Fedora Core 2 - Can't get mail, download or browse web pages

[Steven P. Ulrick]

On Thu, 20 May 2004 09:38:45 +0100
Simon Andrews <simon.andrews at bbsrc.ac.uk> wrote:

> 2) If you can ping an external IP address, can you ping an address by 
> name?  If not then it's probably a DNS problem.
> 
> When you're connected check /etc/resolv.conf and see that there are
> some nameserver entries.  Check these against your working
> configuration and see if there's anything different.
> 
> Hope this gets you a bit further.

Hello, Simon :)
Not only did this get me a little further, but it has provided a
consistent, though slightly unfortunate workaround.  But at least I have
full use of the internet.
What I have to do to use the internet is the following:
1. Connect with Kppp
2. Copy the version of "/etc/resolv.conf" that I got from my
installation of Fedora Core 1 to "/etc/resolv.conf" in my Fedora Core 2
installation.

After following these steps, everything that I complained about in my
initial message on this thread is resolved.

But, this brings up a few questions:
1. Why do I have to go through this at all?
2. How do I make this change permanent?
3. And what can I do to actually fix (not workaround) this problem?

For clarification, I must add that I have been using Kppp to connect to
the internet ever since Red Hat 7, the first version of Linux I ever
really used, and I have NEVER had this problem before.
In fact, I could break it down this way:
1. Under Fedora Core 2, Test Release 3, full installation, every package
installed and every available update installed, I did not have this
problem
2. Following a full installation of Fedora Core 2, every package
installed and every update installed, I began having this problem.  In
fact, I even reinstalled after I initially noticed the problem, to no
avail.

A few more points, as far as how I always configure to connect to the
internet:
1. "kppp | Configure | New | Manual Setup | Connection name
"eagleinet.net"
2. "Add | Enter A Phone Number", in response to which I enter my
Internet providers phone number.

As you can see, nothing complicated, but it has always worked perfectly,
until Fedora Core 2.

In summary, when I connect to the internet under Fedora Core 2, my
"/etc/resolv.conf" file remains blank, which is why I could only ping a
numeric URL, and not a human readable domain name.  When I copy the
contents of "/etc/resolv.conf" that I copied when connected to the
internet, on the same machine, while running Fedora Core 1, to
"/etc/resolv.conf" on my Fedora Core 2 installation, everything works
perfectly.  So why do I have to do it manually?

I hope this updates and clarifies the issue :)  One thing that mystifies
me is that this occured with two fresh installs of Fedora Core 2, but
that I appear to be the only person that this has happened to.

Anyway, thanks for your previous and your future help.

Steven P. Ulrick