Debian and the Internet

[chadders]

I've tried to install Debian several times but during one stage of the install it says cannot detect DHCP (or something to that effect), and so I exit the install because I won't be able to install many 3rd party applications without it. The thing is I'm on Ubuntu now, and I have windows on another partition and both can automatically detect the Internet. Can anyone give me advice on what to do in this situation because I really want to use Debian.

[soccercisco]

hi,

try to give us more info to better help you.

What is your network configuration (e.g., 1 PC and modem...) and hardware (e.g., router, switch), what protocol does your ISP offer, etc.

Your version of Debian and Kernel you are using are also a must in this type of posts. Let me know if you need help finding out this info.

Cheers,

[chadders]

hi,

try to give us more info to better help you.

What is your network configuration (e.g., 1 PC and modem...) and hardware (e.g., router, switch), what protocol does your ISP offer, etc.

Your version of Debian and Kernel you are using are also a must in this type of posts. Let me know if you need help finding out this info.

Cheers,

I am on a laptop, using LAN. Type of Internet: cable. Debian version is Edgy Etch. My laptop specs are here.

basically I want Debian to connect (hopefully) automatically with DHCP.

Is that enough info?

(P.S. Thanks for this )

[soccercisco]

Ok. So, are you connecting to the modem provided by the ISP or do you have a router/switch in between?

Cheers,

[chadders]

I have a router between.

[soccercisco]

Well, let's get this started. Since you are able to see the DHCP request but not an offer we can rule out the possibilities of dhcp not being installed or your NIC (Network Interface Card) not being installed.

Though, to be on the safe side let's try this.

1) Log on to Debian and type-in the command: "ifconfig -a" and post the output on your reply (however, modify on the reply your WAN IP address for security).

2) Ping your router by typing "ping XXX.XXX.X.X"

--No quotes on the commands, and sub the X for the LAN IP of the router.

3) One thing you can try in the meantime is issuing the same command on Ubuntu (ifconfig -a) and trying to match the output to Debian. Hint: On Debian you can modify the file /etc/network/interfaces with the info from Ubuntu.

I hope this helps a little bit, with patience you'll see that Debian is a rather nice Distro.

Cheers,

[chadders]

Hey, thanks for this btw.

I've had a bit of a play around with it over the last couple of days loading and formatting etc... When I type 'ifconfig eth0' for both the Ubuntu OS and Debian OS I see a significant difference. So far I have managed to get the IP, mask, gateway and Bcast to be the same on both. The main differences are I have an unknown Link encap: and my HWaddr is some long random string as opposed to --:--:--:--:--:--. I have tried to fix this by typing:

ifconfig eth0 down hw ether --:--:--:--:--:--
ifconfig eth0 up

But that hasn't helped. Finally the 3rd line when typed in Ubuntu (or the inet6 addr and Scope) appear to be missing all together.

This problem is getting rather complicated lol.

[soccercisco]

are you able to ping the router's LAN IP address from Debian?

[chadders]

I don't think so but I'll give it a go.

[chadders]

From my previous session I prompted the following:

>ping <my IP>
ping: unknown host <my IP>

>ifconfig eth0
Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-E0-18-00-03-77-B5-7B-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00

>ifconfig eth0 down
>ifconfig eth0 hw ether --:--:--:--:--:--
SIOSCIFITWADDR: Invalid Argument
>ifconfig eth0 up

>ping <my IP>
connect: Network is unreachable