All,
I am a newbie to Linux, and installed SuSE 5.3 about 7 weeks ago,
followed by a complete re-install of SuSE 6.0 a week later when it hit
the stands. Linux is a superb system, and promises me all the power and
speed that I've been dreaming of. On the other hand, it is very
challenging to install, even for someone like me who is a
better-than-average Windows programmer and who is very comfortable with
both computer hardware and software. Perhaps I should call it a suitably
humbling learning experience.
I'm impressed by SuSE as well (I researched Linux for 18 months before
choosing SuSE) and especially appreciate their attention to detail. And
if you're listening, SuSE, I would be happy to work with you in writing a
series of short "how-to's" in newbie-English for simple things like "How
to put an icon on your KDE desktop which will allow you to access your
floppy." It was the little things like that which had me pulling out my
hair in the beginning.
My primary problem is that I can never get PPP to work more than a couple
of times in a row -- that is, if I can get it to work at all, which is
rare these days. I'm sure that it has something to do with my
configuration, listed at the end of this mail, and especially with my
hostname and machine name configuration. I have a stand-alone computer
hooked into an ISP with a modem and have no immediate plans to network
with my other Win98 computer at home. Do I even need a hostname or a
machine name? I'm totally confused, and it seems that those of us with
stand-alone systems are kind of glossed over in the how-to's and
man-pages.
Another problem is that I get the "cannot determine local host name, use
the servername directive to set it manually" message every time I boot
up. I plan to take LenZ Grimmer's suggestion to get that fixed up, and I
suspect it's somehow related to my PPP problem.
A second problem is that diald starts dialing away furiously upon bootup
even before I can log on. Again, I will take the advice of others who
have posted this month to the list.
The final problem is that I can play all sorts of sounds on the media
player when I'm in KDE, but KDE itself will only rarely play system
sounds when I type in "kaudioserver" at a terminal prompt. I can live
without sound, though I should demand it of my system since setting up
the soundcard was such a nightmare.
I've tinkered this PPP thing to death, am sure that I've bungled it up
royally, but greatly appreciate the help I've gotten by gleaning the
archives of this list back to early last summer. I only wish I had found
this list sooner than about 10 days ago. I will do my best to help others
who find themselves in sticky situations that I've somehow managed to
avoid or climb of.
-Mike McCullough
Dallas, Texas
-----------Pertinent file snippets below--------------
=====================================================================
/etc/suseppp/diald/generic.diald file
device /dev/ttyS2
-m ppp
speed 230400
two-way
local 127.0.0.3
remote 206.124.64.253
reroute
defaultroute
dynamic
disconnect-timeout 120
redial-timeout 30
dial-fail-limit 5
fifo /var/run/diald.ctl
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
/etc/ppp/suseppp/chat-secrets file
# example for /etc/ppp/suseppp/chat-secrets
# client server pw iplist
GTE/mccullm * mypassword
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
/etc/hosts.conf file
#
# /etc/host.conf
#
# Automatically generated by SuSEconfig on Sun Mar 14 12:12:51 CST 1999.
#
# PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
#
# Change variables (NAMESERVER + YP_SERVER) in /etc/rc.config instead.
#
#
order hosts bind
multi on
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
/etc/hosts file (I think there is probably a problem here)
#
# hosts This file describes a number of hostname-to-address
# mappings for the TCP/IP subsystem. It is mostly
# used at boot time, when no name servers are running.
# On small systems, this file can be used instead of a
# "named" name server.
# Syntax:
#
# IP-Address Full-Qualified-Hostname Short-Hostname
#
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.2 texas texas
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
/etc/suseppp/generic.options file
#
# /etc/suseppp
#
# Automatically generated by SuSEconfig on Sun Mar 14 12:44:59 _
# CST 1999.
#
# PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
#
# Change variables in /etc/rc.config instead
#
#
name "GTE/mccullm"
:206.124.64.253
noipdefault
remotename gte.net
mru 1500
debug
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
/etc/suseppp/generic.chat file
TIMEOUT 60
ABORT "NO CARRIER"
ABORT BUSY
ABORT "NO DIALTONE"
ABORT ERROR
"" +++ATZ
OK ATDT214-210-0645
CONNECT ""
