Clair Mooza wrote: > > I tried to enter in my mail/news server name and user name, etc. I am > not sure what I'm missing. It's still not working. Is there something > similar to eh-em...dial-up networking that I need to get going also? > I'm stumped. Oh yeah, I'm running Mandrake 6.0 if that makes a > difference. Finally got that working correctly. I ditched the Red Hat > 5.2. We weren't seeing eye to eye. > > Also I should probably mention that I haven't set up my modem either...damn > I'm schmoove! How do you do that? This is probably going to sound patronising - I don't intend it, but I don't really know a good way of providing this theory without risking sounding patronising. If I do, please forgive me, and bear with me. Your second mail told me why you aren't getting mail and news. The theory: The internet runs on layers. * The top layer - the one visible to most end-users - is the actual 'good bits'. Mail, news, IRC, web.. all that neat stuff. * Under that is the stuff that does the connecting work - TCP/IP, domain name servers, gateway addresses, IP addresses. Most end users have a vague idea it's there, because they 'have to put all those numbers in' and 'have to pay some silly ISP just so I can get my mail'. * Under /that/ is the physical connection: the modem, ISDN line, microwave link, satellite link.. whatever. It's kind of like a postal network, if you want to think of it that way. * The inside of the parcel is the stuff you want - your books from Amazon.com, or your present from your great-aunt who knits you tea cosies every christmas. * Around that is the wrapping, with your address on it so they know which doorstep to put the parcel on. * But the wrapping won't get it to you without the actual deliverymen in their vans, and the road network, and so on. So what you have is the top layer - Netscape - configured. But you haven't run the TCP/IP program, or connected the modem. Most 'modem setup' or 'dial-up' or 'networking' software takes care of both the bottom two layers for end-users, which makes life considerably simpler (but means people don't get the theory!). So now the practical: I'm just going to do a web-search for a Mandrake 6.0 HowTo for modems. I don't know Mandrake at all, but I'm told it's an easy one to use. (and just as I'm about to do this, my link gives trouble. Wheee. Life is giving me a demonstration of your frustration!) I suspect that 'kppp' or 'pppd' will solve your problems. And given the difficulty I'm having websearching right now, I think I'll just send this with a request to someone who's actually got a /link/ at the moment to locate an appropriate HowTo, Jenn V. -- "We're repairing the coolant loop of a nuclear fusion reactor. This is women's work!" Helix, Freefall. http://www.purrsia.com/freefall/ Jenn Vesperman [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.simegen.com/~jenn _______________________________________________ techtalk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linux.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/techtalk