Just got home from work ... thanks for your reply ... -------Original Message-------
to check that all of your installed apps are properly configured, do dpkg -C This gives me a new prompt after about two seconds. Nothing more. and post the results of that. there may be something else that screwed up. if the command above runs cleanly, bringing you back to a prompt without error messages, then everything is in order, as far as what's been installed so far is concerned. if you can't ping your nameserver, then you're not going to get anything out of whois, either. whois <web address, or ip address> would return domain name registration info for whatever address you give it. for instance, here's a smidge of what whois tells me about whidbey.net: Administrative Contact: Denka, Mike (MD135) [EMAIL PROTECTED] WhidbeyNet 14888 SR 525 Langley, WA 98260 US (360) 341-0009 doesn't really matter, right now, though. Interesting! I'll explore this further once I'll be online again. Thanks for the demonstration! it also doesn't matter that you use wvdial--it's a fine dialer; there are many others, as well, but the point is it's not going to be the cause of the kind of problem you're having. are you using the same machine to send mail to the list. No, I'm using my girlfriend's M$-ME-computer to write to the list. Both are networked (LAN). Normally we use the Linux box as a router. Btw, both computers use the same phoneline, so, right now I have to disconnect the one to use the other and vice versa. This shows that the phoneline is okay. I can ping at least the first nameserver from Windows. So, that confirms, that nameserver and IP are so far okay, right? if so, then you're connection is staying alive, so it's not that. that you're not getting a fast answer to your problem is due to the fact that it's mighty weird what's going on there. check /etc/network/interfaces. on my system, the important part of it looks like this: auto lo iface lo inet loopback I didn't have "auto lo", added it, but it didn't make any difference. :-( if yours doesn't, then that could be the source of the problem. try to think of what is different about the new installation, and start making notes of anything you may have been unsure about in the course of the initial configuration. I'll certainly do so with the next install. Good idea! are there any alternative dns ip's available at your isp; ie, can you be certain that the isp isn't having a dns problem right now, or may even have changed their dns servers? it has been know to happen. I called them yesterday, and they claimed nothing has changed on their side. are you sure that you're dialing into the right number? are there optional numbers that you can try? is there anyone you can call who uses the same setup to connect to the web to check that? this actually happened to me--i had the last digit wrong by one; the call was answered by a modem and i thought i was connected but couldn't get anywhere. in fact, you should also check /etc.wvdial.conf to make sure that you have the right baud setting for the modem you're dialling into. Yes, I double checked phone # and baud rate, compared with the other computer's config. Everything okay here. wvdial gives me at the end: PPP session from (some-IP-address) to some-IP-address beginning ...."lots of weird keystrokes" --> PPP negotiation detected. --> Starting pppd at date time Does this look okay to you? As far as I remember it was the same when it actually worked with the last install. I can ping both of those IP-addresses which I assume are the dynamic addresses for my, and the remote system? the main thing is, don't get hung up on what you can't do. focus more on the fact that there is, however elusive, a logical reason behind the problem, and its solution is going to involve a wealth of understanding that can't be bought by any other means than having the problem in the first place. it's a good lesson. That's an interesting way to see it! ;-) Yes, you're certainly right. Anyway, I'm tempted to suggest a complete new install. This might get things straight, but then I (we) will never get to know what the problem was. This is the part I don't like about the idea. What's your opinion? by the way, you live in one of my favorite parts of the world. if i could, i'd be living on orcas, sucking in that chlorophyl. What keeps you from doing so? The Pudget Sound is the most beautiful area I ever saw. I just hope the INS will allow me to stay here! Klaus
