[TriLUG] Some Newbie Linux Questions

[Henryk M. Kowalski]

Chris Knowles wrote:

> Cool... I made the final switch in much the same circumstance, and
> haven't had a need to go back yet.  Responses are in the message...
>
> CJK
>
> On Mon, 2002-12-30 at 12:40, al johnson wrote:
>
> >Since my windows hard drive totally crashed yesterday, I'm really 
> glad that
> >I didn't have a dual-boot system on that drive. So, I'm working with 
> Linux as
> >my ONLY OS (with the exception of my Mac Powerbook's OSX). This being 
> the
> >case naturally I have some questions about Linux. Some of them are 
> simple
> >questions which I haven't really had much luck with help, others are 
> probably
> >questions that only experts can answer.
> >     I'll start at the beginning. The distribution is Mandrake 8.1 
> and it was
> >installed at the Trilug installfest. And as far as I can tell, they 
> did a
> >great job. I really haven't used it that much since I prefer to go 
> slow since
> >I know it is easy to totally screw up any OS.
> >     I tried Evolution as my email program, but switched to KDE Mail 
> after
> >receiving this error message after trying to send an email:
> >
> >"SMTP server Mindspring.com does not support authentication type PLAIN"
> >
> >OK, I'm totally in the dark about what this all means. Any info on 
> how to
> >remedy this problem ==or is it just a problem with the WAY  I tried 
> to send
> >this message (Incidentally if this message is received you will know 
> that I
> >succeeded with Kmail).?
> >
> >That's the first question.
> >--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> Well, does KMail work for you?
>
> Evolution, under the Sending Mail options on the account has a checkbox
> for "Server Requires Authentication"  Most servers do not.  But even if
> Mindspring does, it apparently isn't PLAIN, and you can try clicking the
> button "Check for supported types" To have Evolution test what to use
> here.  (Caveat... I've not done this, as none of my servers require
> authentication, but it *should* work)
>
>
> >My second question is also an error message which I think I know what it
> >means (but I'm not certain) has to do with an error which occurs when 
> the
> >system is checking itself just before booting into Linux. OK it's 
> checking
> >this and that and just a few things fail but there is one item which 
> reads as
> >follows:  "Bringing up interface eth0:" at which point the system 
> pauses for
> >a very long time and then tries to obtain "ip info for eth0 
> interface" which
> >fails and then the other one also fails . Now I have a Lan card on this
> >computer which is not connected at the moment (I use a modem instead).
> >So since eth could mean ethernet I'm just guessing that that is what 
> that
> >error means. But if I'm correct, shouldn't I terminate it or 
> something to
> >prevent this error from happening??
> >
> > That's my second question.
> >
>
>
> Well, what's almost certainly happening here is that Linux is trying to
> grab a DHCP address for that LAN card.  (you are right that eth0 is your
> network card) Because the card isn't attached to anything, the DHCP
> attempt times out after what seems to be an eternity.  Probably the best
> thing to do is to tell your computer to not activate teh network card on
> boot, or statically assign some nonsense IP to the card.  (Methods for
> doing this differ depending on distribution.)
>
On Mandrake the following should work:
as root enter these commands (w/o quotes):
'service network stop'  - this will shut down your networking for the 
current session.
'chkconfig network off'  - this will prevent your system from starting 
networking when you reboot.

HTH

Have fun.  :)

--hmk

>
> >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Just about everything else works fine (as far as I know), but then I 
> haven't
> >had enough time to use this system to run every Linux program that's 
> installed
> >on it. I'm also having problems figuring out how to use the address 
> book in
> >Kmail. It's definitely not like any other address book I've ever used.
> >   One of my favorite programs in Windows was AGENT.  Pan is the closest
> >Linux equivalent, but it too is very different from AGENT.  If 
> there's a "Pan
> >fan" who would be willing to answer some questions I have about Pan 
> feel free
> >to use this address:  alfjon at mindspring.com .
> >
> >Happy New Year everyone. I really have enjoyed being in Trilug. It's 
> one of
> >the few clubs whose meetings I really enjoy. Hope everyone got what they
> >wanted from Santa or Allah or whoever delivers the goodies at your home.
> >---Al  Johnson.
> >
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