Unfortunately, AT&T just switched from DNS servers with fixed IP addresses to ones with dynamic IP addresses, so I have to switch my linux box to use DHCP, so that it gets the right addresses for the name servers, and I'm having major problems.
I used the Connection panel under Network & Internet in the Mandrake Control Center to switch to using DHCP. However, once I do that, lots of programs start complaining that they can't find the IP address corresponding to my host name, aclinux:
1. when I boot the computer, it no longer boots to the graphical login screen, but instead gives me the text login. When I log in and check the syslog, I see messages like:
Nov 9 01:40:44 aclinux gdm[1909]: gdm_auth_secure_display: Error getting hentry for aclinux
... gdm[1897]: Failed to start the display server several times in a short time period; disabling display :0
2. If I log in in text mode and then type startx, X and Gnome start, but Gnome prints another warning about not being able to find the host IP, and how it won't work properly without it.
3. proftpd gives a message:
proftpd: aclinux - Fatal: unable to determine IP address of `aclinux`
and dies, so now I have internet access, but no ftp access
My Windows 98 machine on the same network has no problem resolving aclinux to the DHCP-assigned address. I can find the DHCP-assigned IP address for my linux box manually by looking in the /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient.leases file.
I suppose I could write a script to modify /etc/hosts on startup, (though I don't know where to put that script to ensure that it runs before the login or proftpd startup) but it seems like there must be a standard way to do this.
Thanks in advance for any help,
David
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
