I have both Windows and Linux on my machine, but Linux won''t access the internet. I like the idea of Linux, but it isn''t much good without the ''net. Linux detects my network hardware (integrated ethernet by Realtek), and it says it sends packets but doesn''t recieve any. Another computer at my house with the same internet settings and different hardware accesses the internet fine. When I installed Linux, it also detected my graphics card as a Rage instead of a Radeon 9000. I have a good DSL connection and don''t mind big downloads, does anyone have a suggestion of a very compatible version of Linux?

Since you''re using a DSL connection, have you set up pppoe yet? Or are you connected to a router, in which case, have you tried DHCP?

What distribution are you using?

quote: Original post by nagromo
Linux detects my network hardware (integrated ethernet by Realtek), and it says it sends packets but doesn''t recieve any.
...
I have a good DSL connection and don''t mind big downloads, does anyone have a suggestion of a very compatible version of Linux?

I have Mandrake (8.2?). No router, just network hub connected to my computer and the DSL modem. I didn''t set up any new modules, but neither did my dad on the other computer, and it works. One other thing might be that I got the internet connected after I installed Linux. I went into a network control panel and set it up. It kept wanting to set to the wrong IP address. It seemed to auto-detect a random, incorrect address for the gateway (DSL modem, at my.ip.add.0). It said it sent many packets but got none back.

Thanks at all the help, this board seems much more friendly than others I have used.

I never had any problem with networking on Linux, primarily RedHat distros. You might want to try a sniffer (eg. Etereal) to see what is going on.

Oh, yeah, I have had one problem: the MTU (Max Transfer Unit). DSL modems adds an extra header around IP packets, so they sometimes get too big. The default is usually 1500 (maximum allowed), in which case setting it to something like 1410 can help. See the man page for ifconfig, and/or google for it.

You need to connect your dsl modem to a router. Simply connecting it to a hub/switch will not work to allow you to use multiple computers.

The AP is correct. Your windows is probably set up to use Windows Connection Sharing or some crap like that.

fixing this is complicated. just get a nice $25 router

Actually it depends on the number of IP addresses your ISP gives you... I get 2 IPs so I _could_ connect 2 computers through just a switch/hub.

If that''s the problem buying a router is probably the easiest solution. You _can_ set up your Linux computer to do IP masquerading, (if you get 2 NICs for it), but I wouldn''t recommend this unless you have a pretty good understanding of Linux to start with...

it doesn''t even need two NICs. the hub setup will work.

the hassle is that the linux box needs to be on for the windows box to get net access after all the setup.

The above two posters are correct, and my other anonymous post wasn''t 100% true.

However, based on you posting that question, phrased that way, and here, I pretty much figured that you have little to no experience with this and little to no drive to do some research. Hence, the easiest and likely best solution for your case is to get a router.

I used to recomend Linksys exclusively for home use, but after reading about their crappy wireless G support for orinoco based cards (i.e. ones giving linux wireless connectivity) I am hesitant to do so.

Depending on your ISP, many PPPoE service providers will give access to a certain amount of IPs.

I know for a fact the provider I go through I can access at least 5 IPs.. though I haven''t tried more.

With the modem connected to the uplink on the hub, the other machines only have to plug into a port.

Then you have to set up PPPoE and go from there =] There is no need for using a machine as a router, or even using a router for that matter.

The majority of PPPoE providers are going to DHCP you a new IP as soon as you try to log on =]