Host Internet Address Problem

OK, here's the issue.  I moved to the Bay Area.  I have a new internet
service provider.  It's Comcast.  I've got Windows XP and FC4 on my
computer.  Just a couple days ago everything was working great (with new
service).  But all of a sudden the whole host internet address has blown
up.  When I login, a message says Gnome cannot function properly without an
internet address for my_computer_name.  Opening an x-terminal, I noticed
that the command line reads my_login@my_computer_name.  This is odd.  In the
past it read my_login@internet_host_address_deal.  So now I can't remotely
login to other places and what-not.  The web browser still works though.
So, the Gateway has to be working.  The system just doesn't login with the
internet address (like it used to do).

I would definitely appreciate any help here.

Jared

[Rick Stevens]

On Fri, 2006-06-02 at 14:34 -0700, under.actuate(a)gmail.com wrote:
>  OK, here's the issue.  I moved to the Bay Area.  I have a new
> internet
>  service provider.  It's Comcast.  I've got Windows XP and FC4 on my
>  computer.  Just a couple days ago everything was working great (with
>  new service).  But all of a sudden the whole host internet address has
>  blown up.  When I login, a message says Gnome cannot function properly
>  without an internet address for my_computer_name.  Opening an
>  x-terminal, I noticed that the command line reads
>  my_login@my_computer_name.  This is odd.  In the past it read
>  my_login@internet_host_address_deal.  So now I can't remotely login to
>  other places and what-not.  The web browser still works though.  So,
>  the Gateway has to be working.  The system just doesn't login with the
>  internet address (like it used to do). 
>  
>  I would definitely appreciate any help here. 
You didn't say if you have a router between your system and the cable or
(A)DSL modem or not.  Assuming you you're plugged directly into the
modem, it appears that the DHCP server for Comcast didn't populate
your /etc/hosts file with your system's name when it obtained an IP, or
didn't give it a name that will reverse-resolve.  So, X can't start
since it has no idea what machine "my_computer_name" is.

Go to a console (CTRL-ALT-F1 through -F5), log in as root and check the
output of "hostname".  That's what your machine thinks its host name is.
If it's not set, or it contains "localhost", then Comcast didn't send
you a host name.

If you did get a host name, try:

	# host `hostname`

and see if an IP is returned.  If not, then Comcast didn't populate
their DNS entry appropriately.

If it did return an IP, make sure that IP is the same as shown in the
"ifconfig" for your network card.  If they match, then try

	# host IPaddress

If you don't get a response, then Comcast didn't populate their reverse
DNS (PTR) records.

Of course, if you have a router, it's one hell of a lot easier to give
your a machine a fixed IP address on the LAN side of the router, set up
the /etc/hosts file to have that IP and your host's name in it and let
the router do the work (that's what I do).

Another alternative is to change your machine's name to
"localhost.localdomain" and restart X (hit "ALT-F7", then
"CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE" to restart the X server).

I hate futzing with DHCP.  I sure wish the ISPs would implement the
whole standard instead of "selected parts" of it and use a DHCP daemon
that adhered to the standard instead of Winblows servers.  Jeeze!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens(a)vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-  Tempt not the dragons of fate, since thou art crunchy and taste   -
-                         good with ketchup.                         -
----------------------------------------------------------------------

OK.  Here's what I got.

# hostname
>  computer_name 
# host computer_name
>  Host computer_name not found: 3(NXDOMAIN) 
So, I suppose Comcast didn't populate their DNS entry appropriately.  I
tried this.

# host 127.0.0.1
>  1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer localhost. 
And

# host localhost
>  localhost has address 127.0.0.1 
   Host localhost not found:
3(NXDOMAIN)
   Host localhost not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)

So, do I complain to Comcast?  Will they repopulate their DNS shortly?  From
this I'm getting that, in the past, Comcast didn't give me a hostname.  Then
they decided to give me one, except they screwed everything up.  Is there
any way I can go in and manually set up the hostname and such?

By the way, how do I change the machine's name?

Also, I attempted the other method suggested and didn't get any success.

