Linux to Win XP gateway to the net how to?
 

Greetings.

I am trying to set up Windows XP ICS and trying to get some Linux boxes to connect to the net via the Windows XP machine as a gateway.

The XP machine is connected to the net via DSL and works. I have installed a second NIC (3Com C905TX). Downloaded drivers and W-XP assures me the card is working. I have bridged the two NICs. Ipconfig /all tells me the W-XP machine's host name (cow, yes its a Dell)and its 2nd NIC has an IP# 192.168.0.1. Bridged NICS are enabled.

The Linux machines are set up with hosts and can ping each other.
Hosts has been set up, cow 192.168.0.1. I swapped cables out to see that the cable to cow is good, it is. All hardware is good.

Pinging cow gets me "network is not available".

What do I have to do to get route to connect these? Trying man route wasn't much help. Do I have to route something for each Linux machine Then set a route to the gateway?

Man route does not tell me what I need to do to connect. Google was dire and less than helpful.

I have not been able to find a really adequate manual for route, or a how-to to get this particular situation working. Has anybody else done this, and what did you do?

What is the magic tickle for route?

Then what? Should I be able to fire up Opera and google or are there any other steps I need to know about after route?

Cheerful Charlie

This can be done ..no problem but why dont you go for this option :

Get a switch or hub and connect it to your modem and from switch connect your boxes by this way you dont need to start you winxp box to see the internet from other boxes in your lan ..think about it

Thanks, but, I want to know what route wants from me to get from my Linux boxes to the net via the Windows XP machine now hooked up to DSL and working. I don't want to start another wild goose chase now. I just want to urpmi from my Linux machine.

Anybody know?

It can be done? How? What do the route tables need to be set up?

Cheerful Charlie

The Linux boxes and the 2nd XP nic need to be on the same subnet. Does the XP provide NAT? If so simply use the XP 2nd NIC IP address as the default gateway. If not and the XP is simply bridging the interfaces together, then the DSL modem needs to provide the NAT masquerading. If it is a ICS connection then that isn't the case, and it isn't really a bridge. ( XP is lying to you )

Do you actually have some Linux boxes using a Windows XP gateway to the net via DSL?

Do you have a specific setup that actually, really works?

That is all I want from somebody. Hello!? Hello!? Does anybody HAVE the answer? The working answer?

XP briges two NICs. 192.168.0.1 is the gateway. It is static on this side, NIC 2,192.168.0.1, DNS on the other, the IP number is supplied to the XP NIC# 1 by by ATT, Swbell.

None of the damned HOWTOs on Widows XP briging et-al mentions having to set up any NAT.

CC

If you run the ICS setup on XP, the NAT should be handled. I've used Linux to route desktop traffic to the internet (via wireless cable router) but I've never shared an internet connection via XP. This is actually a Windows question rather than a Linux Question. This page may help: http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/

Its a totally useless FAQ, which I have seen.

No, Windows XP _is_ working, what I need is know how to get Linux route set up. I haven't a clue and there is absolutely no info out there what Linux wants from me. The more I google and read, the less I know.

Linux route is the bottleneck. I can use route add, but I haven't a clue what to add to make Linux see the net. The Linux geeks have never put anything on the net about how to get from Linux to W-XP ICS to the net, and the Windows geeks don't care. This is why so many people hate Linux.
I have been using Linux since Mandrake 8.2 and am no newb. TOTAL lack of any useful documentation here has stopped me cold.

I am NOT allowed to mess with the W-XP machine or the DSL modem, it isn't mine. I was allowed to set IP a second NIC and configure the bridging software. Its all running.

My Linux net works. SSH works et al.

Now its up to finding a Linux expert to clue me into what I need to do to get to the net. This has been going on almost two weeks. I have googled HUNDREDS of FAQs, Forums and Howtos. I have pored over man pages
and punched stuff into route at randonm hoping to just getlucky.
This is just ridiculous.

If I ever get connected I will do a FAQ for the poor suckers wrestling with this after me. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. Sometimes, Linux sucks harder than MS.

I have a big, fat DSL line to share and use. Iam totally frustrated and stumped.

CC

I'm far from a Linux 'expert', I've been messing with Linux since Slackware 10.2, off and on at least. I don't share a DSL connection, so I can't be sure, but I share a dial-up connection (yeah, I know) off of my XP laptop. Essentially, make sure your nameservers are set in /etc/resolve.conf and make sure that the XP network card that is connected to the Linux box has a static IP address; then, for the route on the Linux box:

Which routes all internet traffic to the default gateway, which is the static IP on the XP machine. That should get it. If not, I'll try my best to help, but like I said, I'm far from an 'expert' Linux user.

-Josh-

ICS configures the second NIC on the windows box with a static IP address of 192.168.0.1
and turns on a DHCP server. This can not be changed. If your linux computers are configured for DHCP then DNS and gateway information should be automatically setup.

How did you configure the linux PCs?
What are there IP addresses?
If the IP addresses are good you should still be able to ping cow.

