Clutter Learns Linux

[Cluttermagnet]

Router's DHCP server is "Enabled"? How about "power cycling" the whole enchilada... from computers through router to cable modem? Power off and go drink a beer.

OK, sounds like a good idea. I'm slightly apprehensive. I hope everything can reconnect. I'll shut down everything and fire it all up after snack time. I'm off to forage in the kitchen...

[Cluttermagnet]

Power cycling did the trick. My Dapper box can now access the net, too. Edit: This edit done from the Dapper box.

Edited July 21, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Urmas]

Cool! <ADD COL. HANNIBAL SMITH QUOTE HERE> However... I followed my own advice...

Power off

No, no! Not that one...

go drink a beer

... that's more like it! Anyway... those Comcast/router links I posted (previous page)... could well be that if you're to connect a THIRD box to the router, it may or may not work (because of how Comcast seems to have set things up)... then it's time to use the "clone MAC address" option... that is, use the MAC address of the "original" NIC [the one you used FIRST when you set things up]. :hmm:But... let's not worry about that now... mucho success so far! Edited July 21, 2007 by Urmas

[Cluttermagnet]

All very interesting. That 'power down and wait' technique certainly seems popular, from reading those Comcast- related posts. Well, at some point, I'm going to want to try a 3rd and 4th computer on the LAN ports. Then I'll see how much trouble that causes. I've got to say this- I was very favorably impressed with how the DI-624 set itself up when first hooked up. It sounds like some other brands of routers give lots more headaches during setup. I like what I have, so far. So maybe I bought a wireless router that isn't so good on wireless, but as a wired router, it seems pretty good. And wired is mostly what I wanted, anyway.

[zlim]

Clutter, I power down my modem and router (I also have a switch and a print server, LOL so I have lots of time to grab a cup of coffee while waiting to get everything powered up) regularly when one of the computers seems unable to find the internet. It was scary the first few times but after doing it a few dozen times, it's no big deal any more. We have thunderstorms and if the power goes off for a brief second, it disrupts things. I usually do have all the cords pulled from the wall except for one - the cable to the modem. If the modem frys, I'll buy a new one.Urmas, ship one of those buckets of goodies my way!

Edited July 21, 2007 by zlim

[Urmas]

The Candy Man can.

[Bruno]

HURRRRRAAAYYY !! Clutter is on broadband . . . . . and the line will be red-hot for the next couple of days :DHere is a ( fast ) mirror that holds all the goodies you want: NLUUG ( bookmark it )And a fast (K)Ubuntu mirror: SNT ( not listed ) Bruno

[ross549]

The reason that you have to periodically power down the modem and router is that the internal routing table ends up being corrupted. The reboot simply rebuilds that table.Adam

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, Bruno-I have noted these and will use them later. My first big downloads will be Dapper updates for 2-3 machines. Then I may grab a few more distros. Now I need time to rethink my internet wiring for this computer room at home. I'm keeping one dialup ISP, and some of my machines will stay on dialup (mostly). BTW this 2-computer setup running Ubuntu Dapper and Feisty seems to wake up just fine from power off and find both internet connections.

The reason that you have to periodically power down the modem and router is that the internal routing table ends up being corrupted. The reboot simply rebuilds that table.Adam

Oh my-Thanks, Adam. I hope that doesn't happen very often. I'm not sure if it has happened at all, just yet- but maybe it will when I try adding a 3rd and 4th machine...

[Urmas]

I hope that doesn't happen very often.

Hasn't happened to me yet. (7 months with "cheapo" TP-Link router + 2 computers) Edited July 21, 2007 by Urmas

[ross549]

Oh my-Thanks, Adam. I hope that doesn't happen very often. I'm not sure if it has happened at all, just yet- but maybe it will when I try adding a 3rd and 4th machine...

