> > Something went wrong with one of my machines on campus. It is using DHCP. > For some reason the name server stopped working for it, probably in March. > I tried to ping the name server and it didn't respond. Another box in the > same room, which is static and not DHCP, continued to work as before. > Mike, sounds like you do not have a veyr good handle on how the NICs are handled in Linux, and I am sure using Ubuntu does not help you learn much on that front... Type '/sbin/ifconfig' and see if the NIC has a live ethernet on it, with an IP configured for it, a gateway, etc. That will tell you if the DHCP is working or not. If not, try firing up the dhcp-client-daemon (dhcpcd) over that NIC, typically "eht0" like this: 'dhcpcd eth0' and see if you get it working. Chances are the dhcpcd is running, but you are not getting a leased IP for some strange reason -- which may have to do with some admin having blocked your machine, as you eluded. You can always force the use of a particular nameserver by editing the /etc/resolv.conf and adding something like: nameserver 128.101.101.101 In the above example, I am pointing to a notorious UofM nameserver, which may actually work pretty liberally for machines outside of the UofM.