usb broadband not working

[mister smith]

Hi, im struggling to get my fedora 3 system online.

the installation recognised my usb ADSL modem, a speedtouch 330, that is to say it is listed in the hardware browser, and both lights on the unit are on. i just cant figure out how to complete the connection. It seems to me that the only options available in the network settings involve ethernet connections, no references under the hardware tab for my speedtouch unit.
im new to linux, and so im sure the problem is something straight forward.

my rig is a 2Ghz amd, dual boot (winxp /fc3, each on their own hard drives).

any help getting me closer to internet via linux would be much appreciated.

[fstratton]

If you go tp Applications > Network what do you see?

[mister smith]

in
Applications > Network Server, it displays 'Windows Network' in a window headed Network.

in System Settings > Network, it displays the following

Devices tab:
Profile, checked. Status, inactive. Device, ppp0. Nickname, Freeserve. Type, xDSL.

Hardware tab:
Description, Via Technologies Inc. VT 6102 (Rhine II). Type, Ethernet. Device, Eth 0. Status, OK.

[fstratton]

OK. Now what you have to do is activate it. Highlight it and edit the entry. If it is DHCP it should be OK. Just activate the device and it should pick up the IP address and route plus DNS entries. One noe is that if it is PPPoE the maximum packet size will be 1492 or less. I forget where this has to be changed but maybe the system already knows about this.

Frank

[mister smith]

ive already tried to activate it, but with no success. i have tried to change around various settings, and activate after each change. Ill go and try it again now

[fstratton]

Hi again,

type: tail -40 /var/log/messages to get the error message generated when you tried activate the interface. The message should be within the last 40 messages.

Frank

[mister smith]

i just found your latest reply, when i tried to activate it took around a minute, before saying:
cannot activate Network Device Freeserve!
in the xDSL configuration page, i tried changing the:

'Automatically obtain IP address settings' from 'with dialup' to 'with bootp' (it wouldnt let me select 'with DHCP')

what does DHCP stand for?

I will go and find the error messages as you have directed me. one small thing: where do i go to type in tail '-40 /var/log/messages'? im not too bad with computers in general, but im fairly new to linux, apologies!

[fstratton]

OOP! Sorry I forgot you were new.
Go to Applications > System Tools > Terminal. You should be root for all these things. If not su - root and type in the password. Then tail -40 /var/log/messages This command will go to the end of the messages file and print out the last 40 messages. Somewhere in your messages you should see the reason why it is not activating. DHCP is Dynamic Host Contol Program. It's function is to allocate an IP address on the ISP end to your ADSL connection. When you connect, it will talk to the DHCP server and say something like "Hey, old man, got an IP address for me and a DNS server and a default gateway?". The server, if it gets the right request will pass back the information to your system. When you terminate your connection, it may or may not release the IP address given to you. Now, do you have the firewall turned on? Turn it off while you are trying to connect. DHCP uses ports67 and 68 and you may be blocking those ports. You have to open those ports to get DHCP to work.

This is a URL FAQ for DHCP : http://www.dhcp-handbook.com/dhcp_faq.html

I'm curious about the dialup. You should not be using "dial-up". See below for some information I found on Speedtouch.

I looked on the internet for speedtouch and this is what I've found for Fedora Core2. It may or may not apply to you.
http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/fc2_speedtouch_usb.html

I hope this has been of some help.
Frank

[kaconst]

hey,
Idont have much time so I just give this link: http://speedtouch.sourceforge.net/
Here you should find everyting you need, have also a look at thompsons site. (the modem manufacturer)
google is your friend btw

[mister smith]

hey guys, frank, i figured out the 'terminal' bit, still had no joy, no doubt because of the su root thing. i will go now and try this again. I know it shoudln't be referring to dialup anywhere, this puzzles me, but also it shouldn't be referring to ethernet either should it? Even though my modem is USB, does it still utilise ethernet somehow?

kaconst, cheers. believe me i searched and searched before i finally started this thread, but wuth no luck. i checked out the thomsons site already, many references to similar issues, they all came to a dead end for me.
I will check out the link you have posted for me and look again, many thanks



you guys have both given me quite a bit to go at there, so ill go and check out the links, and go and have a play in the shell, and see what i can come up with. I shall be back online in 30 mins or so.