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
pertinent portions of /etc/rc.config file
#
# /etc/rc.config
#
# Copyright (c) 1996,98 SuSE GmbH Nuernberg, Germany. All rights _
# reserved.
#
[snip]
#
# start loopback networking? ("yes" or "no")
#
START_LOOPBACK="yes"
#
# networking
#
# number of network cards: "_0" for one, "_0 _1 _2 _3" for four cards
#
NETCONFIG="_0"
#
# IP Adresses
#
IPADDR_0=""
IPADDR_1=""
IPADDR_2=""
IPADDR_3=""
#
# network device names (e.g. "eth0")
#
NETDEV_0="ppp0"
NETDEV_1=""
NETDEV_2=""
NETDEV_3=""
#
# parameteres for ifconfig, if you put "bootp" into it, bootp will
# be used to configure it
# sample entry for ethernet:
# IFCONFIG_0="192.168.81.38 broadcast 192.168.81.63 netmask _
# 255.255.255.224"
#
IFCONFIG_0="0.0.0.0 pointopoint 0.0.0.0 up"
IFCONFIG_1=""
IFCONFIG_2=""
IFCONFIG_3=""
#
# setup dummy network device for IPADDR_0? this is useful for non _
# permanent network connections (e.g. SLIP, PPP). Some software _
# needs a connection to FQHOSTNAME (e.g. plp). (yes, no)
SETUPDUMMYDEV=yes
#
# Do you want the "dynamic IP patch" to be enabled at bootup? (yes/no)
#
IP_DYNIP=no
#
# 2 you can configure at runtime, if the host may forward
# IP packages or not. Is this host a router? (yes/no)
#
IP_FORWARD=no
#
# SuSEconfig can do some checks and modifications for /etc/hosts.
# If this is not wanted, set the following variable to 'no' (yes, no).
#
CHECK_ETC_HOSTS=yes
#
# If CHECK_ETC_HOSTS is set to yes, SuSEconfig sorts your
# /etc/hosts. But in some cases this may be unwanted. So here is a
# flag, where you can configure if /etc/hosts should be "beautified".
# (yes/no)
#
BEAUTIFY_ETC_HOSTS=yes
#
# if SORT_PASSWD_BY_UID is set to yes, SuSEconfig sorts your
# /etc/passwd and /etc/group by uid/gid.
#
SORT_PASSWD_BY_UID=no
#
# hostname of the system (full name)
# if zero, and bootp is used above, bootp will also set the hostname
# (e.g. "riemann.suse.de" or "hugo.linux.de")
# don't forget to also edit /etc/hosts for your system
#
FQHOSTNAME="texas"
[snip]
#
# Should NIS be used for name resolving (yes/no)
#
USE_NIS_FOR_RESOLVING=no
#
# domain searchlist that should be used in /etc/resolv.conf
# (e.g. "suse.de linux.de uni-stuttgart.de")
# Attention! this has to be filled out, if you want to access a _
# name server
#
SEARCHLIST="gte.net"
#
# space separated list of nameservers that should be used for _
# /etc/resolv.conf
# give a maximum of 3 IP numbers
# (e.g. "192.168.116.11 192.168.7.7")
#
NAMESERVER="206.124.64.253 206.124.65.253"
#
# Used for News-Postings.
#
ORGANIZATION=""
#
# News server.
#
NNTPSERVER="news"
#
# space separated list of irc servers
#
IRCSERVER=""
#
# start the inet daemon in multi-user? ("yes" or "no")
# this is needed, if you have to telnet/rlogin to your own machine.
# It is also needed for the man page formatter in SuSE Help system
# and for starting the plp lp daemon.
#
START_INETD="no"
[snip]
#
# start routed (for dynamic routing - see man routed) (yes/no)
# ATTENTION: starting routed causes net traffic every 30 seconds.
# If your host is connected to internet via dial-up it makes
# absolutely no sense to activate it.
#
START_ROUTED=no
#
# start the named (package bind)? You have to configure the named
# first, before you can start it (man named).
#
START_NAMED=no
[snip]
#
# search net paths as ? (e.g. nobody)
#
UPDATEDB_NETUSER=""
[snip]
#
# SuSE-PPP settings
#
# Provider name. `SuSEConfig -list` returns a list of possible
# entries
PPP_PROVIDER_0="generic"
# Login name
PPP_USERNAME_0="GTE/mccullm"
