LinuxQuestions.org - 'ping -b' / ping <switch> doesn't work

Hey all. I was wondering.....

YOu know, I was thinking about what I've learned from a list over the past
weeks about 'ip' and thought that it might be of some use with tpinging things succesfully.

First, lets test it on some known devices:

bmike1@1[bmike1]$ ip link show eth0 (lucky guess thinking of eth0)
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 100
link/ether 00:08:c7:ca:62:4b brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
bmike1@1[bmike1]$ ip link show ppp0
3: ppp0: <POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST,NOARP,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 3
link/ppp

Ok. So then it works w/o sudo.

Well, I found out the address to my switch with The
command 'cu -s 9600 -l /dev/ttyS2' (to access the 'Cisco console system') : it is 10.10.10.5
The address to eth0 is 10.10.10.2
So the broadcast address is 10.255.255.255 for both the switch and eth0

So first I ping eth0:

bmike1@3[bmike1]$ sudo ping -c 5 10.10.10.2
PING 10.10.10.2 (10.10.10.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.161 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.156 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.130 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.143 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.2: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.152 ms

--- 10.10.10.2 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4004ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.130/0.148/0.161/0.015 ms

That looked good. So then I ping the switch:

bmike1@3[bmike1]$ sudo ping -c 5 10.10.10.5
PING 10.10.10.5 (10.10.10.5) 56(84) bytes of data.
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
<cntrl-c>

No good. So let's try the broadcast address to make sure the switch didn't lie
to me when using cu.

bmike1@3[bmike1]$ sudo ping -c 5 -b 10.255.255.255
WARNING: pinging broadcast address
PING 10.255.255.255 (10.255.255.255) 56(84) bytes of data.
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted
ping: sendmsg: Operation not permitted

--- 10.255.255.255 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 4011ms

That didn't work either. So after reviewing man ping I see the option that
let's you specify the name of the device:

bmike1@3[bmike1]$ sudo ping -c 5 -I eth0
Usage: pin......

That didn't work. I don't even want to guess at what the switch rj45 ports are
called (haven't a clue).So then I thing that maybe I can ping it through the
serial port (which is /dev/ttyS2- why? I don't know! I only have two ports).

bmike1@3[bmike1]$ sudo ping -c 5 -I /dev/ttyS2
Usage: pin.....

Again, it does not work.

Here is what happens when I ping from the Cisco console system:

#ping 10.255.255.255 ****<again- broadcast for both switch and eth0>****
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.255.255.255, timeout is 2 seconds:
.....
Success rate is 0 percent (0/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 0/0/0 ms
#ping 10.10.10.5 ****<the switch>****
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.10.10.5, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 0/0/0 ms
#ping 10.10.10.2 ****<eth0>****
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.10.10.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
.....
Success rate is 0 percent (0/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 0/0/0 ms
#

I am now at a loss for words. It is like the switch and eth0 are in their own little worlds. I must need to make them visible to 'the world'. So here are the questions:

1- Do I need to make them visible to each other?
2- What's wrong with the broadcast ping? I meanthe broadcast address
for both eth0 and the switch are 10.255.255.255 so even if I can't ping
the switch I should get a reply from eth0.