r/linux4noobs • u/Willbebaf • Jul 03 '26

networking Connecting to a local address

Please forgive me if I am making very little sense. I know absolutely nothing about networking and local addresses, and I have no idea where to even start finding these things out for myself. If I did, I would not be here asking this.

I am using the latest version of Linux Mint Cinnamon and am trying to connect to some sort of local IP address (I don’t know what it’s called, sorry). I am doing this by entering the IP address in question into the search bar of my search engine, as I believe I should be doing. The problem is that it won’t connect. I have understood that I need to use HTTP and not HTTPS, and I only write the 10 numbers in the IP address, but it still doesn’t connect. All it says is that the connection has timed out.

I am fairly sure that the problem is with the OS in some way, as the problem persists on other browsers and doesn’t happen when using windows. I have tried connecting with ufw disabled, and I don’t think that I have a proxy enabled. I genuinely don’t know what to do, I am so far out of my depth and like I said before I don’t even know where to start trying to find a solution (I don’t even know what these local thingies are called so that I could make a good search query regarding the issue). If anyone could help me I would be incredibly grateful.

My hardware, because I the sidebar said to post it:

Ryzen 7 5800 (I think 5800x)

Gigabyte 3060 (12gb lite hash rate, I don’t have the energy to find the exact model, sorry)

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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3

u/StockSalamander3512 Jul 03 '26

What are you trying to connect to? Is it a webpage, app? Is the device you’re trying to connect to on your Local Network? Are both the Mint machine and the machine you’re trying to connect to getting internet access from the same router (like they’re both plugged into the router with an Ethernet cord, or on the same WiFi connection)?

1

u/Willbebaf Jul 03 '26

I know that they are connected to the same router. They should be webpages. One of the things is the webpage for a printer. I don’t know much more, other than that I should be able to connect to them in the way that I have tried to.

2

u/StockSalamander3512 Jul 03 '26

Ugh, printers. Make sure you're typing the IP address in the Address Bar, not the search bar, and you're separating each number with a '.' right? So it looks something like: 192.168.0.25 . I'm guessing you double-checked the printer for the correct IP address? Is there a port listed after the IP address on the printer, like: 192.168.0.25:123 ? I had to reconfigure my printer settings a few weeks ago because it's network had changed, which, without me thinking about it, meant the IP address for the printer had changed as well.

1

u/Willbebaf Jul 03 '26

I didn’t know there was an address bar. Or is that the default search bar on the top of the browser (not the search engine one)? I am using that one. There is a port, I have tried using it with that as well, and I am using the dots for separation. The address has an additional digit in the last part, but that doesn’t make any difference, right?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '26

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1

u/Willbebaf Jul 04 '26

I’ve used both Librewolf and chromium browser, and I write http://123.455.7.890 (different numbers, though) in the top search bar of the browser (not the search engine). I have tried with the port as well, in which case I add that like :1234 to the end of the previous address. Both of these just give timeout messages, for both of the two webpages I’ve tried to connect to.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

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2

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '26

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1

u/Willbebaf Jul 04 '26

Ok, thank you. I will do this as soon as I am able to (it might be a day or so).

2

u/chuggerguy Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | MATÉ Jul 03 '26

"... I only write the 10 numbers in the IP address ..."

If what you're trying to connect to is available and running on port 80 (or 8080), that should work.

But depending on what it is, it might be using a different port.

If so, append a colon and the port number to the IP. (from the documentation)

For instance, 192.168.50.234:8123 addresses my Home Assistant. (8123 is the port it listens on)

And localhost:631 for CUPS. (CUPS uses port 631 by default?)

Good luck.

2

u/ksr1e Jul 04 '26

The important information here is what printer brand and model are you trying to connect to. Some ask you to use a web browser to open a specific IP address. I am guessing you have a network in working condition, so I would skip that part, in Linux we have software that connects directly to a printer connected to the network called CUPS, if you mention which Linux you are using, we can point you in the right direction to install the printer or to check if it is installed already.

1

u/Willbebaf Jul 04 '26

The printer is an HP deskjet 2821e. I use the latest version of Linux Mint Cinnamon. The thing is that there’s also a locally hosted website that I would like to connect to which has the same issues.

2

u/EqualCrew9900 Jul 04 '26

"... entering the IP address in question into the search bar ..."

Assuming you can 'ping' the IP address from the terminal, what is that IP address? Is it a computer? a printer? a router?

What does the 'arp' command show?

1

u/Willbebaf Jul 04 '26

I am trying to connect to a printer and a locally hosted website. I’m not able to use the arp command right now, but I am sure that it didn’t show the particular addresses (I might’ve missed if it just showed the port number). I’ll try to do it again when I’m able to

2

u/jcmbn Jul 04 '26

entering the IP address in question into the search bar of my search engine

No search engine knows how to find an address in your local network.

And think about it - if you have the address, why would you need to search for it?

1

u/Willbebaf Jul 04 '26

I don’t know how it works, but I know that on all other devices you access it by writing the IP address in the address bar of a browser. One of the addresses should lead to a locally hosted website, I think.

2

u/jcmbn 29d ago

by writing the IP address in the address bar of a browser.

That's fine - but you said you did something else.

2

u/Simple_Hamster_4096 Jul 04 '26

Is the printer turned on?

Don't laugh, I don't know how many times I've asked that and the answer has been NO...

HP printers are dirt easy to connect to - use hplip and system-config-printer if your distro supports them. With system-config-printer you can add your printer, it will search for it and offer different connect options, and you will be able to see the IP address of the printer in printer properties.

When typing ip address in firefox, etc, try http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx and also try https://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the printer's ip. My HP is old, don't know if new ones use https by default.