[SOLVED] problem with dynamic ip config in opensuse 10.3

OK, so I'm a beginning/intermediate programmer, working mostly in perl and java at the moment, obviously from the forum I'm in, I'm not where I should be in linux admin, but I'm doing my best to remedy that.

I have comcast xfinity high speed dsl, with a dual boot win2000/opensuse 10.3 system. I'm connected in win2000, but I can't quite figure out how to configure comcast's dynamic ip address' in opensuse 10.3, either on command line, or in KDE with YAST (scream on the latter attempt).

I've looked up all man/help pages on ip cpnfig, but the problem is that my last internet connection was through a router with a static ip address, and I can't quite figure out the shell command from man pages ( I've tried dozens of combos like ip addr [change] {dynamic|on} etc. from what I could gather from man page instructions, but I can't seem to get the dev object and options worded just right), and I'm about ready to throw my monitor at the wall during every YAST attempt (and of course YAST doesn't pick up my dsl automatically and why it's asking for a comcast userid upon manual entry I haven't the slightest).

Could anyone please help me with the proper linux command/commands to accomplish this on the command line?

I've been part of a few linux communities and I already know about rtfm, which I've tried very hard to cover thoroughly before this post, so if I seem a bit exasperated I do apologize, all the hours I've spent trying to rtfm before this post, are probably the reason for that.

Thank you so much for your time, and if you've already wasted the 15 minutes it took to read my rant/babbling/question, you might as well answer

exasperated in atlanta
koolgirl

Hello koolgirl, welcome to LQ,

are you using DHCP? if yes, your Win2000 should receive it's IP-configuration automatically. Same thing for Suse, you'll have to check, if the ethernet-adapter is recognized by the system. Could you please open a terminal and post the output of the following two commands:

lspci -k | grep -iA5 ether

ifconfig

if the first command does not show any output you may alternatively use the command

lspci -k | grep -iA5 net

Markus

Originally Posted by markush Hello koolgirl, welcome to LQ, are you using DHCP? if yes, your Win2000 should receive it's IP-configuration automatically. Same thing for Suse, you'll have to check, if the ethernet-adapter is recognized by the system. Could you please open a terminal and post the output of the following two commands: lspci -k | grep -iA5 ether ifconfig if the first command does not show any output you may alternatively use the command lspci -k | grep -iA5 net Markus

First of all, please forgive time lapses, dual boot so I do have to re-start, log-in to linux, then re-start back into win2000, etc.

Ok, so the first command,

lspci -k | grep -iA5 ether

produced an error saying -k was not a valid command

the second command,

ifconfig

produced

eth0 
link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:BO:DO:CF:DC:74
inet addr: 98.192.42.235 Bcast:255.255.255.255 Mask: 255.255.248.0
inet6 addr:fe80::2bo:doff:fecf:dc 74/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MULTICAST
lo
link encap:Local loopback
inet addr:1270.0.1 Mask 255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOP BACK RUNNING

as you can see, the ip address configurations are still set to what they were configured before for the router/static ip. I've read and been told before that suse should pick up my new DSL automatically, and I'm not sure why it doesn't, as I stated, even YAST in the KDE windows environment won't pick it up. However I do know there isn't a connection problem w/ethernet cable,etc. because win2000 is up and running just fine. ??

And also, when I had to config win2000 in control panel, I did have to set DHCP to dynamic per comcast's request, so I suppose the answer would be yes to that?

This looks like a pppoe connection to me. Could you please in Win2000 open the cmd (dosshell) and post the output of

ipconfig /all

Markus

Ok, so this is cut/paste response to ipconfig /all in windows command prompt:

E:\Rockware_Programming_Inc>ipconfig /all

Windows 2000 IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : stickyfingers
        Primary DNS Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.ga.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : hsd1.ga.comcast.net.
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet
Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-B0-D0-CF-DC-74
        DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 98.192.42.232
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.248.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 98.192.40.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 69.252.196.196
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.68.166
                                            68.87.74.166
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 25, 2011 2:01:54 PM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, July 29, 2011 7:22:25 AM

It looks like you have a valid pppoe connection on both systems, Suse and Windows.

