My Backdoor Debian Install
 

I downloaded the entire 7 cd set of Debian disks. Install was kind of a pain, had to try it four times before I made it thru all the way.

X would not install (AMD k-6-500, 128 meg ram 4.7 gig HD, Gigabyte motherboard). Claimed I had some sort of file dependency problem. I tried it once more, but could only get standard console text mode to come up.

But AHA!! I also had a Knoppix 3.2 CD I had downloaed as well. I wondered, could one use IT to install a basic Debian system?

After doing a bit of poking around on the net, I learned the answer was YES! I had an up and running Debian install in about 40 minutes (probably less).

My problem is this, however. I can get KPPP to recognize my external U.S. Robotics Sportster modem and dial out to my ISP, but once I do, I can't seem to get any browsers to talk to the internet connection. They just sit there and percolate until they time out trying to connect to a website. Could it be because I had to tell KPPP to use /dev/ttyS0 instead of /dev/modem (which does not seem to exist in the /dev directory of my debian install).

Also, is there some way to get apt-get to recognize the contents of the 7 original debian cd's I downloaded? I was able to manually install a program by browsing the cd directory with Konqueror and then clicking on the package file causing Kpackage to start and go thru the installation process that way, but it seems awkward.

Re: My Backdoor Debian Install
 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ClayOgre

Quote:

I can't seem to get any browsers to talk to the internet connection. They just sit there and percolate until they time out trying to connect to a website.

Have you set your DNS? I access the internet via a network and mine is set in, /etc/network/interfaces, but this is probably different for a dialup account(?).

Can you ping a known host?

Yep, "apt-cdrom add".

The DNS thing does not apply to a dialup connection as far as I know.

Thanks for the apt-get info.

Yes it does, whether you need to specify one is a different matter.

The Domain Name Server converts domain names, ie www.yahoo.com into IP addresses, ie 192.144.122.12. Either you will need to specify it, or it will set automatically such as a dynamic IP address.

You should be able to find something at:

www.tldp.org

In the KPPP configuration there's a section into which you enter the DNS server IP numbers supplied by your ISP.

Check your /etc/resolv.conf file to see if your ISP info is in it, if not add it. The same info that you put in KPPP DNS area!

Once you do that, see if pon & poff commands work using the console.

Forgot to mention, did you test ping?

also, did it work with knoppix? I have also used knoppix to install debian, I didn't use kppp because it doesn't like talking to my sprint cell phone. I found it much easier to use the scripts already in knoppix. Like it was said, try to ping yahoo.com, does it resolve an IP? does it ping? Also, nslookup command will let you enter a url, give you the IP's of your DNS servers, and the IP of the host you entered.

back door install made real easy. i used the Xandros disk and did a basic install. My dsl and router was setup by Xandros. came up to the log in screen crtl-alt-F1 logged in as root, used joe to edit /etc/apt/sources.list commented out xandros site and uncommented debians sites and saved did a apt-get update and apt-gate dist-upgrade, added kde 3.1.2 and a few personal likings and wham debian in less than 30 mins

Re: My Backdoor Debian Install
 

yes, of course. simply use the apt-cdrom utility and enter the CDs one after the other. it will add their entries to the sources.list so you will be able to install the packages from their with your favorite package tool (btw., I'd suggest you to give »aptitude« a try, it's really worth it!).

so long,
alfie