Local net OK, Internet not, A2000, XSurf, AWeb

[michele]

Hi, this is my very first post so I hope I'm doing this right.  I have a 2000 that I just upgraded to OS 3.9, 68030, 8 meg. RAM, 2M chip, and an X-Surf 3cc network card.  I'm using AWeb II 3.4 (came with the X-Surf) as a browser.

I start Genesis going and it claims to successfully load AmiTCP.  Then I run AWeb and I can load pages from servers on my local network (192.168.0.nnn) just fine, but whenever I enter any URL from the outside world (like google) I get an "Unable to resolve host" error.

I'm running a Neetgear WPN-824 router and have assigned the Amiga its own static IP.  When I installed the X-Surf software it asked me for my DNS server IP, which I typed in very carefully.  The router does see the Amiga on its list of attached devices.  I have three other PC's on my local network and they can all access the outside net fine.

One clue (maybe?) - the Genesis window runs a stream of messages "Loading segment for samba:bin/nmbd failed" when I start it.  Do I need to be running Samba to access the outside world?  I thought that was just for local file sharing.

I'm kinda stumped here.  I *think* I installed everything correctly, and it didn't complain about anything during the 3.9 install or the X-Surf install.  I read the (skimpy) documentation but found nothing there.  Local access works fine, outside doesn't work at all.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

[michele]

> In GenesisPrefs...

Ah ha - I think we're on to something here.  When I click on GenesisPrefs, nothing happens.  I'm guessing this is because I must not have MUI installed.  Rereading the X-Surf installation directions, they say this needs to be present.  I thought it was installed along with the rest of the network software but maybe not.  So I downloaded a copy of MUI from the net to my PC, wrote it to a CD and popped it in my Amiga.

But the Amiga wouldn't recognize the CD (no icon appears).  It gives me some error about "Can't find Amiga boot block".  So my new question is, can the Amiga read CD's burned on a PC or do I need to find some other way of getting MUI on the Amiga?  One step forward, two steps back...

Thanks so much for the speedy help.

[michele]

skurk wrote:
Sounds like you're missing a DNS server or two.   I think you can edit those in AmiTCP:db/resolv.conf (or whatever the file is named).

I guess if you enter http://208.69.34.230/ in the browser it works, right?  If so, then problem solved.  If not, it might be a routing problem - recheck your network settings.

What a brilliant idea.  I don't know why I didn't think of doing my own address resolution.  Anyway, when I give AWeb the actual IP, Google does indeed appear.  So the Amiga *can* talk to the net.  I guess that despite my having told Genesis the name of my DNS server, it must not have stuck.  Now I'm off to find where it's hiding.  Progress!  Thanks.

[michele]

skurk wrote:
Sounds like you're missing a DNS server or two.   I think you can edit those in AmiTCP:db/resolv.conf (or whatever the file is named).



BINGO!  This was it!  I opened AmiTCP:db/genesis.conf and discovered three entries for XSurf in there, labeled xsurf, xsurf0, and xsurf0 (yes, zero twice).  The second and third had lines that said "NAMESERVER 208.67.222.222" (I'm using OpenDNS) but the first entry had a line that said only "USENAMESERVER".  I changed that to be the same as the other two and then started AWeb again.  That did it - it now happily resolves address names all on its own.

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to read and reply to my question.  What a great resource this forum is!  I'm a big Amiga fan from way back.  I bought a 1000 when they first came out, then traded it for a 2000, then bought a second 2000.  I think it's so cool to be able to surf the web from my good ol' 2000.

[michele]

Yes, that really clears it up.  Danke sehr!  I tried running genesisprefs from the CLI and it gave me an error message about some MUI library not found.  I'm not sure which version of Genesis I have - it came on an unlabeled CD from the place I bought the X-Surf board.  Thanks also for the recommendation for Boingbag - I had not heard of that.

While we're at it, do you have any recommendations for a better browser than AWeb, or is that the best?  I'm sort of like Rip Van Winkle here - when I was last using my Amiga regularly, OS 1.3 was the hot deal and I didn't worry much about web browsers because there was no web to browse back then!

[michele]

Well I downloaded MUI from www.sasg.com but when I try to install it, it stops with an error "Can't open file " " in line 299" whatever the heck that means.  If I click on Proceed the installer finishes but MUI is not installed.  I have an MUI directory full of files but nothing runs.  Can anyone help with this problem?  Does MUI need to be installed in a particular directory?  Thanks.

[michele]

rich wrote:
look up the AWEB open on the internet, way better than original aweb that comes with 3.9...if that is the one you are using. Rich

\

Yes, that's the one I had, not knowing any better.  I'll try that while I'm trying to figure out this MUI business.  Thanks for the tip.