On 6/2/06, Rick Stevens <rstevens(a)vitalstream.com&gt; wrote:
>  On Fri, 2006-06-02 at 14:34 -0700, under.actuate(a)gmail.com wrote:
>  > OK, here's the issue.  I moved to the Bay Area.  I have a new internet
>  > service provider.  It's Comcast.  I've got Windows XP and FC4 on my
>  > computer.  Just a couple days ago everything was working great (with
>  > new service).  But all of a sudden the whole host internet address has
>  > blown up.  When I login, a message says Gnome cannot function properly
>  > without an internet address for my_computer_name.  Opening an
>  > x-terminal, I noticed that the command line reads
>  > my_login@my_computer_name.  This is odd.  In the past it read
>  > my_login@internet_host_address_deal.  So now I can't remotely login to
>  > other places and what-not.  The web browser still works though.  So,
>  > the Gateway has to be working.  The system just doesn't login with the
>  > internet address (like it used to do).
>  >
>  > I would definitely appreciate any help here.
>
>  You didn't say if you have a router between your system and the cable or
>  (A)DSL modem or not.  Assuming you you're plugged directly into the
>  modem, it appears that the DHCP server for Comcast didn't populate
>  your /etc/hosts file with your system's name when it obtained an IP, or
>  didn't give it a name that will reverse-resolve.  So, X can't start
>  since it has no idea what machine "my_computer_name" is.
>
>  Go to a console (CTRL-ALT-F1 through -F5), log in as root and check the
>  output of "hostname".  That's what your machine thinks its host name is.
>  If it's not set, or it contains "localhost", then Comcast didn't send
>  you a host name.
>
>  If you did get a host name, try:
>
>          # host `hostname`
>
>  and see if an IP is returned.  If not, then Comcast didn't populate
>  their DNS entry appropriately.
>
>  If it did return an IP, make sure that IP is the same as shown in the
>  "ifconfig" for your network card.  If they match, then try
>
>          # host IPaddress
>
>  If you don't get a response, then Comcast didn't populate their reverse
>  DNS (PTR) records.
>
>  Of course, if you have a router, it's one hell of a lot easier to give
>  your a machine a fixed IP address on the LAN side of the router, set up
>  the /etc/hosts file to have that IP and your host's name in it and let
>  the router do the work (that's what I do).
>
>  Another alternative is to change your machine's name to
>  "localhost.localdomain" and restart X (hit "ALT-F7", then
>  "CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE" to restart the X server).
>
>  I hate futzing with DHCP.  I sure wish the ISPs would implement the
>  whole standard instead of "selected parts" of it and use a DHCP daemon
>  that adhered to the standard instead of Winblows servers.  Jeeze!
>
>  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens(a)vitalstream.com -
>  - VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
>  -                                                                    -
>  -  Tempt not the dragons of fate, since thou art crunchy and taste   -
>  -                         good with ketchup.                         -
>  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  --
>  fedora-list mailing list
>  fedora-list(a)redhat.com
>  To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list
>

Also, it's straight into the modem.

