OK, so I determined that both Ubuntu and Fedora Core 7 (rescue CD) could see my network cards. Ubuntu could see the one on the mother board, and Fedora Core 7 could see both. But Ubuntu couldn’t connect to my network via DHCP.

So I decided to use Fedora. But when I tried to download via http, it demanded a domain and a folder on that domain. When I input both, it insisted on inputting double slashes between domain and folder, even when I deleted them from both ends, so naturally, the repository couldn’t be found.

So I decided to download the Live CD. When I did so, it turned out to be larger than 700 meg, which meant that I couldn’t burn it on to a CD–I had to use a DVD. If I’d know that, I would have simply downloaded the entire DVD iso.

The problem is, I’ve never burned a DVD (though I have a DVD burner) so that means that I have to go out to wherever, and buy blank DVDs. Why couldn’t Fedora put a Live install on a CD? It wouldn’t have been much smaller…

[Update a few minutes later]

I should add that I suspect that my earlier problems were due to attempting to install a 32-bit version of the OS on an AMD 64 chip. So perhaps a solution is to burn a 64-bit version of Core 6…

Doing touristy things. We’ll go see the fort, but I’ve been to too many big ones in the Caribbean (e.g., El Morro, Jefferson) to be impressed, at least gauging by the exterior. Posting will be sparse/intermittent until tomorrow night.

We’re driving up to Orlando for a couple days (where Patricia has some work) and then perhaps to St. Augustine for the weekend, where we’ve never been (any tips from Transterrestrialers in terms of places to stay or things to see/do would be appreciated). I expect to have Internet access when we get there, but one never knows…

Based on the remarkable similarity to Anonymous Moron #1, in terms of (lack of) grammar, and posting style (e.g., referring to me as “Simberg,” and employing the idiotic chickenhawk argument, and being, well, moronic) I’ve banned Anonymous Moron #2, as exemplified in comments here. I think that my readers deserve better than to read such idiotic drooling. For anyone who wants to complain, other than said moron, the comments section is open.

Just in case anyone was wondering why the quality of the comments section dramatically improved…

So, I downloaded the latest driver from RealTek to attempt to solve my problem. I removed the old r8169 with rmmod, but when I do a “make clean modules” from within the directory with the Makefile, I get the following errors:

make -C src/ clean
make[1]: Entering directory `/root/temp/r8169-6.003.00/src’
rm -rf *.o *.ko *~ core* .dep* .*.d .*.cmd *.mod.c *.a *.s .*.flags .tmp_versions Module.symvers rset
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/temp/r8169-6.003.00/src’
make -C src/ modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/root/temp/r8169-6.003.00/src’
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.18-1.2798.fc6/build SUBDIRS=/root/temp/r8169-6.003.00/src modules
make: Entering an unknown directory
make: Leaving an unknown directory
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/temp/r8169-6.003.00/src’

Can anyone tell me what’s going on? Do I have to have untarred the files into some specific directory?

[Update a few minutes later]

Well, this is kind of discouraging news:

Beware:

I put a new video card in my new server, and now have X running. But I still can’t get eth0 to work. It’s apparently a Realtek gigabyte interface, but it’s not being recognized at boot.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Blogging continues to be light. I’ve been working on a piece for Popular Mechanics. I’ve got a red eye tonight, but I need to make a Fry’s run, and meet someone for dinner. Back later, for those of you who have inexplicably been on the edge of their seats.

It’s Labor Day, so I’m laboring. Have a bunch of proposals due on Thursday.

My return flight went much better than the trip to Detroit. Lines reasonable, seat reclined, took off and landed on time. And about a third the price (since Spirit sells each leg separately). I may take another chance on them.

Of course, I’m back just in time to watch upcoming Hurricane Dean bearing down on us sometime next week.

We’re flying up to Detroit this evening, and then driving up to Houghton Lake, Michigan, for the wedding of a second cousin (or is it first cousin, once removed? Whatever the daughter of a first cousin would be…).

Don’t know if I’ll have Internet this weekend, or time to post. Sunday night I’ll be down in Ann Arbor, where I will have Internet (though possibly still no time). Anyway, I’ll be back Tuesday morning, when things should start to get back to normal, except things are very busy in general, as its SBIR season for NASA, and I’m busy writing proposals due the first week of September.