Hello Alan,

I was thinking it may have been a kernel or kernel module change that caused the problem but if the issue happens on other OSs that's not the case.

At first I too thought that Linux might have been the cause. But I had changed Linux distro's but using the same hardware and had the same issue.

Maybe the NIC (built in?) just gave up for some reason. Glad you got it sorted.. :)

I tried disabling the integrated NIC and used a USB based NIC and had the same issue. Once I changed the motherboard (I actually moved the existing BBBS as a whole to another PC) the issue disappeared. The existing motherboard seems to work fine in all other aspects of operation. The PC had a 500 GB SSD boot drive
with 6 TB of SATA HD's so it made a decent PC for BBS/FTN use. At some point I will replace the motherboard in the problem PC.

I was having another issue with an intermittent failure of both inbound and outbound connectivity which included both Binkp as well as Http connectivity. I
initially thought it was also related to the NIC issue. But it turned out to be
a fault in the DSL modem/router. Once I replaced the modem/router that issue also ceased.



Jeff

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-3
* Origin: Fidoneet: The Ouija Board - Anoka, MN -bbs.ouijabrd.ne\ (1:282/1031)

Hello There,

I figured another update was required as I didn't want misinformation (From Me) to cause the wrong assumptions or conclusions.

I was thinking it may have been a kernel or kernel module change that caused >> the problem but if the issue happens on other OSs that's not the case.

First of there really were two fundamental problems. One being the BBBS PC suddenly not being able to make outbound connections and only limited inbound connections.

The second problem was that parts of the internet were unreachable while other parts could be reached fine. This condition was experienced by all PC's here regardless of OS.

The first problem DID turn out to be a Linux issue. Specifically a Ubuntu issue. When I previously stated that I had tried other distros. I errored in my statement. I should have stated that I had upgraded the version of Ubuntu that I had to a newer version. Both the Ubuntu version that I been using and the version that I upgraded to both had the same problem of not being able to see beyond the router. The BBBS PC could see the router as well as all the local networked PC's but nothing beyond the router. I have finally decided to actually go ahead and change Linux versions to Linux Mint v19. Now the former BBBS PC can now see the internet just fine using the same PC based network hardware that was previously in use.

The second problem of not being able to see the whole internet as I have stated turned out to be the router. Once I was able to convince my ISP that the
router was suspect and needed to be replaced. And was able to convince them to
actually send me a replacement. The problem with the missing parts of the internet looks to have also been fixed.

I am still not really sure what the issue was with Ubuntu that caused the initial BBBS PC problem. I suspect that since I upgraded as opposed to wiping and reformatting the BBBS PC initially the problem remained.

Since the former BBBS PC isn't committed to a task. Just for S's & G's I will likely do a fresh install of the current version of Ubuntu to test my theory.



Jeff

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-3
* Origin: Fidoneet: The Ouija Board - Anoka, MN -bbs.ouijabrd.ne\ (1:282/1031)

Hello There,

I have finally decided to actually go ahead and change Linux versions to Linux Mint v19. Now the former BBBS PC can now see the internet just fine using the same PC based network hardware that was previously in use.

I am still not really sure what the issue was with Ubuntu that caused the initial BBBS PC problem. I suspect that since I upgraded as opposed to wiping and reformatting the BBBS PC initially the problem remained.

Since the former BBBS PC isn't committed to a task. Just for S's & G's I will likely do a fresh install of the current version of Ubuntu to test my theory.

I wiped the newly installed Linux Mint installation on the problem PC and did a
fresh install of Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS formatting all the HD's during the install process. Once installed the newly installed Ubuntu OS once again COULD NOT make
an outbound network connection. <Banging head on table top>

Reinstalled Linux Mint v19 and the network once again works fine. There has to be some negative relationship between Ubuntu and the existing network hardware that I just don't see.


Jeff

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-3
* Origin: Fidoneet: The Ouija Board - Anoka, MN -bbs.ouijabrd.ne\ (1:282/1031)