Finally, I got my first Linux system up and running today. Yeah!

I have DSL service with sbcglobal using a 2wire HomePortal model 1000SW. The Homeportal package came with a RealTek RTL8139(A)-based PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter, which I have installed in the computer. The Ethernet Adapter connects to the HomePortal via an Ethernet cable. DSL connects to the Homeportal through a regular telephone cord plugged into a regular telephone wall jack.

When I run Win98 the HomePortal LED's indicate that the Ethernet adapter and the HomePortal are communicating, and I have DSL service. Interestingly, I have DSL service whether or not I run all the software that was installed by both the 2wire and the SBCGlobal installation CDs.

It appears the 2wire/SBCGlobal installation CDs installed a single driver: RealTek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC

The installation does not seem to have installed a driver specific to the HomePortal.

2wire and SBC offer no support for Linux. When I boot up Debian, the startup process appears to recognize the RealTek Ethernet adapter, however the HomePortal LED indicates that the Ethernet adapter and the Home Portal are not communicating.

I also found this bit in the 2wire help documentation:

"HomePortal has a built-in a PPPoE client. The HomePortal’s built-in PPPoE client is used to establish and maintain your connection to the Internet. When a computer is on the HomePortal network, it does NOT need to run a PPPoE client of its own."

How can I get Linux to communicate with the Internet via the HomePortal via the Ethernet adapter?

Also, is this HomePortal gadget considered a router? The documentation says it is not really a modem, but it doesn't say what it really is.

Thanks in advance.

pcwick

You have quite a big chance to make it running. Install 'pppoe' package. read its documentation. It may start just when you install it, hard to say.

I tried pppoe and pppoeconf, and each reported that the network is down.

I notice that when running Win98, the HomePortal is initialized during boot when the autoexec.bat file runs the program /windows/net start.

Any ideas?

Hello there.
I'm not using Debian (now don't all start yelling) but I had a combo dsl/router (cayman) like this.

If you have internet connectivity in windows (can ping www.yahoo.com in a dos box) then try the next stage.

I'm almost certain this 2wire box will expect you to be a DHCP client.

see if dhcpd is running
ps -ef |grep dhcpd

and you should get something like

root 1046 1 0 11:34 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/dhcpd eth0

Try starting it manually.
/etc/init.d/dhcpcd start
If not, then find the Debian dhcpd package, install it and run manually.

then try pinging www.yahoo.com

If none of this hackery is successful, then back to windows and see if you can get into the 2wire box configs
try
http://172.16.0.1/ (or http://home/ or http://homeportal/)
see if its set up to expect dhcp clients connecting on its LAN side.

To get some insight as to how to set this stuff up, take a look at the (rather dated, alas)
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/DHCP/index.html
While you are there, take a look at the networking howtos. I know it may be a bit overwhelming, but regard it as a tribute to all the unsung heroes who have contributed so much to the Linux community.

Good Luck
-D

I just got my 2Wire portal (1000SW) up and running on Gentoo Linux. All you need to do is setup DHCP for your NIC. How exactly that is done depends on your distribution and Idon't know anything about debian.

The portal acts liske a dchpcd server and assigns the NIC a dynamic IP which it gets from SBC net through pppoe...incidentally that's why it takes so long to initialize. You don't need to install any of SBCs s/w to get it to work under windows...as long as your NIC is recognized by windows. Yeah, in my book it is a router.

Kovid.