Ubuntu 8.10 Network Problem

Yesterday I installed Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) on my Thinkpad R50e laptop.  This time I decided to do a complete install rather than just an upgrade because I wanted to get rid of several years of accumulated cruft.  I did remember to first back up the files I wanted to keep, though.  I downloaded the .iso image file from here and following the instructions here, I burnt it to a CD.  I then put the CD into the laptop and rebooted.  The installation was pretty simple and quick (it took only about an hour or so, whereas I remember upgrades taking several hours). There is a good overview of the installation process here.  However, when I booted up the new installation, the wired network connection was not working.  I wasn't even able to ping the ADSL modem router.

A bit of googling (from my other computer) revealed that the problem was probably a bug in NetworkManager 0.7, which is a new package in Ubuntu 8.10.  A work-around was recommended here.  Following this work-around I first disabled NetworkManager from starting up by opening a terminal and entering:

sudo update-rc.d -f NetworkManager remove

I then rebooted the laptop.

Then I opened another terminal and opened the /etc/network/interfaces file in an editor:

sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

This file already contained the lines:

auto lo

iface lo inet loopback

To the end of this file I added these lines:

auto eth0

iface eth0 inet dhcp

I then saved /etc/network/interfaces and exited the editor.

My /etc/resolv.conf file already contained the required line:

nameserver 10.0.0.2

So I rebooted the laptop again and the network connection was working properly: I was able to ping the modem router and connect to the web.

Comments

[John Zatyko]

It worked for me. Thank you.
Following the procedure the network icon disappeared from the right side of the top toolbar, but the network works.

Cheers,

John