What do you mean by this? Basic ICS setup or did you actually enable bridge connections. I do not think you can want it enabled for your setup.

That is my problem, I can't be sure of anything as I have down loaded some contradictory FAQs and other misinformation from forums and now am utterly lost. For example is Windows XPs 2nd NIC static or what? I have three answers, yes, no and maybe.

Meanwhile back to checking W-XP, yes all seems to be working. Yank the cable and swap it around with the Linux boxes to confirm, yes the cable works.

Sharing dialups are NAT but I don't know about DSL. Most FAQs and howtos seem to be for ASDL, and I have never net worked with W-XP or DSL or
ASDL.

One thing I have to check is my memory. We have had some hellacious lightening storms here. The Windows XP machine seems to have a busted CD writer, probably lightening so I can't get a memtest 86 bootable ISO to burn and actually boot. I can sometimes get one that tries to load and fails.

I just reformatted an old DOS hard disk with EXT3 and have downloaded EXT-IFS for Windows which will allow me to download memtest86 to the hard disk and carry it back to the Linux machine with a good CD writer, burn and test memory. The DOS hard disk had some partition problem that kept crashing Mandrake when trying to format it. Had to use an install disk.

I won't do much till I know memory is OK. Lock out any bad memory with lilo and hope I am OK.

I will then try to set name servers as you suggest, if I can figure that out. The 2nd W-XP nic is 192.168.0.1 which seems to be standard with XP.

Thanks for the help. Some day I will whip it.

Cheerful Charlie

The Linux boxes are very simple. Static, set in the hosts file.

127.0.0.1 localhost Fifi
10.0.0.10 Fifi
10.0.0.20 Foofoo
192.186.1.0 Cowputer cow
And so on.

Pinging 192.186.0.1 gets me "network is not available". Cowputer or cow the same. But Fifi and Foofoo can ping each other and themselves with no troubles.

Pinging Fifi or Foofoo or 10.0.0.10 or 10.0.0.20 from Windows XP gets me "request time out" and 100% packet loss.

In Windows XP, bridge is set up for sharing the internet connection.
Firewalling is on.

Thanks for the help.

Cheerful Charlie

Most any consumer-grade gateway solution is gonna be set to work with DHCP, precisely so that you don't need to bang your head against a wall as you seem to be doing. I've glanced over the thread and I can't seem to see any indication you've tried configuring your Linux clients to use DHCP. Have you tried it? Do you at least know if the Windows box is providing DHCP to the LAN? DHCP will set up client, network, netmask, broadcast, DNS, and gateway IPs automatically for you. BTW, if the LAN side of the Windows box is on the 192.168.0.0/24 subnet then it is not a surprise that a ping to the 10.0.0.0/24 subnet would fail from it (unless you actually have an alias on the Windows box's LAN side set on that subnet or something).

To sum things up:
Your linux computers can not talk to the XP computer because they are on different subnets i.e. 192.168.0.x vs 10.0.0.x. ( linux computers should be something from 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254) I suggest reading a networking tutorial to help you understand what we are talking about.

If you configure the NICs on the linux computers for DHCP then they will automatically be configured for the gateway, DNS and route information.

Windows ICS configures the second NIC for 192.168.0.1 as a static IP address.

You want ICS but you do not want to configure a bridge connection. I am not sure you understand this.

BTW what distribution are you running?

Yes, I do not understand whatI have to do to set up Windows XP to work as a gateway. Bridge the Windows XP NICs or not? I cannot find a single competent HOWTO tell me all I want to work this in one spot. I have a to ton of HOWTOs, most assuming I want to set up a Linux network and have a modem of some species attached to a Linux box, which is not what I am trying to do. Many how-tos ramble a bit. None mention really using Windows XP/DSL as a gateway. Ick! What self respecting Linux user would do THAT?

I am running Mandrake 10.1. I have just been fooling with imstalling Mandriva Spring 2007, but it is not yet in a useful state. I need URPMI to fix that. I use 10.1 as my production machine.

I have been wasting time doing time consumimg Memtest86 memory checks (memory seems OK), badblock checking hard disks,(time consuming) and downloading and installing Mandriva Spring 2007 Official and beating it into shape.

Now I am back to the Windows XP gateway problem.

So, I need to:

1. Unbridge Windows XP's two NICs or not?
2. Redo the hosts file on the linux machines and use 192.168.X.X IP
addresses.
Such as 192.168.0.10 fifi
192.168.0.20 foofoo
3. Running ipconfig/all on Windows XP gives me:
A. DHCPserver
B. DNS servers 192.168.0.1
C. DNS Servers 192.168.0.1, 192.168.01
D. IP address 69.X.X.X, I assume this is the IPadr assigned by
the IPS's server
E. Same number is the default gate way
f. Subnet mask for this number is 255.255.255.0
4.Set up fifi and foofoo for DHCP.

Or is there something else I need to know and do?

Thanks for your patience and help.

Cheerful Charlie

I have been using Linux since Mandrake 8.0 and am still no expert, obviously. Thanks for the help.

Cheerful Charlie