[Sussex] The "usual" linux weirdness......

[john davis]

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 1:23 PM, Harry Rickards <masked...> wrote:

>
> What happens if you type 'cat /etc/network/interfaces' into a Terminal
> (Accessories > Terminal). Also, what happens if you type 'sudo ifconfig
> - -a' and enter your password when prompted.
>
As you'd expect Harry, in fact, exactly what I got yesterday when it was all
playing up i.e. the static address for the LAN, the netmask and the gateway
address, which is what I'd have expected.....

Plus it was why I booted back into windows to try there, because windows
won't (well, I don't know how anyway) tell me what the IP's that the network
card/setting were, but being that nice, cute, cuddly, hand holding OS that
it is, it told me that the network device was working.

I also got the same stuff, excluding the default gateway that was set from
ifconfig -a

Also -


Message: 2
>
> A quick google of AL2100 seems to show that it is a chip fitted to
> various routers / Broadcom modems- see link below.  Without knowing
> which make of router / modem you have. Still leaves it a bit in the
> wind.  You didn't by any chance reset the router / modem?
>
> http://www.1sourcecomponents.com/partinfo/AL2100.htm
>
> Dave P
>

No, the AL2100 thing was to do with the lack of sound. That link points to
various routers/modems etc none of which is what I'm currently using (a
"BeBox", which is actually a Thomson TG585v7 as supplied by Be).

The sound device ? well I'm unsure how to interrogate the system to find out
what it is i.e. an onboard chip or a proper card, if it's a chip it'll be
Nvidia related as it (the PC) seems to have an Nvidia motherboard.

It's another one of those things about linux that I just don't get i.e. if
it was working in an earlier incarnation, then why release a newer version
where there's some sort of bug ? Albeit with the network manager for KDE or
the sound issue.

I'm guessing, but it seems to me more about how linux is put together in
general i.e. lots of parts produced by the individual developers, rather
than a "cohesive team" like the software nazis at MS and their chain of
command and management....

Of course, it could be that I just happened to have started using (and quite
enjoying) gnome and the co-incidence that the bug(s) have been cured!!!? I
don't know.

There might be a way of interrogating the system so that it chucks up a full
set of system spec's, but if there is, I don't know it. I do now that SuSE
included a small app that did that a couple of versions ago (last time I
tried it), because it was useful to have the info copied into a text file
for reference - but that was with the old system, that's currently waiting
to have the hard drives stripped out and put into enclosures to use as
external storage.

So while I don't really have much of a clue about why I didn't have any
sound for a while under KDE, I'm just happy that I managed to work out that
the lack of connectivity was just a lock up of the ethernet switch. Like
being a "Brighton Junkie" after a decent bust by the pointy heads, well that
was what it felt like being deprived of my connectivity yesterday!

I still don't understand why it is that the gnome network manager won't show
the wired connection (the router/modem will do wireless as well but I've got
that disabled as I don't trust wireless - that's another story). It's like
it's something only available to root, but I haven't bothered enabling root
etc, despite absolute hatred of sudo...

If it were up to me I'd move back to sidux, now that's what I call a good
distro. It updates the world and it's dog, with just a script. The only
downside being that the best guidance for it is in German and I don't speak
that....

All that's actually pi55ing me off about current distro's is that I can't
use the case front button to open my DVDRW. I have to open and terminal and
use the "eject" command, and as that works, there must be a way of enabling
the case button.

I suppose that's just another mystery for a nugget like me!

regards

John D.
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