Another newbie question...

Right, made the switch to linux and apart from some issues with the sound, all is going well.

However, I want to block some website and adservers - I've been told I have do this though the /etc/hosts file

However, this isn't working.

At the moment, say I want to block boards I enter

127.0.0.1 www.boards.ie

but this doesn't block the site..

Any ideas?

Sherifu

You've described the right procedure.

Are you sure the hosts file is saving the changes? You need to be root.

yep, host file is saving the changes

Sherifu

Did you reboot?

Sherifu

lol

nope.. not working either

Sherifu

It should be as easy as;

sudo gedit /etc/hosts

Your hosts file should open up. This file may already have some entries in it, which you don't change. Go to the end of the file, and add whatever entries you wanted to.
Save the hosts file, close it, and reboot your computer.

yeah, thats what I have been doing.. but no luck.

127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.1.1 Keynes

# The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts
::1 ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::0 ip6-localnet
ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
ff02::3 ip6-allhosts

127.0.0.1 www.boards.ie
127.0.1.1 www.boards.ie

is what my hosts file ie

Sherifu

try changing it to

127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.1.1 Keynes
127.0.0.1 www.boards.ie

# The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts
::1 ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::0 ip6-localnet
ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
ff02::3 ip6-allhosts

and reboot

i had it like that already

corkie

see these links:

http://www.ruhanirabin.com/2007/11/16/hosts-file-configuration-windows-linux-and-mac/

ubuntuforums.org: host file bypassed?

Did you try pinging one of the sites your trying to block with your hosts file?

thanks - however nogo!

still not working.......

Mad - I installed a plugin for firefox (ABP) and now the hosts file is working...

might have been a problem with FF

Steveire

Deleted User wrote: »

Mad - I installed a plugin for firefox (ABP) and now the hosts file is working...

might have been a problem with FF

Are you using a proxy?

If you are then that would explain it. Firefox would request 'www.boards.ie' from the proxy, instead of resolving it to '89.234.66.107' (or '127.0.0.1' if that entry was there), and requesting that from the proxy.

I don't know what that plugin does, but a work around in the case I just described is to add www.boards.ie to the list of hosts not to use the proxy for in firefox. That means that you'd have to maintain two lists though.

Capt'n Midnight

why have a short DIY static list in hosts when you can have rules in proxy.pac ?
www.schooner.com/~loverso/no-ads/

firefox also uses it's own DNS cache so not sure if changes in hosts take effect straight awayl

if you have a static internet address you can also sign up for opends.org and use their whitelists /blacklists at dns level

niallb

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

if you have a static internet address you can also sign up for opendns.org and use their whitelists /blacklists at dns level

Tiny typo, but excellent suggestion.
/etc/hosts changes do not require a reboot.

A firefox addon is a possible culprit, with a proxy server the most likely cause.
What's the list of plugins/addons you have installed?

I'd expect ad-block and similar might use something like /etc/hosts blocking.
They probably have a hosts file somewhere else in your firefox profile.
Perhaps installing the ABP addon created a new personal hosts file including your contents.
Only a theory as I haven't used them myself, but it fits the scenario.

You should be able to flush firefox's DNS cache by using <CTRL><SHIFT>R to reload.
This also instructs a proxy to redeliver content, but won't get it to look at your /etc/hosts (nothing will).

I imagine its the college proxy thats causing the problem, as it works fine when I am at home!

Thanks lads!