Well, it really is not a big deal. The normal symptom will not be normal. The internet connection will act "strange...." some things might work fine, while others won't. Basically, put it this way... if you have any kind of problem with your Internet connection, you simply shut your router and modem down, then power the modem up. Once the modem is working normally, start the router up. The problem will be fixed then, about 99% of the time.More computers may in fact make this occur more often, but I think I've only had to perform this procedure once in my own home.Adam

[Cluttermagnet]

I just finished updating my copy of Feisty. It's impressive to see Linux and broadband work in concert, moving so much data around. Feisty completed updating. Dapper did a partial update, but one site must have been unavailable. I'll try that again later. Must have been a shell update, I guess, as that one asked me to reboot. In Feisty it was not necessary.I did, at one point, seem to lose internet for a while. Stopped right at the beginning of a big download. It also failed to download when I tried a second time. So I wandered off for a while, and found that when I returned, internet had restored itself without any intervention at all on my part. I'm not experienced enough with cable, modem, router, and ethernet to know exactly what is happening. So far, a largely positive experience. It sure is good to finally be able to update my copies of Ubuntu. Edit I have now had 3 computers with Ubuntu running simultaneously on my cable connection. I just updated a second copy of Dapper on the Cluttermaster 2007. It's impressive to watch the update download and install. Everything happened quick, 260 items updated.

Edited July 23, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Urmas]

Dapper did a partial update, but one site must have been unavailable.

It is possible (happens, but not often) that one/several repositories are down. No biggie... try again later, but if you want to be "in control", here's what to do:Update Manager and Synaptic Package Manager (it's possible to do the updates from there, too) BOTH have "Reload" button. If you get into habit of hittting "Reload" before "Apply", you get "real time" repo info... if there is repo/s gone AWOL, for example, you'll get an error message BEFORE going through... an exercise in futility.

[Cluttermagnet]

Yep- Today Dapper found whatever repositories it needed and finished updating.

[Cluttermagnet]

Interesting to note that broadband cable internet is faster here than what I've seen at my friend's house, maybe 3 times better. Comparing to dialup, which averages 3.0-3.4KB here, I'm seeing 250 times faster, with 'bursts' (first 10M downloaded) at around 400x. Also, my feed is hotter, by comparison. The tech told me he read +20dBm on my end of the long RG-6 service drop. He left a 3-way splitter inline as an attenuator, to bring the level down into the acceptable input range for the cable modem.

Edited July 23, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[ross549]

That's good!I am certainly impressed. I had to put a bidirectional amp in the drop coming into my house to get the level up where it needed to be. Granted, I have the drop split six ways to Sunday, but that is another story. It works well.http://www.speedtest.net will give you a pretty good idea of what your current speeds are.Adam

[Bruno]

I'm seeing 250 times faster

LOL . . . isn't it ultimate bliss to see bytes come in that fast ? . . LOLB) Bruno

[Bruno]

I'm seeing 250 times faster

LOL . . . isn't it ultimate bliss to see bytes come in that fast ? . . LOLB) Bruno

[Cluttermagnet]

http://www.speedtest.net will give you a pretty good idea of what your current speeds are.Adam

I've not kept flash players on many of my machines. A lot of smoke and mirrors, very overused and overrated IMO. And of course, flash is the bane of dialup users- huge, bloated, slow downloads. That being said, what would be the best way to install flash player in Ubuntu? Can I find it in the repos somewhere? What would it be called?

[Urmas]

It's in the repos, and it's called "flashplugin-nonfree".HOWEVER: Now that you are supersonic ... I'd do "Automatix", and install all the "extra" stuff at-one-go.http://www.getautomatix.com/

Double click on the downloaded file to install it with gDebi. Running Automatix2 for the first time will automatically add the Automatix repository for all future updates.After successful Installation, Automatix can be found in Applications --> System Tools on Ubuntu

Download links:For Feisty: http://www.getautomatix.com/apt/dists/feis...feisty_i386.debFor Dapper: http://www.getautomatix.com/apt/dists/dapp...dapper_i386.deb

[Bruno]

Automatix automatically triggers this DISCLAMER:

Scot's Newsletter Forums does not encourage or condone violating any law regarding copyright or DRM/DMCA (U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act) in the USA, or similar laws that may exist in other countries. Some of the software mentioned in this thread may be illegal to use in your location. Copying certain CDs/DVDs may also be illegal in your location. Even if you may believe these laws to be unconstitutional, unethical, silly, and a violation of consumer fair use rights, please check the laws for your location before following the advice in this thread. . . . . . -- Forum Admins & Moderators

;) Bruno

[Urmas]

Automatix automatically triggers this DISCLAMER:

'Automatix just works!'

