...I installed Ubuntu and got it up and running, but can't get the internet connection to work. I did the usual info on IP address, Gateway, DNS. rebooted, and so forth. But I didn't set the box up as a network. Maybe there is something in the network system that needs to be installed---any suggestions are welcome)
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If you're running Ubuntu 9.04 there's a possibility the solution might be found by editing the /etc/resolv.conf file (one of the files Ravi listed).
There's a known issue - not frequently seen but seen frequently enough to merit notice -- Ubuntu's Network Manager sometimes inserts \032 -- ASCII for space -- where spaces should be.
What spaces? The spaces separating domains to search.
I've solved this by editing the file, removing instances of \032 and recreating the proper spacing.
.d.