First i would like to say hello to everyone. I finally made the jump to Linux (Dual boot with xp) i want to make to complete jump but im having issues with installing my modem. Just some info for you - I have installed mandrake powerpack 2007 and tried to set up the modem using eciadsl rpm file which i downloaded. This all went ok, i configured the modem using eciadsl-config-tk command but when i run the command eciadsl-start it updates the firmware etc but get stuck at connecting t o provider? any help here would be greatly appriciated

Cheers in advance

Rob

Well, this isn't exactly an answer to your question but.....

I used to have one of those USB DSL modems (BT's "green frog/stingray").
It took me a week to set it up and get it working. (Lots of HOWTO's, and even modifying the install script, because mandrake9.1 was peculiar).

But every time I upgraded the kernel, or installed a new distro, I had to fight with it again.
In the end, someone suggested I get a modem / router with ethernet connections. That was, I think, some of the very best advice I have ever been offered on this board. I got a zoom ADSL X5, but there are lots of others.

Importantly, it provides an ADSL modem, router with 4-port ethernet switch and internal firewall (which defaults to "do not let anyone in"). You set it up once with an easy browser-based interface, and then forget it. Every linux distro I have since installed just says "Oh! You've got one of those things on eth0! I'll connect you to the internet then". And that is it. No more messing. Install any linux distro, open firefox, and off I go.

An added bonus: the 4 ethernet ports mean that all my computers automatically share my ADSL connection, and it also runs my home network. Amazing and thoroughly recommended (at about £40 + £6 for a PCI ethernet card, if you don't already have one).

If you must persist with BT's piece of junk, you need to check your password and username is correct, and that you have selected the right VCI/VPI MTU/MRU settings. Also, as I recall, your username needs to be in the form xxx@hg7.btinternet.com, not just xxx
Hope this helps, and welcome to LQ!

Cheers for the advice. I did get it working in the end but everytime i start linux i have to configure and restart the modem. I do have a router and im thinkin now of using that. Do i just need to plug it in the ethernet port and configure it to connect to the new when switched on? Then once i have done that just connect the ethernet cable to my pc? I had trouble configuring this under windows but maybe might be easier through linux. I would think that if im connecting it to the net i wont need any drivers for my D-Link router? Sorry for all the questions but i am new to this but im a quick study

Cheers

Rob

Good that you got it working!

Instead of manually restarting the modem each time you boot, you can put the necessary commands at the end of the file /etc/rc.d/rc.local and they'll be executed at boot time for you.

If your router is just a router, then that's not going to help you much. But if it is a modem/router (it'll have a socket for connecting to your telephone line & you could read the manual, ... or even tell us what its model number is), then you're in luck!

Connect the modem/router to the phone line. Use ordinary, straight-through ethernet cable (not "crossover cable") to connect the modem/router to your ethernet socket on your computer. Power everything up.

Normally you set up the modem/router through a web interface. You only have to set it up once, thereafter it just connects to your ISP when it is turned on.

My router's address is 10.0.0.2 (that's what it came with, but yours may be different - read the manual), so I just http://10.0.0.2, give the router's password and set it up like it says in the manual. (You have to enter your ISPs username and you ISPs password). So now the modem/router negociates the connection with your ISP, and linux doesn't care. Linux can get an IP address with the command (as root) dhclient eth0. Frequently this happens automatically at boot time.

No, you don't need any "drivers". It is really very simple.

My wireless router does have adsl its a D-Link G604-T. When i get home later i will try this out as definatly sounds easier than this old adsl modem of mine. Many thanks for your help

Regards

Rob

Excellent. I've taken a look at your D-link's manual. It should be a breeze to set it up:

Start by booting linux and commenting out all that stuff you just did to make the USB thingy work, otherwise you'll end up with 2 "internet connections", one of which will not work, and there'll be confusion. If you had your old setup configured to start at boot, best to unconfigure this and reboot once you have commented out all the references to loading firmware, and connecting to the USB modem.

Plug everything in to your D-link (power, phoneline, ethernet cable to your PC) and turn it all on. Boot to linux (that is your default, isnt it?)

If you had trouble using the D-link with windows I strongly suggest you first reset it to its factory defaults (Manual P19, well, the PDF-Manual Page 19, maybe different for the printed one!), before you start. Then.....

Just ignore all that windows stuff (Manual P22-27), you don't need it.

Login to your modem by putting http://192.168.1.1 into your browser. (Manual p28)
Note (Manual P5) that you must have javascript enabled in your browser.

Use the setup wizard to:

Set a new password for the router (and write it down in your manual!)
Set the time

Skip to Manual P33
Option: "Select Internet connection Type (WAN)": Select PPPoE/PPPoA
Enter your BT username in the form xxx@hg-someting.btinternet.com
Enter your BT password
Set VPI to 0, and VCI to 38 (this is only(?) for BT in the UK)
Set your "Connection type" to "PPPoA VC-Mux"

You are done. Click "Restart" like it says in the manual.

The modem will reboot, the lights will flicker for a while, and then (after about a minute), you should be connected to your ISP (BT). Your modem will ask BT's DHCP server for an IP address (from BTs pool of numbers) and for the address of BT's DNS server(s).

