[buug] Freebsd 5.3 and internet access problems.

[Brian Sobolak]

Rohan Mendonca wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I am new to freebsd. I want to move from windows to
> freebsd.

Sweet!

> I have just installed 5.3 on my computer.
> I am running this computer behind a router which is
> connected to a cable modem. The router has dhcp
> disabled and I assign ip addresses to all the
> computers attached to it. 
> I managed to configure the ethernet card with a static
> ip.
> I am able to ping the card. I can also ping the
> router.
> I can ping the freebsd computer from a windows
> computer on the network.
> 
> I have 2 problems.
> 
> 1. I cannot access the internet using opera in
> xwindows.
> It say's "hosts not found" for any web site even
> though 
> I can ping the router, the ethernet card.
> what am I doing wrong?
> I do not think I have icfw enabled.
> Please help!

Have you checked to see that DNS is working properly?  If you type 'ping 
weak.org', do you get an IP address or do you just get the same errors 
as above?

Generally speaking there are two ways to resolve your problems:

1.  As root, type

/stand/sysinstall

This is the configuration manager not unlike the installation of 
FreeBSD.  To configure networking, try Configure -> Networking -> 
Interfaces.

You should have a list of the ethernet cards on your system.  Pick the 
one you want to configure, and make sure that you enter all of the 
relevant information about your network configuration, esp. your DNS server.

That should do it.  After exiting, try again - it should work if the 
configuration is correct.

2.  Check for the files.

/etc/resolv.conf contains where the DNS server is listed.  Mine is 
configured as:

mymagenta# cat resolv.conf
nameserver      206.141.251.2

If you want to ensure that the interface (your network card) is 
configured at run time, you can check /etc/rc.conf

The relevant lines are:

defaultrouter="192.168.0.1"
hostname="YOUR.HOSTNAME.HERE"  #fill in with the real hostname
ifconfig_sis0="inet 192.168.0.4  netmask 255.255.255.0"

The bit above - ifconfig_sis0 - should match your card's driver.  If 
this is configured, then the card should start up at boot.

Generally speaking it's better to use /stand/sysinstall (esp. if you're 
new) as it makes sure all the appropriate pieces are done correctly; it 
leaves less room for typos.

> 2. I seem to need to enable the ethernet card
> everytime I logon/restart the computer. How do I set
> it up so that it is enabled permanently.
> 

See above....

If this doesn't help, then attach the contents of dmesg (type 'dmesg > 
filename') and uname -a, which is pretty standard for BSD questions on 
BSD mailing lists.

Hope this helps,

brian