wish me luck!! cheers

[fstratton]

Hi,
PPPoE has always had me shaking my head. It stands for Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet. Reminds me of Military Intelligence. Without getting too technical, it is a protocol over a protocol. There is a special packet header that identifies your computer. You have to "Log in" as if you were a dial-up but you are always connected as long as you don't terminate the connection. Some ISP force a logout after so many minutes of inactivity. I'm not a fan of this protocol because of all the extra bits invlved in getting connected.

Frank

[mister smith]

hi frank, cheers, im learning all the time here(a good thing),

i just went into the shell and soon got up the messages list, nothing stood out, all seemed to refer to boot up stuff. Thought i was being clever, i tried to activate the connection again, then went back to the shell, typed in tail - 40/etc... the prompt dissapeared, replaced by something like:
==> standard input <==
so im learning a bit about shell at least.

You referred to turning off the firewall, how do i go about doing that? I had a look about but couldn't figure it out for myself!
im going to look at the links that you and kaconst have provided.
ill be back..

[mister smith]

i found how to turn off firewall (i remembered i was on a forum full of useful and widespread knowledge), so cancel that. ill try the tail...messages list again while im in there..

[fstratton]

OOOPS again.
Well UNIX/Linux is the only operating system in the world that a command line environment that looks like a virus. You have to be careful of the placement of the parameters. It's
tail -40 /var/log/messages

Also when you are in terminal mode and want to su to root, you need to do the following:

su - root

Then the password.
Notice that the "-" has spaces on either side.
The reason is that you want the root environment and not the one you are SUing from. Without the "-" you will keep the old environment so many root commands won't be there.

In terminal mode you can

cd /var/log
then

ls -la

and you will see many of the files that are updated during the running of Linux. Sometimes these files can get quite large if you have some problems. I had a log fill up my disk when I had a CDROM go bad on me. It kept writing error messages untill it filled the disk.

For the firewall: Applications > System Settings > Security Level and then turn off the firewall. Remember to set the right ports and turn it back on when you have your problem fixed.


NEVER EVER DO THIS UNLESS YOU ARE SO HOPELESSLY LOST AND JUST WANT TO MAKE THE PAIN STOP.

su - root
{password}
cd /
rm -r *


You might call it a self inflicted virus!

Cheers,
Frank

[mister smith]

im back, im starting to get my head round the linux shell ways of working.
i maybe made a bit of headway. some messages where you pointed me (/var/log/messages):

pppoe[3923] Timeout waiting for PADO packets
pppd[3921] Exit
adsl-connect:ADSL connection lost. attempting reconnection
pppd[4010] Connect ppp0<--> /dev/pts/2
pppd[4010] LCP:Timeout sending Config Requests

does this little lot give you any clues as to wher im slipping up?

i followed the links above, one of them (kaconsts) came to a dead link (my browser timed out every time i tried it, i should try it again soon). most of the info i find like this goes way over my head.

what really throws me is that i would have expected to be able to select my modem in the hardware tab of the network window. the only things i can select refer to ethernet. As i said at the start, im fairly certain fc3 has seen the modoem, and has the drivers for it in place. I cant be too sure though, linux is a very different beast from windows, and i know im athe the start of a steep learning curve.

i tried activating with the firewall off, and the result was the same though, i hope the /log/messages above make more sense to you than they do to me!

cheers,

[kaconst]

I found this very straightforward guide about setting up a speedtouch 330 on fc3.
http://www.linux-usb.org/SpeedTouch/fedora/index.html

normally if you do everythin you read there you should manage to get internet working.

P.S. I know out of experience that with an speedtouch 330 you shouldn't bother with the redhat network tools :mad:
anyway i did it with http://speedtouchconf.sourceforge.net/ and it worked like a charm, its really easy too, I was a total newby then, and had absolutely no problems using it. :D

[mister smith]

thank you very much, ill look at those now...

