[lightnb]

My computer is running Mandrake 9.1 (with KDE 3.1).

I am trying to get it to connect to the internet through another machine, which is running win XP.

The XP machine uses an ADSL modem to connect to Bellsouth.

It worked for a time after I had first installed it, but then quit a few hours later.

I don't know if I changed a setting, or the person in charge of the XP machine did something (he's always messing around with things), but I can't seem to get it working again.

I have tried running the configuration wizzard, but no change.

Any Ideas?

Thanks,
Nick M. Rahl

[codejockey]

Can you ping the XP machine from the Linux machine (try using both IP addresses and machine names)? If so, then you have basic connectivity, and your problem is likely a configuration issue. If you can't ping from the LInux machine to the XP machine, that's the immediate problem you'll need to solve.

Are there other machines on your network that access the internet through the XP machine? If so, and they can reach the internet with no problems, then the XP machine is likely configured correctly, and the problem is with your Linux machine.

Hope this helps -- additional information appreciated.

[lightnb]

Thanks. I've got it sort of working now.

I can get to most websites (google and MSN won't work, but everything else seems fine).

I can recieve email, but when I send it, I get an error message.
"The server did not accept the sender address"

It does this for all messages I try to send, so I know it's not the address that i am sending to. Is this a configuration problem? I double checked the settings, and the recieving settings are identical to the sending ones (both mail.mia.bellsouth.net)

Any sugguestions why only some network functions work?

[codejockey]

Your mail troubles are almost certainly a configuration problem. It may be that your ISP (bellsouth) is looking for a return (i.e., sending) address of someone@bellsouth.net (where "someone" is likely your login ID at bellsouth); you might check your configuration to verify that your return address points to your account at bellsouth. You might also review any online documentation that bellsouth provides for setting up email; chances are, it only discusses Windoze, but you may be able to use the Windoze requirements as a guide when setting up your Linux email. Also, have a look at /var/log/messages and /var/log/mail for any clues and additional information about the error.

Your failure to reach specific websites is likely due to problems at your ISP. As long as you can reach the internet in general, your hardware and at least a significant portion of your software is working correctly.

Hope this helps -- additional info appreciated.

[lightnb]

The bellsouth 'help' section, was ironically non-functional. (I'll try it again later to see if it comes back up.)

I double checked in configuration, but all of my settings appeared correct.

I am using Kmail.


Here is the exact error message, in it's entirty:

Sending failed:
The server did not accept the sender address.
The server responded: "Sender address is invalid "
The message will stay in the 'outbox' folder until you either fix the problem (e.g. a broken address) or remove the message from the 'outbox' folder.
Note: Other messages will also be blocked by this message, as long as it is in the 'outbox' folder
The following transport protocol was used:
mail.mia.bellsouth.net

Thanks again,
Nick

[codejockey]

OK, you've probably already checked this, but I'm not afraid of asking a dumb question ... is it possible the sender address has a typo? Note that this is not the "reply-to" address, but the "email address" in kppp. Another thought: many ISPs require you to perform a fetch before you can send mail; this is a form of authentication, since you must provide a login ID and password in order to perform a fetch. Is this true for your ISP? Finally, (another long shot) ISPs often use different mail server names for sending and receiving; since you mentioned that you have both server names set to the same value, I wonder if you are using the server name for outgoing mail (i.e., sending) but need a different server name for incoming mail. Of course, the port numbers should be different regardless of the server name, but you've probably covered that base, too.

Hope this helps -- additional info appreciated.

[lightnb]

As far as port numbers, i just left the defaults.


When I setup outlook under windoze, I used "mail.mia.bellsouth.net" for both the sending and recieving POP3 clients.

I used "lightnb@bellsouth.net" for my email address, and lightnb as my username.

This mail program (in linux) seems to have more settings that need to be configured.

I'm trying to install Redhat now, to see if my scanner and soundcard work under it. Maybe it will also have a different configuration tool for email.

thanks,
NMR

[lightnb]

My soundcard worked right out-of-box with Red Hat. My internet connection won't work at all.

