Linux networking issues

arachnoid · 31 Dec 2007 at 09:59

I'm trying to get Linux installed on a PC at home.

I installed Kubuntu and it worked fine apart from the update manager. I just got a message "Waiting for headers".

I've just tried Debian via a network install and it installed OK but I only have very low level network access. I can ping and traceroute etc but no browser and no updates.

I read somewhere that this is an IPv6 issue and I vaguely remember having these issues when i first installed Fedora Core but that was so long ago I can't remember the details.

i commented out a line and added 3 new ones as below in /etc/modprobe.d/aliases

#alias net-pf-10 ipv6
alias net-pf-10 ipv6 off
alias net-pf-10 off
alias ipv6 off

but i'm still having problems.

Has anyone else seen this? There seem to be lots of people reporting a similar issue but no definitive answers

Thanks

Russell

AndrewP · 31 Dec 2007 at 10:09

DNS maybe - can you ping domains like bbc.co.uk as well as IP addresses? If not, check /etc/resolv.conf - entries in there should be your ISP's name servers or your router for example.

You could try updating from a terminal (just 'sudo apt-get update') and see what that returns.

arachnoid · 31 Dec 2007 at 10:48

i'm pinging by name fine.

strangely if i ping Sitename.com and then stick the IP in the browser the status bar says "connecting to Sitename.com"

I forgot to mention that during the Kubuntu install I had to unplug my LAN cable because it couldn't download stuff and then had to uncomment the lines in the sources.list file.

I'm not infront of my PC atm but i'll try a command line update later.

Thanks,

Russell

leezer3 · 31 Dec 2007 at 10:49

This should be the one you're looking for:

Code:

alias net-pf-10 off ipv6

Drop in the /etc/modprobe.d/aliases file as before & remove the others. They were correct for earlier versions, but someone changed something somewhere

-Leezer-

arachnoid · 31 Dec 2007 at 14:43

thanks,

i'll try that later then

Russell

arachnoid · 1 Jan 2008 at 17:03

thanks, that fixed the web browser at least, i'm now posting from epiphany in debian. I'm still not getting any updates though. I'll have a play with my sources.list file and see what happens though

Thanks again,

Russell

arachnoid · 2 Jan 2008 at 20:35

Right i've played with debian, I've tweaked everything i can think of but updating still fails. If i copy the failed line out of aptitude into the browser i can browse to the repository.

I reinstalled Kubuntu Gutsy and I can get browsing but no updates same as debian.

I've now tried Fedora 8 KDE Live CD and installed and again browser working fine but no repositories.

this is the output of the fedora exception.

Component: pirut
Summary: TB3e8fa63e yumRepo.py:765:_getRepoXML:RepoError: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: fedora. Please verify its path and try again

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/sbin/pirut", line 392, in _setApply
if len(self.tsInfo) == 0:
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/__init__.py", line 535, in <lambda>
tsInfo = property(fget=lambda self: self._getTsInfo(),
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/depsolve.py", line 83, in _getTsInfo
self._tsInfo.setDatabases(self.rpmdb, self.pkgSack)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/__init__.py", line 526, in <lambda>
pkgSack = property(fget=lambda self: self._getSacks(),
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/__init__.py", line 381, in _getSacks
self.repos.populateSack(which=repos)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/repos.py", line 242, in populateSack
sack.populate(repo, mdtype, callback, cacheonly)
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 142, in populate
if self._check_db_version(repo, mydbtype):
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 199, in _check_db_version
if repo.repoXML.repoData.has_key(mdtype):
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 769, in <lambda>
repoXML = property(fget=lambda self: self._getRepoXML(),
File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 765, in _getRepoXML
raise Errors.RepoError, msg
RepoError: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: fedora. Please verify its path and try again

Local variables in innermost frame:
msg: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: fedora. Please verify its path and try again
self: fedora
e: Cannot find a valid baseurl for repo: fedora

This is happening to all three distros on my desktop and kubuntu on my laptop but i haven't tried any other disties on my lappy as it's got all the things i need working atm. Updates were working fine on the lappy before i upgraded from feisty.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks

Russell

arachnoid · 2 Jan 2008 at 21:56

Wow,

It seems i just needed patience. Networking in Fedora seems to be a little stop start. It goes like lightning for a while and then stops for a few minutes. At least all the repositories are now online so if I can find a solution the fix will be easy enough.

Russell