Hi All,

A friend of mine just purchased one of the Dell Ubuntu Linux computers. He has an external modem attached and uses it to connect to the Internet. So far, so good. But he has asked me how he can configure the modem to not dial in at boot time.

I have no Debian or Ubuntu experience, mostly RedHat and Fedora and would do this by editing the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ppp0 file and setting ONBOOT to no and USERCTL to yes, but this file does not exist in Ubuntu. I have googled this some and evidently they use a /etc/network/interfaces file for this type of thing, but I have no idea of how to work with it.

Also, he is very new to Linux and would prefer a GUI to make changes like this. Is there a GUI to do this and how would he access it?

It's even more difficult for me since we discuss this at work, but I don't have direct access to the computer, or any Ubuntu computer for that matter, and am shooting in the dark.

Any help appreciated.

Jim

You're in luck- there is a GUI for that. Open the System -> Preferences menu, and launch Sessions. Select the Startup Programs tab, and delete the Dial-up Manager.

You might also need to delete the update-notifier to prevent errors on startup. He'll then need to run Update Manager manually after logging onto the 'net.

Cheers

Bill,

Thanks for the response. I'll pass it along to him. Actually, I should have thought of that one myself.

Then to start his modem, he should be just able to use

"/sbin/ifup ppp0"

or is there a GUI tool for him to bring the interface up and down? Maybe something like the Fedora "system-config-network" GUI app?

Jim

The Dial-up Manager icon should be in the Applications -> Internet menu. If not, go to Applications -> Accessories and launch Alacarte Menu Editor to edit the menu so it shows.

Cheers

Thanks Bill!

I think that he should be all set now.

I appreciate your help.

Jim