Which trouble do you have with Linux? did you try to access the internet with Suse? if yes, which problems did you have?

Markus

Well, when I first connected ethernet/modem/etc. when I self-installed comcast equipment, in win2000 I couldn't connect to internet, it would just be waiting, waiting, then after about ten minutes say can't reach server at wherever.com. So, I of course figured out that I had to configure for dynamic ip address and dynamic dhc server etc.

So, then in linux, the same thing happened, and I assumed it was same problem. So when I went into YAST (KDE) it didn't pick up a dsl connection at all. I still can't connect but looking now at both outputs, I see in comparison the ip address numbers are the same except for the very last number...is that a problem, or is that due to linux on seperate partition, ? Perhaps the connection problem is not with linux but with kde, therefore not an ip address problem but a kde config problem.

Also, when I tried to enter the connection manually in YAST, since it couldn't find it, it asked for provider, which I gave comcast, then asked for a userid and password which I don't even know what those would be...???

By the way, irregardless of what I might accomplish, thank you for helping me, I sincerely appreciate as a coder myself how important your time and expertise are...

The difference in both IP-adresses is because everytime you start the computer you get a new lease via DHCP from your provider.

I cannot seem to find out why your connection with Suse does not work. Did you open a browser and open any website?

btw: KDE has nothing to do with the network-connection, KDE is a Desktop environment. But there is the kppp tool in KDE, maybe this would help, but as you wrote you don't have to configure your provider, userid and password. So I think your connection should work without any additional configuration.

Markus

Well, actually, in the kde environment, YAST said that i needed to dl the kppp package to configure the connection, but I can't connect to the suse repository because I can't connect in linux.

Also, about the ip address, I've had that same address since I first connected, I just keep getting a new lease on it, and in the win2000 output, the lease is good till 7/29/11, so shouldn't that last number still be the same in linux?

Maybe not, maybe I'm getting a different address/lease through linux. Well, I guess I've got some more research to do, there must be something going on I've missed, because it looks as though from what you've said, and from output, that the ip address might not be the problem. I'm going to try and ping their machine from the command line. If I can, then the problem maybe only exists in kde...I'm still a lil perplexed about that last number...

Thanks marush, I appreciate your help, and I may still have some work to do, but at least you helped me figure out what wasn't happening..

Hi there,

Welcome to LQ!!!

I am trying to catch up with issue you are facing. As I can understand your ethernet card still uses the static IP which was in use before and now you want to eth to obtain IP using DHCP.

Try out the following steps:

1. Find a file with the name ifcfg-eth0. To find this you can use the following command:

 find / -name ifcfg-eth0

2. If you get multiple locations then paste the locations here (Though it shouldn't show multiple locations) but still.

3. Use a text editor to edit the file that you found using find command:

 vi /etc/location_of_the_file/ifcfg-eth0

4. You will find something in that file which says BOOTPROTO=none or BOOTPROTO=static. Change this parameter to BOOTPROTO=dhcp

5. Save the file and exit.

6. Restart the network using the following command

service network restart

or

ifdown eth0 and then ifup eth0

I hope this will work. Give it a try and let us know the result.

Alright, I'm on my linux box, and connected to the internet very successfully, and my monitor is still in tact and not thrown through my 2nd story window...thank you both so very much!

T3rm1nventor, thank you sooo much, however, the command you gave me for some reason was pulling up every single file in my system, it was matching on '/', but I wrote a quick regex after I figured that out, found the ifcfg-eth0 file, /etc/sysconfig/network, btw, and I used joe in place of vi, but your advice worked like a charm.

Thanks for the help, as well, markush, you taught me a great way on comparing win2000/suse output.

Great!!! Am glad it worked!!! Enjoy Linux...