# Set debug option?
PPP_DEBUG_0="yes"
# pppd options; e.g. "-vj mru=1500, asyncmap=0"
PPP_OPTIONS_0="mru=1500"
# Set defaultroute?
PPP_DEFAULT_ROUTE_0="yes"
# This parameter is optional.
# Authentification (PAP, CHAP, TERMINAL)
PPP_AUTHENT_0="PAP"
# These parameters are optional
# Name, IP address of the remote system
PPP_REMOTENAME_0="gte.net"
PPP_REMOTEIP_0="206.124.64.253"
# Name, IP address of the local system
PPP_LOCALIP_0=""
PPP_LOCALNAME_0=""
# These parameters are optional and
# should be obtained from provider database
# nameserver of the peer
PPP_NAMESERVER_0="206.124.64.253 206.124.65.253"
# http proxy server
PPP_WWW_PROXY_0=""
# news server
PPP_NEWS_0=""
# This parameter is obsolete
PPP_SETUP_NETWORK_0=""
# Remote station phone number
PPP_REMOTE_OUT_0="214-210-0645"
# Device to dial out
PPP_DEVICE_0="/dev/ttyS2"
# Modem settings
# Here you can do some special initializing for your modem.
# Obtain the correct string from your vendors manual
MODEM_INIT_0="ATZ"
# Modem speed (e.g. 57600)
MODEM_SPEED_0="230400"
# This string will be placed before the number
# to dial the modem. This can also be used to
# to get a line (e.g. "ATDT0w")
MODEM_DIAL_MODE_0="ATDT"
# start diald?
PPP_DIALD_0="yes"
[snip to end]
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
Output of route -n (definitely a problem here!)
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
206.124.64.253 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 1 0 1 sl0
127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 U 1 0 1 sl0
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
Output of pppstats
IN PACK VJCOMP VJUNC VJERR | OUT PACK VJCOMP VJUNC NON-VJ
0 0 0 0 0 | 0 0 0 0 0
=====================================================================
=====================================================================
Output of pertinent portions of dmesg (hmmm, last line is bothersome)
[snip]
Probing PCI hardware.
Calibrating delay loop.. ok - 400.59 BogoMIPS
Memory: 127712k/131008k available (768k kernel code, 384k reserved, _
2144k data)
Swansea University Computer Society NET3.035 for Linux 2.0
NET3: Unix domain sockets 0.13 for Linux NET3.035.
Swansea University Computer Society TCP/IP for NET3.034
IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP
Checking 386/387 coupling... Ok, fpu using exception 16 error reporting.
Checking 'hlt' instruction... Ok.
Linux version 2.0.36 (root@Texas) (gcc driver version egcs-2.91.60 _
19981201 (egcs-1.1.1 release) executing gcc version 2.7.2.3) #18 _
Thu Mar 4 19:52:41 CST 1999
[snip]
PPP: version 2.2.0 (dynamic channel allocation)
TCP compression code copyright 1989 Regents of the University of _
California
PPP Dynamic channel allocation code copyright 1995 Caldera, Inc.
PPP line discipline registered.
SLIP: version 0.8.4-NET3.019-NEWTTY (dynamic channels, max=256).
CSLIP: code copyright 1989 Regents of the University of California.
SLIP linefill/keepalive option.
Partition check:
hda: hda1 hda2 hda3 < hda5 hda6 hda7 hda8 > hda4
VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly.
Adding Swap: 130748k swap-space (priority -1)
ttyS2: 1 input overrun(s)
PPP: version 2.2.0 (dynamic channel allocation)
PPP Dynamic channel allocation code copyright 1995 Caldera, Inc.
PPP line discipline registered.
registered device ppp0
PPP: ppp line discipline successfully unregistered
PPP: version 2.2.0 (dynamic channel allocation)
PPP Dynamic channel allocation code copyright 1995 Caldera, Inc.
PPP line discipline registered.
registered device ppp0
PPP: ppp line discipline successfully unregistered
=====================================================================
_____________________________________
Michael R. McCullough
Manager, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance
Mary Kay Holding Corporation
Dallas, Texas
"A Consultant or Director is not a cold statistic -- she is a
flesh-and-blood human being with feeling and emotions like our own."
-Mary Kay Ash
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