MX Linux networking problem

[MultipleX]

I have a rather weird networking problem going on with my MX Linux installation. I have a tower PC and a laptop and have been accessing the tower via remote using ssh -X my.ip.add.ress and while using Linux Mint, which has been working fine. The laptop is connected using WiFi and runs MX Linux 23.5 (XFCE), but the tower is connected to the router via an Ethernet cable so its using the Ethernet interface to communicate. The tower has a dual boot setup and can be booted into either Linux Mint or MX Linux. Yesterday I tried accessing the tower with MX Linux booted and was unable to ssh to it or even ping it.

[Image removed]

Just to confirm, ssh has been installed and configured on the tower, but as can be seen from the above, this is not just about ssh. Initially I thought this was a network problem, but it turns out that both the laptop and tower can both ping the router and access its admin page. The router can ping the tower. In addition, from the tower it is possible to access the Internet and both ping and ssh onto the laptop, but for some reason, not the other way around - the laptop can't access the tower.

My other thought was to check UFW on the tower, but 'sudo ufw status' returns 'Inactive', so one would not expect any blocking. So what gives?

When booting back into Mint, everything works fine again. Boot into MX again and we have the same problem.

Digging a little further it turns out that the problem was related to DHCP, but I don't know why this is happening. I have a static reservation set on the router for the tower based on the MAC address of the ethernmet interface and when this is booted into Linux Mint, Mint always picks up that static address. However, when I boot into MX Linux, the PC always gets an address from the dynamic pool rather than a static one. Why is this? The MAC address of the NIC as expected remains constant. I had a look in /var/lib/dhcp top find the lease file, but there is nothing in there? Does MX keep its lease file in a different location?

As a workaround, I have set up a static IP address manually for the time being

[Eadwine Rose]

According to the forum rules (please read): Please provide full Quick System Info, use copy for forum button, no edits.
LiveUSB version is OK if needed.

MX 23 has a firewall, you can find it by typing firewall in the menu's top.

[atomick]

check all cable connections
review all files in MX you touched - any syntax err can mess with you even an unexpected Tick or fwrd Tick
Permissions of files you did modify try perms of 755 for starters until your happy 554 could be a better safer for some other files but most leave alone less you know the know.
bad port on router - swap the TWR port with Mint Laptop port on router ? --- does trouble reverse
swap cables as well if keeps on .. looks like a lost connection or a port issue. different ports on your router least for the TWR conn to try diff port. DHCP does not care.
router port is it enabled did it go brain dead state and enabled is unknown?
is/are your interfaces UP no Red X on the desktop icons ip a -- shows UP same will ifconfig -a
power cycle net-Modem Router reboot devices. - fresh start
ip a
ifconfig -a ---mx does not have better ifconfig only lame ip tool - get via sudo apt install net-tools -y
check your network tool bar icon - this matches with /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ Wifi and Wired defs are here as to how configured.
ping -c2 IPaddr -c2 is only ping 2 times all you need to see is it respond - and from both ends each way
ping localhost / router port / router gateway / other laptop
check sshd daemon running if you did install openssh-server pkg on both ps -ef | grep sshd
keep the /ufw/gufw firewall off or disabled - make sure it is off if running each side will require definitions or rules to allow sshd in to each IPaddr from your network to each device,
until you actually find your issue. but sounds not so bad.
many times issues can be between keyboard and chair
we can laugh at our selves when we find it was something silly.
curl ifconfig.me performed on or both should show your Outside /routered/Firewalled facing the dirty internet if this shows your ISP assigned IPaddr then you should be good on the TWR box.
or plan B network troubleshooting 101 is your plan.
browse the internet for other like minds sharing similar issue. good ruck

[Eadwine Rose]

To make your post easier to read, please post code in code tags, like so

[code]code output here[/code]

[MultipleX]

check all cable connections
review all files in MX you touched - any syntax err can mess with you even an unexpected Tick or fwrd Tick
Permissions of files you did modify try perms of 755 for starters until your happy 554 could be a better safer for some other files but most leave alone less you know the know.
bad port on router - swap the TWR port with Mint Laptop port on router ? --- does trouble reverse
swap cables as well if keeps on .. looks like a lost connection or a port issue. different ports on your router least for the TWR conn to try diff port. DHCP does not care.
router port is it enabled did it go brain dead state and enabled is unknown?
is/are your interfaces UP no Red X on the desktop icons ip a -- shows UP same will ifconfig -a
power cycle net-Modem Router reboot devices. - fresh start
ip a
ifconfig -a ---mx does not have better ifconfig only lame ip tool - get via sudo apt install net-tools -y
check your network tool bar icon - this matches with /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ Wifi and Wired defs are here as to how configured.
ping -c2 IPaddr -c2 is only ping 2 times all you need to see is it respond - and from both ends each way
ping localhost / router port / router gateway / other laptop
check sshd daemon running if you did install openssh-server pkg on both ps -ef | grep sshd
keep the /ufw/gufw firewall off or disabled - make sure it is off if running each side will require definitions or rules to allow sshd in to each IPaddr from your network to each device,
until you actually find your issue. but sounds not so bad.
many times issues can be between keyboard and chair
we can laugh at our selves when we find it was something silly.
curl ifconfig.me performed on or both should show your Outside /routered/Firewalled facing the dirty internet if this shows your ISP assigned IPaddr then you should be good on the TWR box.
or plan B network troubleshooting 101 is your plan.
browse the internet for other like minds sharing similar issue. good ruck

Wow! Lots of ideas here. Thank you!.
I did a lot of this networking 101 stuff last night and determined that its not network connectivity.
Today discovered it is actually a DHCP issue.... The MX OS did not acquire the address I was expecting it to have done and I was trying to connect to thin air....