[fstratton]

Hi,
I don't have one of those modems, but all my searches keep comming back to the same site at:

http://www.linux-usb.org/SpeedTouch/fedora/index.html

From what I see there you have to load the driver. I would cut and paste it here but I feel that to do would make it less obvious what you have to do. If my reading of the link is correct, you have a number of steps to go through before you can connect.

Make a checklist of all the things you need to know. 1) modem type Thomson or Alcatel 2) revision 3) your ISP protocol PPPoATM or PPPoE and the VP/VC values for your country/ISP. 4) will you require the patch provided. 5) CHAP or PAP login account password and usename.

BTW. If you don't want to go through all this, buy a router that plugs into the USB port of the ISP router. The router will act as a firewall, DHCP server. You can then attach your regular NIC to the router and using a web browser configure the router to interface with the ISP. For 40 bucks, I save myself what little hair I have.

Cheers,
Frank

[fstratton]

I don'y know if my last message got to you but all my searches point at this URL:

http://www.linux-usb.org/SpeedTouch/fedora/index.html

Now as for Linux recognizing hardware. Linux is a strange bird in that it will "see" a piece of hardware, indicate that it is OK but when you try to use activate it, it won't work and may or may not give you an error message. In example, I have two NICs in this machine, it sees both of them, reports they are OK but will not activate one of them.

Cheers,
Frank

[Upsilon]

im oso using the same modem...

OS : Fedora Core 3

i followed instruction from : http://speedtouch.sf.net/

the installation was okay but it just wouldnt connect...
therefore i ran a check with the speedtouch-doctor


Support for USB is OK
Preliminary USB File System is OK
I found no USB controller


how can i install a driver (is there such thing?) for USB controller?

My mother board is ABIT IS7-E with built in USB

i found these host controller information thru windows device manager...


Intel 82801EB USB Universal host controller - 24D2
Intel 82801EB USB Universal host controller - 24D4
Intel 82801EB USB Universal host controller - 24D7
Intel 82801EB USB Universal host controller - 24DE
Intel 82801EB USB2 Enchanced host controller - 24DD

[mister smith]

frank, kaconst, hi
i checked out all the links you guys have provided for me, and found a couple of my own, but have had no joy. i tried to follow the methods at: ' http://www.linux-usb.org/SpeedTouch/fedora/index.html ' but i kept hitting the wall. Although it was fairly straightforward, being so new to linux i was still kind of working blind. its only a matter of time before ill be using a wireless adapter, hopefully i'll have more success installing that. Thanks to both of you for your time and help, i hope its some consolation that ive learnt a little more about linux,

upsilon, i think there is such a thing as a driver for the USB controller, but i aren't in a position to say.i hope somebody on here finds this and can help you. its frustrating trying to cross over to linux, but having to use windows for surfing the net when u know that fc3 will do it!! good luck and cheers to all

[Upsilon]

frank, kaconst, hi
i checked out all the links you guys have provided for me, and found a couple of my own, but have had no joy. i tried to follow the methods at: ' http://www.linux-usb.org/SpeedTouch/fedora/index.html ' but i kept hitting the wall. Although it was fairly straightforward, being so new to linux i was still kind of working blind. its only a matter of time before ill be using a wireless adapter, hopefully i'll have more success installing that. Thanks to both of you for your time and help, i hope its some consolation that ive learnt a little more about linux,

upsilon, i think there is such a thing as a driver for the USB controller, but i aren't in a position to say.i hope somebody on here finds this and can help you. its frustrating trying to cross over to linux, but having to use windows for surfing the net when u know that fc3 will do it!! good luck and cheers to all

finally i got this speedtouch modem installed and configured....

http://www.linux-usb.org/SpeedTouch/fedora/index.html

follow the instructions but i enclosed all my username@isp and password in double quotation mark ""

[fstratton]

Hi,
I am courious, did you try the single quote as stated in the instructions? Also, I've seen instances where you have to single quote and then double quote a string.

Frank

[Upsilon]

hi,

yea.. i tried the single quote as stated in the instruction but it just wont work.....
but i thought in C programming language, single quote is for character and double quote for a string? is it related? i dont know...