I can ping the XP machine from my linux box, but I can't ping my linux machine from the XP box.

(The XP machine even won't ping itself, but It's Windoze, so what do you expect?)

Other windoze computers on the network can access the internet just fine.

A BlackICE firewall (on the XP gatway) is also a variable.

Thanks,
NMR

[lightnb]

I tried connecting with both firewalls (linux, and BlackICE) disabled, and it still wouldn't connect.

Since the other windoze computers can connect through the gatway, I beleive that the problem lies in a setting on the linux machine.

I can ping the gateway, so I know that the network works. What other variables can there be?

Thanks,
NMR

[codejockey]

A couple of things to try:

(1) Check the output from the route command. You should see something like this:

ROOT: 8 /root-> route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
172.16.0.0      *               255.255.0.0     U     0      0        0 eth0
loopback        *               255.0.0.0       U     0      0        0 lo
default         portal          0.0.0.0         UG    1      0        0 eth0

In particular, you want to look for a default entry, and it should point to the IP address of your gateway. In my case, I've added my gateway to /etc/hosts (see below):

ROOT: 9 /root-> egrep portal /etc/hosts
172.16.0.1              portal                  # HomePortal router/gateway

This is actually the local IP of my ADSL modem, but I believe it would also work if it were set to the IP address of my router.

(2) Try looking at your /etc/resolv.conf file. It should look something like this:

search localhost
nameserver 172.16.0.1

where the nameserver address is the IP address of your gateway (in your case, the XP machine). If you don't have a nameserver line, you should add one. After saving your changes, either reboot or (as root) issue the command: kill -HUP `pidof inetd` (note the backquotes) and then try accessing the internet from your Linux machine. If your /etc/resolv.conf file has a nameserver line, verify that it points to the IP address for the gateway machine.

Now, if this doesn't work, try using the local IP address of the ADSL modem as the gateway on the Linux machine. I confess I don't have a ready explanation for why the XP machine appears able to route Windoze clients but not Linux clients, but if changing the gateway address to the ADSL modem IP address works, then we can contemplate these profound questions at our leisure ().

Hope this helps -- additional info appreciated.

[lightnb]

Using the "route" command, everything appeared correct.

The Resolv.conf file was the problem. It had two entries called "nameserver".

One was: 192.168.0.2, the other was bogus. I deleted the bogus entry, and changed the former to "192.168.0.1" which is the IP of the gateway.

My internet connection is now up and running.

Thanks again,
Nick

[Squashman]

Originally posted by lightnb:
Using the "route" command, everything appeared correct.

The Resolv.conf file was the problem. It had two entries called "nameserver".

One was: 192.168.0.2, the other was bogus. I deleted the bogus entry, and changed the former to "192.168.0.1" which is the IP of the gateway.

My internet connection is now up and running.

Thanks again,
Nick

I usually put my ISP's name server addresses in there but the gateway machine seems to be forwarding DNS requests for you.

[codejockey]

You're more than welcome. Glad to hear you are now surfing!

I usually put my ISP's name server addresses in there but the gateway machine seems to be forwarding DNS requests for you.

I have done it that way as well for a PPP connection via dialup for a single machine. On a networked machine (i.e., shared internet connection) I think either would work, provided that a default route were configured correctly and added to the routing table.

The fact that the gateway machine (XP) routes the DNS requests is reassuring -- for a while, there, it looked like the XP machine was selectively denying access to Linux clients ().

[codejockey]

You're more than welcome. Glad to hear you are now surfing!

I usually put my ISP's name server addresses in there but the gateway machine seems to be forwarding DNS requests for you.

I have done it that way as well for a PPP connection via dialup for a single machine. On a networked machine (i.e., shared internet connection) I think either would work, provided that a default route were configured correctly and added to the routing table.

The fact that the gateway machine (XP) routes the DNS requests is reassuring -- for a while, there, it looked like the XP machine was selectively denying access to Linux clients ().