[newbie] Problem with firewall

[Pedro Alves]

Hello all,   I live in a student residence in Aachen in Germany.   I have internet access in my room, the problem is that the firewall they've installed is configured in a way that instead of blocking ports, everytime someone uses a forbiden port, he gets automatically banned from using internet! The first time it happened to me, I've learned that there's an incompatibility between CUPS searching for network printers and the firewall. They say it was port 511. So I've disabled CUPS service. A couple of days later I get network again, but after a few hours running ok, BAMM! no network again. This time it was port 541.   The first time I was blocked, I was using Mandrake 9.0, and the second time I had just installed 9.1 and disabled CUPS. I think I was trying to use Kopete with ICQ plugin when I went down.   - Is there anyway I can check which ports my PC trying to use whithout being connected? I'm afraid to plug in the cable, because I don't know which service may knock my connection down. - Does Mandrake Firewall block outgoing ports, or just incoming connections? if the latest is true how can I block outgoing ports??   Thanks in advance Best Regards Pedro Alves Portugal