On 6/2/06, under.actuate(a)gmail.com <under.actuate(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:
>  OK.  Here's what I got.
>
>  # hostname
>  > computer_name
>
>  # host computer_name
>  > Host computer_name not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)
>
>  So, I suppose Comcast didn't populate their DNS entry appropriately.  I
>  tried this.
>
>  # host 127.0.0.1
>  > 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer localhost.
>
>  And
>
>  # host localhost
>  > localhost has address 127.0.0.1
>     Host localhost not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)
>     Host localhost not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)
>
>  So, do I complain to Comcast?  Will they repopulate their DNS shortly?
>  From this I'm getting that, in the past, Comcast didn't give me a hostname.
>  Then they decided to give me one, except they screwed everything up.  Is
>  there any way I can go in and manually set up the hostname and such?
>
>  By the way, how do I change the machine's name?
>
>  Also, I attempted the other method suggested and didn't get any success.
>
>
>  On 6/2/06, Rick Stevens <rstevens(a)vitalstream.com&gt; wrote:
>  >
>  > On Fri, 2006-06-02 at 14:34 -0700, under.actuate(a)gmail.com wrote:
>  > > OK, here's the issue.  I moved to the Bay Area.  I have a new internet
>  > > service provider.  It's Comcast.  I've got Windows XP and FC4 on my
>  > > computer.  Just a couple days ago everything was working great (with
>  > > new service).  But all of a sudden the whole host internet address has
>  > > blown up.  When I login, a message says Gnome cannot function properly
>  >
>  > > without an internet address for my_computer_name.  Opening an
>  > > x-terminal, I noticed that the command line reads
>  > > my_login@my_computer_name.  This is odd.  In the past it read
>  > > my_login@internet _host_address_deal.  So now I can't remotely login
>  > to
>  > > other places and what-not.  The web browser still works though.  So,
>  > > the Gateway has to be working.  The system just doesn't login with the
>  > > internet address (like it used to do).
>  > >
>  > > I would definitely appreciate any help here.
>  >
>  > You didn't say if you have a router between your system and the cable or
>  > (A)DSL modem or not.  Assuming you you're plugged directly into the
>  > modem, it appears that the DHCP server for Comcast didn't populate
>  > your /etc/hosts file with your system's name when it obtained an IP, or
>  > didn't give it a name that will reverse-resolve.  So, X can't start
>  > since it has no idea what machine "my_computer_name" is.
>  >
>  > Go to a console (CTRL-ALT-F1 through -F5), log in as root and check the
>  > output of "hostname".  That's what your machine thinks its host name
> is.
>  > If it's not set, or it contains "localhost", then Comcast didn't
> send
>  > you a host name.
>  >
>  > If you did get a host name, try:
>  >
>  >         # host `hostname`
>  >
>  > and see if an IP is returned.  If not, then Comcast didn't populate
>  > their DNS entry appropriately.
>  >
>  > If it did return an IP, make sure that IP is the same as shown in the
>  > "ifconfig" for your network card.  If they match, then try
>  >
>  >         # host IPaddress
>  >
>  > If you don't get a response, then Comcast didn't populate their reverse
>  > DNS (PTR) records.
>  >
>  > Of course, if you have a router, it's one hell of a lot easier to give
>  > your a machine a fixed IP address on the LAN side of the router, set up
>  > the /etc/hosts file to have that IP and your host's name in it and let
>  > the router do the work (that's what I do).
>  >
>  > Another alternative is to change your machine's name to
>  > "localhost.localdomain" and restart X (hit "ALT-F7", then
>  > "CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE" to restart the X server).
>  >
>  > I hate futzing with DHCP.  I sure wish the ISPs would implement the
>  > whole standard instead of "selected parts" of it and use a DHCP daemon
>  > that adhered to the standard instead of Winblows servers.  Jeeze!
>  >
>  > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  > - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens(a)vitalstream.com -
>  > - VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
>  > -                                                                    -
>  > -  Tempt not the dragons of fate, since thou art crunchy and taste   -
>  > -                         good with ketchup.                         -
>  > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  >
>  > --
>  > fedora-list mailing list
>  > fedora-list(a)redhat.com
>  > To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list
>  >
>
>

[Eric Brunson]

under.actuate(a)gmail.com wrote:
>  OK, here's the issue.  I moved to the Bay Area.  I have a new
> internet 
>  service provider.  It's Comcast.  I've got Windows XP and FC4 on my 
>  computer.  Just a couple days ago everything was working great (with 
>  new service).  But all of a sudden the whole host internet address has 
>  blown up.  When I login, a message says Gnome cannot function properly 
>  without an internet address for my_computer_name.  Opening an 
>  x-terminal, I noticed that the command line reads 
>  my_login@my_computer_name.  This is odd.  In the past it read 
>  my_login@internet_host_address_deal.  So now I can't remotely login to 
>  other places and what-not.  The web browser still works though.  So, 
>  the Gateway has to be working.  The system just doesn't login with the 
>  internet address (like it used to do).
>
>  I would definitely appreciate any help here.
>
>  Jared
>  
If your browser still works, then you have to be getting an ip.  Try 
adding my_computer_name to your hosts file on the line that says 
127.0.0.1, but don't get rid of the localhost and localhost.localdomain, 
just add it to the end.