If you now reboot your computer you may find that the connection to your router is made automagically (depends on your distro), but if not you need to make this connection, like this, as root: dhclient eth0

That will ask your router's DHCP server (which is enabled by default) to give your PC an (internal) network address somewhere in the range 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254. It'll also tell your PC that your router will sort out DNS for you (your PC asks your router, your router asks BT, then returns the result to your PC. See page 42 of the manual, you should have "DNS Relay Selection" set to "Use Auto-discovered DNS Server))

If all that worked for you, well done!

When you next install a new distro, just make sure your router is powered up and plugged in before you boot, and your connection will probably "just work". Linux is getting pretty smart.
Once the D-link is configured to connect to BT, it'll also work with windows, but I know nothing about windows networking.

Some more things you may want to set up:

You have a nice secure, reliable ethernet connection, behind a good firewall, so turn the wireless OFF, for security. (Manual P43). Remember, the wireless is your side of the firewall, and the default is insecure and unencrypted.

I hate dynamic IP addresses on my machines. Once I have named a machine, I want its network IP address to stay the same, so once you start plugging other computers into your router, and playing with networks (funfunfun!) you may want to set up static IP addressing for your PCs, instead of using DHCP. There are tons of HOWTOs about how to do that.

Your modem/router has a nice firewall (that piece of USB crap from BT didn't) so....

If you want to ssh into your PC from the big bad internet, or use VNC to access your linux desktop from work, you'll have to open some ports in the router's firewall and forward them to your PC. (Manual P45).
The (sensible) default is for the firewall to let nobody in from the big bad net, but computers that are plugged into the other ethernet ports on your D-link will be able to talk to one another, and share your ADSL connection, unless they are running their own firewalls.

Tredegar you are a star. I hope that everyone i meet along my journey to Linux as a main system and not as a dual boot are as helpful as you have been. Will post later on when i get home and have configured it and let you know how i got on.

Many thanks

Rob

Sorry i forgot to ask...I am not with BT broadband so do i need to change the DNS address to my provider (UK Online)?

Cheers

Rob

Thank you. People here were very patient with me when I was starting. So it's good to be able to give something back. Karma & all that. Also, you get points for trying to fix things yourself (and sometimes succeeding, it seems). Another month or so, and I hope you'll be annoyed that you have to select linux at boot time, and be wondering how to change the boot order.

No. The setup with the D-link is quite different from the USB thingy. With the USB, your PC had to ask your ISP for an IP address from their DHCP server, your PC then had an (external, world-wide) address assigned to it, something like 86.152.22.9. Your PC then asked your ISP for the numbers of its DNS servers, and these would have been put into /etc/resolv.conf (or maybe you had to do this yourself?), so that when you needed a DNS lookup your PC knew where to look (directly to your ISP's nameservers on the big bad internet).

Now, the D-link will ask your ISP for an IP address from their DHCP server, and assign that address to itself. It'll also ask your ISP for the numbers of its DNS servers, so when it gets a DNS lookup request from your PC, it'll know where to look, get the answer, and send it back to your PC. (See my previous post above, "Use Auto-discovered DNS Server"). All you'll need in /etc/resolv.conf is

nameserver 192.168.1.1

which is the local network address of the D-link. I think this gets put in for you automatically when you do the dhclient eth0 bit. I cannot remember, because I use static addressing (for my local network) now.

( The D-link is also running a DHCP server, that assigns a local, non-world-wide IP address to your PC. The range 192.168.1.XX is special because it references local network addresses only, never world-wide addresses.)

Before, if you did ifconfig eth0 you could see your real internet address - like 86.152.22.9. When you use the D-link, and you do ifconfig eth0 you'll see that your PC's address is now in the range 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.254, which are local network addresses.

Basically, the D-link sorts everything out for you. It may help you if you imagine it as a little computer (& my Zoom modem/router runs linux!), that negociates everything necessary with your ISP and presents your PC with all it asks for down the ethernet cable. Your linux PC doesn't care about who your ISP is, or where their nameservers are, or whether you've paid the bill, it just says "ask the modem/router at 192.168.1.1" and it gets the answer. That's why these modem/routers are so brilliant. Set it up once, and you are set for good. Whatever distro or OS you are using.

All working ok many thanks indeed. Just one more quick question....Prob the wrong place to ask this but on my madriva 2007 powerpack edition only firefox 1.5.0.7 is installed?is there a 2.0.0.1 version available?maybe a rpm file?

Cheers for you help tredegar

Rob

great tips and info tredegar im in the process of buying an ADSL modem/router for my computer.

Glad you got it working.

If you want firefox 2.0 then I suggest you look at your distro's "package manager". For Mandriva, this used to be urpmi, but I think it has changed.... Your package manager will install software in a trouble-free way. If firefox 2.0 isn't yet packaged for Mandriva, there's probably a good reason, but if you want to go ahead and try anyway you could take a look at freshmeat.net or sourceforge.net, and then compile from source. You may run into "dependancy hell" though, so I wish you luck!

Soldan, go ahead, you don't need a "D-link" - all those DSL modem/routers seem to be pretty much the same. Just choose a model that offers the features you require, and remember to avoid USB, and go for Ethernet.

Thank YOU muchly for the excellent advice. My router is similiar, Netgear DG-834. And Linux finds it and I don't worry about it.