Please, please help me get this working!

[phunni]

OK, this may be a long one :wink:

 

I have been using Mdk 9.0 on my desktop for a little while now, with 8.2 & 8.0 before that. I recently decided that using my main desktop as a server for the rest of the network (sharing some files, a printer and my internet connection) was not the best idea.

 

So I bought a low spec machine - Compaq Deskpro P133 with 32Mb memory and a network card. A floppy drive but no cd. I tried for ages to get network install via NFS working - and eventually did (9.0). At this point I added the second network card that had previously been in my other desktop to the compaq. Before I did that, I was able to ssh to the compaq and the NFS mount containing the install files and RPMs was still available.

 

I now was unable to get an internet connection from my cable modem, but I still had the NFS and ssh capabilites. Eventually I got the internet working so I was at the position where the compaq could access the internet and I could ping and be pinged from anywhere on my local network. At this point, however, I discovered that I could no longer ssh to the compaq (it just timed out - no other errors) and neither does the compaq mount the RPM sources via NFS anymore. I wondered if it could be a problem with 9.0 - so I tried installing 8.2 on the compaq - but now, I cannot get anything from the NFS server running on my main machine at all(an HP machine). I cannot even see it if I go to "mount points" in the control center - even though it seems to be running. I am setting up all my exports via webmin - so I doubt that it's a syntax error in the /etc/exports file.

 

This is where I am currently at. I want to be at the stage where I can install a couple more packages from the RPMs via NFS (I want to use firestarter and need the packages database to resolve dependencies). I also need to be able to share a printer and an internet connection. I ideally need to be able to ssh to the compaq from my HP, which will still be my main desktop.

 

At present, my only idea is that the network card I moved got damaged in the move - this seems a little unlikely as I can still use it to ping and get some LAN connectivity, although without ssh and NFS there is little I can do with it.

 

Please, please help - I am soooooooo frustrated with this and I really need to get it working. My network currently has no printer and no internet access - I am having to use a dial up in my entrance hall to enter this - annoying when I am paying for broadband!

[fuzzylizard]

If you are that desperate, why not temporarily install a cd drive into the server/gateway computer and do a complete reinstall and set everything up right from the computer and not over ssh.

 

Then, once everything is working. Do a complete backup and then start changing things. That way if you break something, you can restore from the back up.

 

It would seem to be a faster solution to me.

[phunni]

Hmmmm - I may have to do things that way - although I was hoping to avoid the expense of getting a cd drive (I'm already swapping things over from the HP, and I really don't think that swapping more things back and forth would actually make things easier)

 

It already took a lot of persuading to ge my wife to agree to the purchase of the compaq - and that was pretty cheap! :D