Troubleshoot vpn and pptp problems in ubuntu and mint

I have recently fought Ubuntu and Linux Mint to connect to my vpn through the gui (gnome network manager or something). I do not have the solution you need but i can show you where to find it:

tail -f /var/log/syslog

Explanation: This command shows you the last tailing lines of the system log that will include your VPN error message

Works with: Ubuntu, Linux Mint >= 15, and maybe debian but I havent tried it.