[ross549]

Automatix allows you to easily install things like libdvdcss2, which could be considered illegal in the US or other parts of the world.;)Adam

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, guys-I'll get Automatix. Yep, it's nice being 'supersonic'. After I started using ethernet links on my Ubuntu boxes, I tried to start firestarter and it complained that ppp0 was inactive, etc. After fiddling with the wizard for a while, I figured out how to make this firewall 'front end' come alive again and 'start firestarter'. Now that I'm behind a NAT router, I'm not seeing that list of hacker sniffing that used to accumulate in the firestarter logs. A few of these probes were even labeled "serious". Now I don't see any whatever. I'm assuming this is completely normal, and that I would still see such activity at the output of my cable modem, right? I did test one Ubuntu box at pcflank, and it is still passing all tests. So the internal firewall in Ubuntu must be working as good as ever, I imagine, but doesn't have much work to do any more?

Edited July 24, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Urmas]

... which could be considered illegal in the US or other parts of the world.

... but - lo and behold - Finnish court rules CSS protection used in DVDs “ineffective”

[Urmas]

So the internal firewall in Ubuntu must be working as good as ever, I imagine, but doesn't have much work to do any more?

Right. Your friendly router at work.

[Cluttermagnet]

... but - lo and behold - Finnish court rules CSS protection used in DVDs “ineffectiveâ€

Wow! Good news, I think- and once again, my respect to the Finns...

Right. Your friendly router at work.

yes, the hardware router's firewall is absorbing the hits, and as you say, leaves precious little for a pc based software firewall to do...

Yep. Or even for a Linux-based firewall.

[ross549]

Thanks, guys-I'll get Automatix. Yep, it's nice being 'supersonic'. After I started using ethernet links on my Ubuntu boxes, I tried to start firestarter and it complained that ppp0 was inactive, etc. After fiddling with the wizard for a while, I figured out how to make this firewall 'front end' come alive again and 'start firestarter'. Now that I'm behind a NAT router, I'm not seeing that list of hacker sniffing that used to accumulate in the firestarter logs. A few of these probes were even labeled "serious". Now I don't see any whatever. I'm assuming this is completely normal, and that I would still see such activity at the output of my cable modem, right? I did test one Ubuntu box at pcflank, and it is still passing all tests. So the internal firewall in Ubuntu must be working as good as ever, I imagine, but doesn't have much work to do any more?

Clutter......Your router should be configured for "stealth," in that it will drop any unsolicited packets with no response. This makes it much harder for hackers to even tell there is anyone "there" at your IP address (the public one on the internet side of the router). For a great in depth talk about how NAT and firewalling works, see this page: http://www.grc.com/sn/SN-042.htmReally good info. Actually, all the episodes are really good and worth a listen.Adam

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, Adam-Yep, I figured that out pretty fast. Of course the firewall built into Ubuntu is always on (whether or not the firestarter front end can start or not), and can serve as a backup, but the router is taking care of everything.That's a good discussion about NAT routers. I'm still in the middle of reading it, and am learning new things. I was familiar with the Security Now series, but didn't know about this back episode on routers. A good find, thanks.

[Cluttermagnet]

It's in the repos, and it's called "flashplugin-nonfree".HOWEVER: Now that you are supersonic ... I'd do "Automatix", and install all the "extra" stuff at-one-go.

OK, I installed the flash plugin. The speedtest site still says no go.

Speedtest.net requires at least version 7 of Flash. Please update your client.

Oh, and I did install Automatix. Haven't even had a minute to look at it yet. I will... Edited July 25, 2007 by Cluttermagnet