loss of network connectivity

[FrJimT3]

My network does not find VB after a reboot of VB. Help

I have done everything I can think of: I have turned the VB on and off. The VB is connected to the Netgear router by an ethernet cable. Nothing will recognize the VB, not the computer, not the Logitech Duet, not the iOmega wireless backup thing. Ain't nothin' that will connect! Please help! All was beautiful until I rebooted after the upgrade.

[Ron Olsen]

Attach a monitor and keyboard to the VB and reboot. Hit F2 when you see the blue line going across the bottom of the screen. Report any error messages you see.

If you get a login prompt, login as root, then enter

ifconfig eth0

and report the output.

[FrJimT3]

Thanks, Ron. Is it possible to use my laptop as the keyboard and monitor? That's what I've got.

[Ron Olsen]

You need a monitor that you can plug into the VGA jack on the back of the VB and a USB keyboard. I don't think a laptop will work.

[FrJimT3]

I was afraid of that. By reboot, do you mean to turn the appliance off and then on again?

[Ron Olsen]

WIth a VBA, you should be able to shut it down by briefly pressing the power button. This should cause an orderly software shutdown of the machine if it is running. When the machine is shut down, attach a monitor and keyboard, a then press the power button again to reboot.

You do not want to remove power abruptly from a running system (e.g. by pulling the power plug), or else you risk file system corruption.

Of course, you don't know the status of your machine since you have no network connectivity. *It may have failed to reboot, or it may have rebooted but failed to establish a network connection.

The goal of attaching a monitor and keyboard is to determine which of these two cases applies by seeing what error messages appear on the monitor, and then taking appropriate corrective action.

[FrJimT3]

When I turn on the appliance I get a request to login. I type in "root" and get a message asking for "password" Nothing I type appears on the screen and I get a message that the login was incorrect. What do I do now?
Secondly, is there any way we can talk by phone? I know that you are volunteers on this forum. I know that if I had paid for an Olive I would have paid for support and that by buying the VB I didn't pay for support and got what I think is a better machine for MUCH less money. I know all this, but it has been a week since it worked, I have spent $200 to get a monitor and a keyboard, I am frustrated. I know that you can't sit all day waiting for me to respond to your messages on the forum. I am VERY grateful for the help you give me. But I am still frustrated. Maybe the root problem with me is that I am a GOP ==> a grouchy old priest!

[divreg]

The default password for VortexBox is "vortexbox"; but, if you created a password when you set up your VBA, use that to login. *

Also, since VortexBox is a Linux based systems, passwords won't show up in the terminal when you type them.*

If you can get your machine to login, follow Ron's instructions on this wiki to enable using your laptop to access the linux shell on your VBA. *Keep your monitor and keyboard handy though, in case there is a problem with the network.

If you can't pass the login, the only thing I can say is to reinstall VortexBox on your VBA. *Others may have other ideas.

Hope this helps a little.

[FrJimT3]

Thanks, DivReg, that helped. Now I have a message that says:

Last login: Sat Apr 2 06:17:12 on tty1

[Vortexbox.localdomain ~]#

*

Now what do I do? When I type: iconfig eth0 I get a message that says "command not found"

[Ron Olsen]

Your VortexBox boots and you can login. *That is excellent news.

Now, to figure out why you don't have a network connection.

Enter the following commands and post the output:

ifconfig eth0

cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0