Modem connects but doesn't?
 

That is right! It dials my ISP and connects without a problem but when I try to download mail it says that I have an unknown host. But it is the host I have always used! So I open the web browser and go to a known web page and it tells me that it can't go there (it gives me the text that it gives when you type in a page but aren't hooked up). Who has an idea as to what is happening. I did chmod 777 /usr/??????/kppp to make sure that wasn't the problem and I found out it wasn't.
As a heads up I just finished reinstalling debian (from knoppix) for the third or fourth time in two weeks and each time I have done it something is always a little different. One time it was great. Then it wouldn't dial out at all unless I was logged in as su. Another time I couldn't dial from any other user except su (kppp was started from a terminal that was 'su <user>'. If there were other s I can't remember them but I know there were times it worked perfectly but I keep running 'apt-get dist-update' which x does not like (the first screen with the debian swirl appears <though the swirl is absent> with three 'toolboxes' in three corners~ I don't really know what they do but I suppose it is a 'window maker').

Here is something strange that happened: there was an 's' in the permissions.I looked at 'ls -l /?????/kppp' and the permissions listing said '-rwxr-sr--'. What does 's' mean? Is that a sticky permission? Would someone explain that to us?

Reinstalling probably isn't going to help things, each time it was different probably because you selected different options in the package utility programs.

I just installed debian tonight and had something similar to what you're describing.

I was trying to use wvdial, and wvdial wouldn't find the modem. Then after I solved that problem, it would connect but internet programs like lynx had no access; it wouldnt' resolve the host. Then after a few common sense solutions I was able to get connected and now the system is updating the x-window system (for some reason X doesn't detect the mouse so i'm upgrading it).

This is what I did to solve the wvdial and host problems:

1. Ran base-config and the updater agent probed for my modem and found it then I killed base config.

2. made a symbollic link to /dev/modem from /dev/ttyS0

3. made /etc/wvdial.conf

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyS2
Baud = 57600
Init = ATZ
Init2 = AT S11=50
Phone = 555-4242
Username = apenwarr
Password = my-password
[Dialer phone2]
Phone = 555-4243

[Dialer shh]
Init3 = ATM0

[Dialer pulse]
Dial Command = ATDT

edited it to meet my requirements.


4. Turned off my ethernet card

/sbin/ifdown eth0

5. Ran "wvdial &", it connects, and allows me to surf the internet.


Kppp usually resolves host problems on its own, that is what is different about your problem. You might need to shut the ethernet card, if that doesn't work, try wvdial and see if you can get connected.

Well, the thing of it is that it does connect. I have it configured so that upon connect it goes into the panel and it does go into the panel thereby meaning that it did connect. The two little dots are red though (meqaning no transfer of data).

Do you have an ethernet card in your machine?

no ethernet but my problem also is that it will not resolve the host.... what were your common sense solutions that caused it to resolve the host? You see, I have no sense and therefore common sense eludes me.

Hmmm... I've had numerous problem with this kind of thing while running debian. I love debian but that it it's one flaw as far as I can see. These days I'm careful not to install anything but the base system during the automated install and then I apt-get the rest so I have total control over what's happening - that seems to help. The way I set up my connectiosn these days is with pppconfig. Then I just type "pon" at the command prompt to connect and "poff" to disconnect. This may need to get moved to the debian forum.

This is by no means foolproof. Some problems I've had involving modem dialup to an ISP are:
* Modem connects (sort of) but can't establish a proper connection (continually tries to establish a compatible set of protocols). I fixed this by installing NOTHING but the base system during install and not doing ANYTHING configuration-wise on the modem during automated install but rather with pppconfig later. I never discovered what actually was causing the problem. This happens just after a fresh installation.
* Modem connects and establishes proper connection but I continually get vj decompression errors (only with the 2.4 set of kernels, not with 2.2.20) when I've had those settings before and they worked fine. Internet speed would generally grind to an almost stand-still. I recompiled my kernel a bunch of times and played around with the network stuff and upgraded (very slowly) to testing (which brings a new version of pppd with it) and eventually the problem disappeard. I could never put my finger on a particular problem that caused this either. The upgrade usually helped a bit but didn't always rectify the problem by itself.

Good thing I'm really stubborn.