This is my first question to ever ask the linux community, and I've been "trying out" linux on an extra drive for a year --- please help it's uber-annoying....

I have ADSL with SBC (formerly swbell) and I can't get linux (redhat 8) to connect on boot. Once linux is up, I can go to [system tools] > [network device control] in the menu and then click on ppp0 and then "activate" it. That connects me just fine.
I've checked the "activate device on startup" box for it, but on startup it just says:
-------------------------------------------------------
ifup: /sbin/adsl-start: line 217: 607 Terminated $CONNECT "$@" >/dev/null 2>&1

Bringing up interface ppp0: failed
--------------------------------------------------------

Now, under the "network device control" thing there's also the eth0 which is always Inactive and can't be started. I have no idea what it does, it doesn't do any good to start it on boot either, it fails too.

Why such serious looking errors on bootup? why can't it just do a virtual "clicking on the activate button for ppp0" instead of whatever it's trying to do. It seems like they're the same thing, no?

Any solution to this? because I'm getting sick of clicking "activate" every day....

Thanks,
Lee

I think you can accomplish this via a sript in the rc.d startup scripts. It could be that redhat is trying to bring up the eth0 too early (might have something to do with ADSL?)
anyway add a file in /etc/rc.d/rc3.d
called something like S75network
make sure the script can handle "start" and "stop" as parameters. make sure root owns the script and it has perms 777

make sure the script executes the folllowing line for the "start" parameter:
/sbin/ifup eth0
(replace the path with where your ifup lives if needed and the eth0 with the name of yourconnection name.)

upon the next reboot the eth0 should come up.
Note the S indicates a startup process and the number (75) indicates in what order the system will bring them up.

hope this helps...
Let me know if it would help and I'll whip up a script for you and send it your way.

okay here's what I've done... I deleted that eth0 from my "network device control" application. there was pretty much no effect. the ppp0 thing sometimes starts at boot, sometimes doesn't. I can always just click connect button to do it though.

I think all I need to start DSL ever is "/sbin/ifup ppp0" --- that seems to do it. Is that unusual? you mentioned "ifup eth0" which doesn't do much of anything sense I through away "eth0." So apparently it's not important? (sorry, I through eth0 away before I could try it).

"ifup" sounds conditional not commanding... why the "if" part?

What's the deal with eth0? Is it my ethernet card? isn't the card pretty vital to my dsl modem (which goes through it)? now ppp0 is just what? an imaginary "device" that represents the internet connection? How can I just delete and never start the network card and yet it all still works?

The main thing I want to know more about now is scripts.... Am I to understand that all the scripts in a certain folders are loaded depending on their names? I'd like to just go in and tell it to do a "ifup ppp0" like you described. I don't know enough about these scripts to write one just yet I think.

Also what's with the weird names? "rc.d/rc3.d"? how did you know to pick that one? Why no "rc2.d"?

don't worry about eth0 - it's the standard name for an ethernet connection
just add the /sbin/ifup ppp0 to the startup script.

The rc.d scripts are what Linux runs at boot time. Generally rc3.d and rc6.d are reserved for user scripts they represent unix run levels. Give me a day or so and I'll send you a script. btw ifup is not conditional, its the same as running /sbin/ifup but without the path. its the set of internet config related scripts. you can run ifconfig to see what internet connections are active and ifup/ifdown to activate/deactivate the connections.

Thanks, I'd appreciate any script you could send if you could. This is one of those things that's a little more difficult in linux I think, but at the same time I'm glad I have the ability (at least someday I will) to just go in a change it as I please.

I was setting up linux on a computer on a big network a few days ago and I noticed it didn't list a ppp --- it just had an eth, which went over without any problems. Interesting stuff...

put this script in your /etc/rc.d/rc3.d directory
as root run 'chown root.root /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S75network'
then run 'chmod 777 /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S75network'

Let me know if it works out.

I couldn't figure out how to attach a file so here it is, just copy this section below and name it /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S75network

#/usr/bin/bash

case "$1" in
start)
/sbin/ifup ppp0
;;

stop)
/sbin/ifdown ppp0
;;

restart)
/sbin/ifup ppp0
/sbin/ifdown ppp0
;;

*)
echo "You must enter a paramater (start, stop or restart)"
esac

The "if" stands for "InterFace" rather than the word "if" and comes from the ancient Unix tradition of abbreviating most everything to only 2 or 3 keystrokes.

The number following "rc" indicates the "runlevel" used at the boot process. "rc3.d" is the directory of scripts that run when booting to runlevel 3, which is the non-GUI command line. Exact meaning of the various runlevels varies from one distribution to another; on my Mandy boxes runlevel 5 boots directly into the GUI without a command line, using rc5.d. Runlevel 6 shuts down the system. Sorry but I don't know what "rc" stands for though...

Incidentally, I'd put the network script into rc.local rather than any of the other init-related directories. The rc.local directory runs after all the others, and so allows more time for your network to be initialized before trying to connect.

rc = runlevel commands ??
Do this script work or not. I will try it with my gprs modem.
I will let you know