Ubuntu

Ubuntu 8.04 no wired or wireless connection

Asked by fernando

Ubuntu 8.04 was connecting to the internet ( wired and wireless )ok. before. There was a little problem i wanted to eliminate and ended up not having any connection.
My other computers are connecting fine (2 laptops) wirelessly (but with Vista).
I have read a lot of threads, google, books, etc but cannot get anything.
I can copy here the results of ifconfig, ping, iwconfig, lshw -C network, or any other command. Cannot do it directly because of no connection, so i will do it if somebody needs it.
I use this 6 year old computer to practice and learn Linux but cannot do it without internet.
Can anybody give me some help.

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Buz Cory
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Buz Cory (buzco) said : 		#1

Before you go to the trouble of copying things, what was the last thing you did before things broke?

Am more familiar w/ 8.10 than 8.04, but a lot of things are very similar.

These answers _might_ help:
What method had you been using to connect via what route?
Have you rebooted since the change that broke your system?

== Buz :)

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fernando (fminstall) said : 		#2

thank you for your help
I didn't want ot make my question too long, so i put no details. But now I have re-installed 8.04 LTS from an ISO but have the same "no wired or wireless connection" problem.
I connect to a Linksys (n) router with cable.
Yes, I have rebooted lots of times.
If I click in the connect icon ( two screens top right) it shows me a dot in the "wired conn" and my SSID and others (neighbor's) in the wireless side. But if I go to Applic -Internet-Firerfox, Firefox doesn't find anything (like google site or any other). It gives me a "address not found" message.
If I disconnect the cable to the router and click in my SSID in the "connect wirelessly" it brings a "wireless network key required" where i put the data (WEP 64/128 BIT KEY) type the 26 keys and put the "shared key" option. After about 2 minutes trying to connects, it fails.
Thank you again for your time

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Best Buz Cory (buzco) said : 		#3

Hi again,

Oops, first rule of good troubleshooting is "don't do anything until you revert the last change before the trouble started!"

First rule of getting help is "do exactly what is suggested and nothing else!" In other words, either do it yourself and don't try to get help or else get the help and don't try things on your own. Doing both at the same time just complicates things.

---
Any way, the additional info you gave might have been helpful if you hadn't re-installed.

Now a few clues before I go away. I suspect some sort of routing/IP problem. Possibly in the config for ifup or in your boot scripts. Seems the router can't see you. I have no experience (yet) w/ secure wireless. Whatever the problem is would seem to be common to both wire{d,less} connections. I assume that for the re-install you went back to bare metal so the problem seems to be independent of Ubuntu. That means check the cmos hardware settings.

Another tip: you can always check online status fast by doing "route | egrep -i '^default'". You should get either zero or one line. One line says you are online and via what device, no line out means you are offline.

Bye,
== Buz :)

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fernando (fminstall) said : 		#4

Buz
thank you for your help and time.
I understand your point about the "rules". I have done a lot of equipment troubleshooting myself and know what you are talking about. I think the way I presented my problem could have been improved.
I did try to revert my actions when I realized I had created a problem, but the GNOME just didn't let me. Just gave me a gray screen where i needed to select an option.

In any case, after your help and a lot of reading in the internet I learned a lot. I just made a "ping" to google's URL, then to its IP and got correct replies to both. Then I opened Firefox and it connected!
Problem solved.
I will see now if I have wireless connection.

Thank you again
Fernando

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fernando (fminstall) said : 		#5

Thanks Buz Cory, that solved my question.

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Buz Cory (buzco) said : 		#6

Hi,

Glad your problem is solved, thanks for giving me credit :)

Unless the re-install was the last thing _before_ the problem (in which case it probably _caused_ the problem, and the only way to revert would be from backups), the way you stated it - I understood that the re-install came _after_ I asked the questions and before you answered.

What action did you try to revert that "GNOME didn't let you"? Pretty much anything that can be done by checking a box in a window can also be done (generally better and sometimes easier) from the command line :)

So what exactly _was_ the problem and how did you fix it?

My only network experience so far, despite my decades of experience, is:
    * radio modem nearly 50 yrs ago in the Army.
    * internet dial-up using SLIP and later PPP starting ca 1993 (yes, I was one of the early arrivers to both the I'net and Linux (but not to *nix :) ).
    * Forgot to mention remote logins via dial-up into Xenix systems ca 1985, don't know if that counts :)
    * Ethernet to a DSL modem to my ISP ca 1998.
    * Wireless to an (unknowing) ISP starting last year, my first experience w/ {gnome-,}network-manager.

BTW, am still looking for how one starts a wireless connection from the command-line. Only last nite I learned that I don't lose the wifi connection when I go to the console command line and gnome-network-manager becomes hidden. Successfully used aptitude to download lynx and then did a little browsing in lynx :}

Also BTW, if I had followed my first impulse and unsubscribed from your question, I wouldn't have noticed that it was marked solved.

Have fun,
== Buz :)

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fernando (fminstall) said : 		#7

Buz
Let me start by apologizing for my english. Usually i write and come later to correct before sending the text. Because of lack of enough time i will not do this today.
To answer your questions:
1st problem is my memory isn't anymore what it used to be and i am trying to remember accuratelly. Which is not hapening.
2nd; The original problem was that when turning the computer on, the wireless connection went to my neighbor's internet. I had to manually change to mine. I wanted to change this.
I went into system-admin-network and clicked on the "wireless conn." enable roaming (here i do not remember if i enabled or disabled, sorry). I coudn't get much done because i didn't know what to do. The next time i turned it on, I had no wired or wireless connection. I went back and wasn't able to reverse the click.(gray, it wouldn't let me)

After trying to learn what to do i decided to re-install it to see if the probl. went away. But it didn't. After re-install i had the same problem.
I asked for help and kept reading to see if i could learn what to do. I copied a lot of suggestions to somewhat similar problems. When I got home I started with "ping". To my surprise, it gave me a positive. After repeating to different sites I started Firefox and it worked.

I don't know what made it work. I still do not have the wireless connection running but i am working on it.

I see you have lots of experience in computer/linux like stuff.
I am a newcomer even though i have always been interested but never had the time. Now i have the time and this is becoming like a hobby to me. It is a challenge for me to be able to get away from the Microsoft monopoly.

Buz, thank you. I am sure you will see me at Launchpad asking more questions in the future. I bought a book about Linux which i am trying to digest slowly.
Fernando