Hello:

I hope someone out there can help me. I just installed debian unstable from the knoppix cd 3.9. This is the secobd time all this is happening on two separate machines and two separate intalls. I really think there is something in the KNOPPIX install process to the hard drive that is not smooth in terms of making the network aspect work ok. And I am having all sorts of network problems. Here is what is happening:

1) The system was hanging on booting on YP/NIS because it was allocating a server to KNOPPIX. I removed that problem by renaming the nis script and changing it to be non-executable. I didn't know where to stop the system from reading the nis script.

2) The system hanged on shutdown because of smbd and nmbd. My solution: use synaptic to uninstall samba.

3) This is the most insidious of all. Knoppix installs BOTH DHCP3 and pump and both are somehow intefering with each other. My solution: use synaptic to uninstall dhcp3.

4) Now, I am really stuck. The system boots ok. But, when I logon, the desktop hangs and won't give me a desktop. If I logon in console mode, kill the network, it will logon to give me a desktop. Come on !! This is frustrating.

a) my /etc/hosts is fine.
b) my /etc/resolv.conf is fine. All the nameservers and search paths have been found.
c) my /etc/network/interfaces is fine. It resembles what is out there on the internet.

I am sure this is due to glitches in the Knoppix install of debian. Why, for example, when I kill the network, can I get the desktop? What is it that makes the boot to the desktop hang when the network is running. Why did the nis script as installed by Knoppix point to some Knoppix server which didn't exist and then hand my system?

Look, all I did was to boot the Knoppix 3.9 CD, become root and execute the command knoppix-installer. This is a dual-boot system; I go this to work OK. I am not a Linux expert, but I have a lot of experience with this sort of thing and know when something is wrong with the install process.

A. R. Rossi