Ubuntu Wired Ethernet Connection Not Working

I recently upgraded my home internet connection to 50 mbps.  Shaw (ISP) gave loaned me a new Cisco DPC3825 cable modem.  The Cisco DPC3825 also functions as a gateway, router, and wireless router, so I pulled the plug on my old Trendnet TEW-432BRP.  In doing this, I started to notice multiple failures between my PS3 and my Ubuntu 11.04 machine (running PS3 Media Server, both wired) in the form of frequent DLNA errors.  On top of this, Ubuntu sometimes wouldn't recognise the wired ethernet connection (even though the hardware lights activated).

Fixing/resetting this was simple:

sudo service network-manager stop
sudo ifconfig eth0 up
sudo dhclient eth0
sudo service network-manager start

These commands stop network manager, ensure the wired ethernet device (eth0 in my case) is being monitored, renew its DHCP lease, and restart network manager.  So far, it's worked for me every time.

After a little more digging, I believe the problem lies with my Cisco SPA2102 VOIP phone adapter.  It was running under the gateway and also assigning DHCP.  I've since turned this feature off and am hoping for less no more communication errors.

Explanation of the Linux (Ubuntu) file system

The linux filesystem is simple and intuitive - much more so than that of Windows.  But sometimes those abbreviations are unclear.  Here's an explanation of the folder you should see in the root of your drive ("/"):

/bin – binary applications (most of your executable files)
/boot – files required to boot (such as the kernel, etc)
/dev – your devices (everything from drives to displays)
/etc – just about every configuration file for your system
/home – locally stored user files and folders
/lib – system libraries (similar to Program Files)
/lost+found – lost and found for lost files
/media – mounted (or loaded) devices such as cdroms, digital cameras, etc.
/mnt – mounted file systems
/opt – location for “optionally” installed programs
/proc – dynamic directory including information about and listing of processes
/root – “home” folder for the root user
/sbin – system-only binaries (see /bin)
/sys – contains information about the system
/tmp – temporary files
/usr – applications mainly for regular users
/var – mainly logs, databases, etc.

Note that to the beginner/regular user, most of these folders will remain untouched, with the exception of /home.  The /home directory contains folders for each user, in which _your_ specific documents, photos, video, etc. will be.  This is similar to C:/Documents and Settings/USERNAME/ you see in Windows.

How to fix /opt/google/chrome/libgcflashplayer.so crash

I keep getting a /opt/google/chrome/libgcflashplayer.so has crashed error when clicking "fullscreen" on any flash video in Ubuntu.  I'm on Ubuntu natty 11.04 and using Chrome 7.0.517.44 (I know it's old, but I have a number of issues with the newer versions).

Solution?  At least temporarily...

about:plugins

Expand the "Details" box in the upper right-hand corner and you will notice the "Shockwave" plugin has two entries.  I have 10.1 r103 and 11.0 r1.

Disable the older version in location /opt/google/chrome/libgcflashplayer.so.  Flash objects now fullscreen without problem.

How to Add a Thesaurus in LibreOffice (OpenOffice)

I just started using LibreOffice 3.3.3 and am astounded to learn that there isn't a working thesaurus.  At least not for English (UK) or English (Canada).  The Thesaurus menu option is greyed out when using either of these languages, and CTRL + F7 doesn't do a thing.

Some Googling brought me to the Weekly Whinge and a UK language thesaurus extension.  It looks like it's old (March 2009) but it works great.  Just install via Tools > Extensions Manager and you are good to go.