I do understand that they can't hand-hold everyone with every different OS they can come up with, I would think that it is extremely likely that someone on the support staff could answer a few questions for you and has likely seen this many times before. And, given that one way or another you are the one paying for this I don't think it's unreasonable that you shoud expect some answers; it's much more unreasonable that they would have a system that can easily be used by only Microsoft customers.

However, I would also suggest that you post what settings you are seeing on a windows system and what settings you are putting into netcardconfig. It's very likely that if this is a settings issue someone here will spot the setting that needs to be changed for you. Without that information I don't see what you could expect us to do.

I have also seen one unusual report of a MAC address that changed between Windows and Linux! This is certainly not the normal case; it never has happened on any of my systems and I don't expect it is happening on your system either. But I believe the report and it never was posted back what was causing it, so there is a chance (although very very small) that since your system needs a MAC address it could be seeing a different one when you boot Linux than when you boot Windows. Just something to keep an eye out for.

**geokok** · 11-19-2005, 04:27 PM

I deleted the ip settings cause the problem is obviously on the card.

**geokok** · 11-19-2005, 05:19 PM

Ok I have the REASON for the problem!!!!
With netconfig -a in knoppix the results that came back were a big surprise!!!
The mac-address (which my guess is that it is the same thing as HWaddress right??) was the same.......with the mac- address of my laptop's wireless card!!!!
I tried to switch off wirelless before knoppix would load (from the switch on the laptop) but then the mac-address was full of zeros.....
So the ONLY device seen as eth0 by knoppix is my wireless card????
What am I supposed to do now???This is getting to deep for my skills.......
I thought that ethernet connections were standard for linux and that wirelless was always the problem...and I get the other way around....Does tux has something personal with me?????