[MultipleX]

Here is all of the Quick System Info.

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 6.1.0-31-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-31-amd64 
           root=UUID=cdee41bb-b26e-4570-ad55-18ce274d5802 ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.20.0 tk: Gtk 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm 4.20.0 
           dm: LightDM 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.5_x64 Libretto October 5  2021 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Dell product: Precision Tower 5810 v: N/A 
           serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 7 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 0K240Y v: A01 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: A34 
           date: 10/19/2020 
Battery:   Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse MX Master 3 
           serial: <filter> charge: 50% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes 
           status: N/A 
           Device-2: hidpp_battery_1 model: Logitech Wireless Keyboard ERGO K860 
           serial: <filter> charge: 50% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes 
           status: N/A 
CPU:       Info: 8-Core model: Intel Xeon E5-2667 v3 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Haswell 
           family: 6 model-id: 3F (63) stepping: 2 microcode: 49 cache: L2: 20 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
           bogomips: 102159 
           Speed: 1200 MHz min/max: 1200/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1200 2: 1500 
           3: 1500 4: 1200 5: 1200 6: 1200 7: 1197 8: 1200 9: 1200 10: 1300 11: 1500 
           12: 1200 13: 1200 14: 1200 15: 1200 16: 1200 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected 
           Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
           Type: l1tf 
           mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable 
           Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected 
           Type: retbleed status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass 
           mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl 
           Type: spectre_v1 
           mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW; STIBP: 
           conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GK104GL [Quadro K4200] driver: nouveau v: kernel 
           bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:11b4 class-ID: 0300 
           Device-2: Logitech Webcam C930e type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo 
           bus-ID: 2-7:5 chip-ID: 046d:0843 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter> 
           Display: server: X.Org 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0 driver: 
           loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: localhost:10.0 
           screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 4480x1440 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1186x382mm (46.7x15.0") 
           s-diag: 1246mm (49.1") 
           Monitor-1: DP-1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 142 size: 344x194mm (13.5x7.6") 
           diag: 395mm (15.5") 
           Monitor-2: DP-2.1 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 109 size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.2") 
           diag: 685mm (27") 
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.6 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 22.3.6 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel C610/X99 series HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:8d20 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GK104 HDMI Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus-ID: 03:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0e0a class-ID: 0403 
           Device-3: Texas Instruments PCM2902 Audio Codec type: USB 
           driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 2-13:7 chip-ID: 08bb:2902 
           class-ID: 0300 
           Device-4: Logitech Webcam C930e type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo 
           bus-ID: 2-7:5 chip-ID: 046d:0843 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter> 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.1.0-31-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Ethernet I217-LM vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: kernel 
           port: f020 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:153a class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.79 TiB used: 922.93 GiB (50.2%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Micron model: SK hynix SC300B SATA 512GB 
           size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
           type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2P00 scheme: GPT 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital 
           model: WDS500G1R0A-68A4W0 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B 
           logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 00WR 
           scheme: GPT 
           ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: SanDisk model: SDSSDHII960G 
           size: 894.25 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
           type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 10RL scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 200 GiB size: 195.8 GiB (97.90%) used: 116.6 GiB (59.5%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18 
           ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 13 MiB (5.1%) 
           fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
           dev: /dev/sdb4 maj-min: 8:20 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 37.0 C mobo: N/A sodimm: SODIMM C gpu: nouveau 
           temp: 49.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 1048 gpu: nouveau fan: 2640 
Repos:     Packages: note: see --pkg apt: 2570 lib: 1329 flatpak: 0 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:      Processes: 319 Uptime: 10h 0m wakeups: 38 Memory: 31.27 GiB 
           used: 2.28 GiB (7.3%) Init: systemd v: 252 runlevel: 5 default: 5 
           tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 10/12 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.15 
           running-in: sshd (SSH) inxi: 3.3.06 

[MultipleX]

BTW, I did discover that I can actually IPv6 ping the tower PC and it responds.

[j2mcgreg]

Your lack of a swap partition is cause for concern. There are a lot of folks touting the idea that with enough ram available you can forgo creating a swap partition or file, but the reality is that some of our applications still expect it to be there (even though it may never be used) and can give unpridictable results when swap space is not present. The good news is that you can add a swap file at any time and here’s how:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/ ... -debian-11

[MultipleX]

Your lack of a swap partition is cause for concern. There are a lot of folks touting the idea that with enough ram available you can forgo creating a swap partition or file, but the reality is that some of our applications still expect it to be there (even though it may never be used) and can give unpridictable results when swap space is not present. The good news is that you can add a swap file at any time and here’s how:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/ ... -debian-11

I have been categorically told that MX Linux does not need one so never added one. Have used one with other Linux distributions in the past including with Mint.
Will consider adding one.

[MultipleX]

This forum software is driving me nuts!
Seems to keep adding posts instead of editing them!
Is it possible to delete posts added in error?

BTW, if anyone knows where MX stores DHCP lease information I would be interested to know. Also why does MX behave differently to Mint when the statically bound IP address from DHCP? Why does it instead acquire an address from the DHCP pool regardless?