linux and the recommended updates..

[msheidi]

Additional info ...just found out it is Xandros.

I have an Eee pc 701sd. I really am a newbie and dont know what form of linux it uses. (sorry). I got it at Christmastime from Target, and it has worked with my router fine all along till now. Normally, daily when I turn on my netbook a popup shows with about 15+ recommended updates. I am usually in a rush so I ignore them. Today I thought I had some time and am sick of seeing them that I looked and found 3 that looked like they pertained to my particular netbook. I installed them. As soon as they were done, i lost my connection. I could not log on. I shut down the computer and started again...it automatically hooked into my neighbors router to connect. I disconnected it and tried mine again. Doesnt work. Ive called Asus who helped me reboot it to all factory settings before the updates and told me they dont reccomend downloading updates as they can cause crashes. That surprised me as I thought I was being told I really needed them. So, we disconnected all wi fi connection possibilities and created mine again. Still cannot connect....it goes no farther then "pending". They had me contact roadrunner. Roadrunner did all their configuring but they dont know anything about linux they say...call asus again so i did. That did not help other then they told me to mail it to them. I thought I should try a few other things (this site included) before doing that. I called the router company....they tried but it is not working. We are however able to get it with our wii so evidentally it is some setting in my netbook....not a problem with the internet or the router. So personal desktop works fine, wii with wifi works fine, but netbook since the updates doesnt. Any suggestions for me? Thanks so much!

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

Hi!

and welcome! It would be most helpful if you could tell us "which Linux" you're using. There are dozens of them, and some are very very different from others. Asus should be able to tell you what operating system they installed on it.

I assume you can still use a wired connection to your router, and if that's so, fixing your broken update is probably a simple matter.

Again, welcome to the forums!
Amy

[reed9]

Sadly, the custom linux version used by the eee pc, Xandros, is by most accounts crap. Please do not judge the rest of linux by it!

If you're feeling slightly adventurous, I would recommend installing a better distribution, such as Easy Peasy.

Otherwise, first thing is to check the basics. Is it possible you turned off the wireless radio by accident? The key combo to toggle the wireless on and off is usually Fn+F2, so try pressing that and see if your wireless comes back.

If not, please open a terminal (I believe for the eee, you can press CTRL+ALT+T to open) and type

lshw -C network

and post the output.

[msheidi]

Thank you very much for your time and help. I just found out that between the router people, the Asus people, and the internet provider having me change so many codes etc in my netbook to try and fix it, that we switched from wpa to wep and we changed my router password and I didnt even realize it. When I went in and changed those 2 things it worked fine again. It was however origionally messed up by installing those 2-3 out of 30 updates that kept popping up saying that I needed them from Linux. I figured if those updates kept popping up on my screen that Linux knows more then me and I must really need them. I thought I was being choosey and installed those couple only because they really sounded like they belonged to mine and did not state a different netbook model. Ive learned my lesson to not download them because the Asus people told me it can crash my machine if it isnt for my specific netbook but they dont state exactly what they are for most times. There are 2 of them right now that say they are for internet security and anti virus. How will i ever know if I should download any? What we had to do to correct that problem was completely take my netbook back to brand new factory again. It was set from the factory to automatically download all of them! That doesnt seem right. I have changed that setting. I wish they would quit popping up all together if I dont need them.

[reed9]

There is probably some way to turn off unwanted notifications, but I'm not very familiar with Xandros.

You might find good info on the eee user site and forum: EeeUser.com ? The Eee PC Community

[Bemk]

Here you have just one of the points of why I hate OEM software. The firmware or the modifications by the manufacturers are always too easy to break.

That's why I generally install Ubuntu over it.

[elija]

Sadly, the custom linux version used by the eee pc, Xandros, is by most accounts crap. Please do not judge the rest of linux by it!

If you're feeling slightly adventurous, I would recommend installing a better distribution, such as Easy Peasy.

As an eeepc owner I agree completely with this. Easy Peasy works fine on it and if you have a usb optical drive it is truly easy peasy to install. Otherwise you will need something like unetbootin to build a boot usb stick.