I've given up...

[TheGreatPoo]

...on Mandrake for my home network.  Scared ya didn't I?  

I just cannot get Mandrake 9.0 to do DHCP for my home network no matter what I try, where I look, and what questions I ask.  

What, in your opinion, is the easiest to setup/use Linux Distro for networking?  I don't plan to use this for anything other than a simple home network and maybe a FTP server in the future when I can afford another hardrive.

I know I have chewed everyone's ears off with my seemingly never-ending questions about setting up Mandrake.  I want to thank those who took the time to help me even though it was in vain.

Thanks for reading!

[Stryker]

you wanted a dhcp client or server? the client is simple and if u had a problem you have, to me at least, a very unique situation. The server... read the manual for dhcpd.conf and it should explain things. I think you'll find the same problem in most distros. I dont know of any gui tool for dhcpd. I'll add that to my notes for things to do on my distro. If u like I can post my file for u to look at, it's very small.

[flap]

Why do you need to use a dhcp server at all?

[Refalm]

The only thing I needed to do on my DCHP server to get it working was filling in the account-name my ISP gave me. After that, my client PC connected to the internet immediatly.

Well anyways, Smoothwall GPL is made for small home or business networks. It can do routing, DCHP, VPN, SSH, port forwarding, graph display, frequent updates, and all through a web interface. The installation is very easy and available in many languages.
Installing a FTP server, NTP support, X or something that doesn't have to do with routing might be difficult, because the distro is stripped of many libraries to save HDD space. However, it makes a PC into a damn good router/DCHP server.

[ July 12, 2003: Message edited by: Refalm ]

[TheGreatPoo]

quote:Originally posted by flap:
Why do you need to use a dhcp server at all?

Well, I guess I don't persay, I just need a server that will be able to connect my other two computers (one is a Mac running OS 9.1, and the other is a Winoze 2000 Pro box <--- Not my computer) to the internet.  Whether or not they recieve an IP randomly or are assigned one really doesn't matter to me.  So I either need a DHCP or a router.  Either will do fine.  I just said DHCP because I was too lazy to type "DHCP or router."  

Stryker, I am trying to set up a server.  I have already read the manual and have followed the directions exactly as written.  I have tried using the GUI Wizard to set up the DHCP, I have tried doing it manually using the terminal, and I have tried Webmin.  All to no avail.  I have spent the better part of two months trying to get this thing running and it is one problem after another.  I fix one, then another gets in the way.  I guess I am just not that saavy in Linux yet.  

Thank you for the recommendation, Refalm!  I will check out Smoothwall.  Also, thanks to the others who replied!

[flap]

Well whether you run a dhcp server on it or not, the machine connected to the internet is still a router. But there's no real need to run a dhcp server on the router; you can just assign the other two machines static addresses.

If it's setting up the routing that's causing a problem, that should be easy to sort out.

[Stryker]

what if u want to use the dhcp server on the other network?

[flap]

how do you mean?