Determining IP information for eth0 failed

[Bert Haskins]

>>>As far as the ping failing, have you verified the eth0 adapter is 
>>>initialized and running.?
>>>"serivce network restart" as root will handle that usually if not 
>>>already up.
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>-----------------------------------------------------
>>The GUI said it is active... (?) how can i be sure?
>>'service network restart' fails on bringing up eth0... so i 
>>guess thats my problem
>>-----------------------------------------------------
>>    
>>
>>>>thats one to chew on, i have been anyhow.
>>>>
>>>>Cheers,
>>>>Jeroen
>>>>        
>>>>
My latest problem is just the opposite, when I attempt to shut down or 
reboot FC1, it hangs when it reaches

>"Shutting down interface eth0"
>
I have to power down to get past this.
Once again, this was working fine a few days ago.
Any ideas?
TIA
  Bert