Dave Mielke wrote:
>
> On Fri, 19 Feb 1999, Carlyle Fitzgerald wrote:
> >I have a ppp connection usable from either X or the console, but am
> >unable to retrieve mail with fetchmail. My ip address is dynamic. I
> >*can* retrieve mail using Netscape, but as much as I love their
> >browser, I hate their mail reader. I'd like to use pine.
> >
> >Fetchmail connects to my ISP's mail server, but then says,
> >"Gethostbyname failed for ppp59a (or whatever number you
> >want).inetone.net". Here comes a strange part: I left the default
> >name assigned to my computer alone. (I think it's
> >localhost@localdomain.) After tying fetchmail, the name of my
> >machine changes to whatever my ISP gives me.
>
> How is your DNS set up? Is "named" running? What is in "/etc/resolv.conf",
> "/etc/nsswitch.conf", and "/etc/hosts"?
OK, I'm going to try to reply to everyone with one message, so bear with
me, please! :)
Here's my /etc/resolv.conf:
search inetone.net
nameserver 206.105.172.2
nameserver 204.117.214.10
And here's /etc/hosts:
127.0.0.1 localhost
206.105.172.2 inetone.net
204.117.214.10 inetone.net
I don't have an /etc/nsswitch.conf, and didn't even know I was supposed
to have until you mentioned it. I did find and read the man page for
it, but haven't had time to really study it. (I've had my two kids this
weekend...)
"named" does not appear to be running, or at least isn't showing up when
I do a ps aux. (I saved a copy of this command's output as a text file,
hoping to attach it to this message, but Netscape won't let me for some
reason.) As for DNS, I'm not aware of any configuration on my part. I
do have a book, *Using Linux, Gold Edition* or something to that effect,
that mentions named, so I'll do yet more studying later this evening.
>
> Don't try this yet, as it's always best to try to solve the real problem, but,
> as a last resort, you can always eventually try fetchmail's "no dns" directive.
Will do; thanks!
>
> You mentioned having done all sorts of ugly things like kernel recompiles. This
> kind of problem never requires that kind of extreme action, and can usually be
> resolved via simple configuration file changes.
Well, I was actually a little curious about the whole process, anyway.
I was already planning a reconfiguration of my whole partitioning
scheme, and I figured I'd have to reinstall Linux, so...
And Kieth Duthie wrote:
> Scrub the file. Make a new one with the following:
> poll mail.inetone.net with proto pop3:
> user clfitz there has password "xyz"
> with the obvious change. Then call fetchmail with
> fetchmail -t 90 -k -a -v
> If this fails try
> fetchmail -m '/usr/bin/procmail -d root' -t 90 -k -a -v
OK, I tried that, with the same result; "gethostbyname failed, etc." My
HOSTNAME file was changed again, too.
> If the first fetchmail command doesn't work, and the second does, then
> you've got a problem with sendmail/exim/qmail/whatever listens on port 25.
> Check your /var/log/messages, as well. If it lists the messages gotten,
> but you still don't get them, your problem is probably in your .procmailrc
> file.
OK, I just checked /var/log/messages; no mention at all of fetchmail,
procmail, or messages retrieved. I had that problem with the old
installation of Linux, but so far haven't been able to actaully retrieve
messages at all this time around (using fetchmail, that is; Netscape has
worked perfectly under both installations.)
> Note. By the line 'name clfitz is root here' I assume you are running
> as root on your home system. One word: Don't.
I don't plan to for long. I want to get everything working before I
start to fool around with file permissions , users, groups, and so
forth. I barely know what I'm doing now, and don't want to confuse
myself any more than necessary!
Folks, thanks sincerely for the help! This, in my opinion, is an
example of the internet at its best. I wish more stuff like this made
it into the news, perhaps taking the place of the kiddy porn and stalker
stories...
Carlyle
USER PID %CPU %MEM SIZE RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
daemon 95 0.0 1.3 792 416 ? S 07:29 0:00 /usr/sbin/atd
root 1 0.1 1.3 776 416 ? S 07:29 0:03 init [3]
root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SW 07:29 0:00 (kflushd)
root 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SW< 07:29 0:00 (kswapd)
root 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SW 07:29 0:00 (md_thread)
root 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SW 07:29 0:00 (md_thread)
root 36 0.0 1.1 748 364 ? S 07:29 0:00 /sbin/kerneld
root 75 0.0 1.4 804 460 ? S 07:29 0:00 syslogd
root 84 0.0 1.7 924 552 ? S 07:29 0:00 klogd
root 106 0.0 1.5 860 484 ? S 07:29 0:00 crond
root 117 0.0 1.3 784 420 ? S 07:30 0:00 inetd
root 128 0.0 1.3 832 424 ? S 07:30 0:00 lpd
root 143 0.0 3.0 1412 928 ? S 07:30 0:00 sendmail: accepting c
root 155 0.0 1.1 756 344 ? S 07:30 0:00 gpm -t ps/2
root 170 0.0 3.0 1496 952 1 S 07:30 0:00 /bin/login -- root
root 171 0.0 1.0 740 320 2 S 07:30 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty2
root 172 0.0 1.0 740 320 3 S 07:30 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty3
root 173 0.0 1.0 740 320 4 S 07:30 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty4
root 174 0.0 1.0 740 320 5 S 07:30 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty5
root 175 0.0 1.0 740 320 6 S 07:30 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty6
root 177 0.0 0.7 732 244 ? S 07:30 0:00 update (bdflush)
root 178 0.0 2.5 1192 780 1 S 07:39 0:00 -bash
root 190 0.0 1.9 1156 616 1 S 07:39 0:00 sh /usr/X11R6/bin/sta
root 191 0.0 2.1 1840 660 1 S 07:39 0:00 xinit /usr/X11R6/lib/
root 192 2.0 12.3 7624 3812 ? S 07:39 0:28 /usr/X11R6/bin/Xwrapp
root 194 0.0 3.6 1728 1132 1 S 07:39 0:01 /usr/X11R6/bin/afters
root 204 0.0 2.1 1548 656 1 S 07:39 0:00 /usr/X11R6/bin//Anima
root 205 0.0 3.0 1580 928 1 S 07:39 0:00 /usr/X11R6/bin//Wharf
root 207 0.0 2.4 1508 744 1 S 07:39 0:00 /usr/X11R6/bin//Pager
root 208 0.0 2.3 1508 736 1 S 07:39 0:00 asclock -shape -24
root 210 0.0 2.3 1584 720 1 S 07:39 0:00 asload -shape -led re
root 211 0.0 2.0 1408 636 1 S 07:39 0:00 /usr/X11R6/bin//WinLi
root 216 0.0 5.6 2660 1744 1 S 07:39 0:00 nxterm -bg black -fg
root 217 0.0 2.5 1192 772 p0 S 07:39 0:00 bash
root 219 0.0 4.8 2424 1504 1 S 07:39 0:00 usernet
root 254 0.0 2.1 1172 648 1 S 07:39 0:00 sh /etc/sysconfig/net
root 261 0.0 2.3 1272 740 1 S 07:39 0:00 /usr/sbin/pppd -detac
root 310 2.4 37.2 16708 11492 1 S 07:40 0:31 /usr/lib/netscape/net
root 319 0.0 8.4 12716 2620 1 S 07:40 0:00 (dns helper)
root 334 0.0 1.6 868 508 p0 R 08:01 0:00 ps aux
