Internet connection

What output do you get when you issue the command :

ifconfig

The standard Firefox 'unable to connect' message.

Can you provide some hardware info? What computer, what type of connection (wired/wireless), using a router or not, what kind of modem? Is your modem/router set to hand our via DHCP? What happens if you set up Ubuntu to use DHCP? Also, the actual output of the "ifconfig" command would be useful.

Generic computer running XP with 1g video, 80g HDD, 1g Ram, Realtek ethernet. Wired connection to a Netcomm NB5 ADSL2+ modem.
My ISP confirms that it handles DHCP no problem.

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:40:F4:87:A6:91
            inet addr:219.90.243.104 Bcast:219.90.243.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
            inet6 addr: fe80::240:f4ff:fe87:a691/64 Scope:Link
            UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
            RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
            TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
            collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
            RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
            Interrupt:17 Base address:0x4000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
           inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
           inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
           UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
           RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
           TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
           collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
           RX bytes:260 (260.0 b) TX bytes:260 (260.0 b)

Thank you for your interest.

Well, I'm a bit confused. Your computer has been assigned an IP address by something. According to the output above your IP is 219.90.243.104. So you are connecting to something that is handing out addresses - perhaps from your ISP as that doesn't look like a standard private network IP. So even with the connection you are not able to connect to the internet? Can you provide any more information about symptoms you are experiencing?

I'm afraid not. The IP address comes from my ISP. After typing an URL in Firefox I get a 'can't connect to the server' error message.
On checking the modem settings just now it shows the IP address as 122.49.165.202, which is different from my previous check. Does this mean a random IP address is generated each time I log on?
I should mention that Kubuntu won't even open up 'http://192.168.1.1/cgi-bin/webcm' so I can check the settings!!

I'm not having any other problems with Kubuntu.
I am very grateful for the time and trouble you, and others, are taking to solve this problem

It almost sounds like your modem is set in "bridged" mode (might have a different name depending on modem). The fact that you can't access 192.168.1.1 supports this. Basically that means it passes control to the router or computer. If it's passing it to the computer, each time it boots it will probably request a new IP. Not really an issue but maybe not the most straightforward setup. You might want to contact the ISP and see if they can help you set the modem up to make the connection to the ISP rather than the computer. One way would be just use the reset button on the modem to force it back to factory settings. Of course, it's possible your ISP wants it set this way. Check with them before making changes.

Since you do have a network connection (would be hard to get an IP without one), I wonder if you might be having DNS problems. To test, open a terminal and type

ping www.google.com

If that fails try

ping 72.14.205.147

That is just the IP of one of the google servers. If the IP works but not the domain name then it's a DNS problem. Solution is to make sure you have DNS servers set up. Normally this is part of the modem settings but if it's passing everything to the computer the OS has to have the DNS set up.

Thank you.
I will chat to my ISP. In the meantime this is what came up when I typed 'sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart'
william@Adam:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
 * Reconfiguring network interfaces...
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.eth0.pid with pid 5555
killed old client process, removed PID file
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.5
Copyright 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

Listening on LPF/eth0/00:40:f4:87:a6:91
Sending on LPF/eth0/00:40:f4:87:a6:91
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPRELEASE on eth0 to 192.168.1.1 port 67
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.eth0.pid with pid 134519120
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.5
Copyright 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

Listening on LPF/eth0/00:40:f4:87:a6:91
Sending on LPF/eth0/00:40:f4:87:a6:91
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 18
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
                                                                         [ OK ]

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

I have now installed a new hard-drive and have installed Gutsy Gibbon on it exclusively. But, I still cannot access the web. I have noticed that the ethernet light on the modem is very dim when ig GG, but bright when in XP.
Thank you for any help.

Problem re-opened with #22944