Difference between revisions of "Dialup configuration"
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==Getting gnome-ppp to run properly== | ==Getting gnome-ppp to run properly== | ||
− | + | Unless its run as root in Ubuntu gnome-ppp will fail to connect. To fix this, ensure that the gnome-ppp entry in the menu is prefaced with "gksu". To do this right click on the applications menu go to edit menus, navigate to and select gnome-ppp and click properties, then change the command from | |
gnome-ppp | gnome-ppp | ||
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gksu gnome-ppp | gksu gnome-ppp | ||
− | You can then drag this shortcut to the users desktop for easier access. | + | You can then drag this shortcut to the users desktop for easier access. |
==Ubuntu Help== | ==Ubuntu Help== |
Revision as of 18:10, 19 November 2010
This page is relevant to both the Ubuntu boxen and the Freekbox3
Getting gnome-ppp to run properly
Unless its run as root in Ubuntu gnome-ppp will fail to connect. To fix this, ensure that the gnome-ppp entry in the menu is prefaced with "gksu". To do this right click on the applications menu go to edit menus, navigate to and select gnome-ppp and click properties, then change the command from
gnome-ppp
to
gksu gnome-ppp
You can then drag this shortcut to the users desktop for easier access.
Ubuntu Help
- Also see: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DialupModemHowto/SetUpDialer
- NOTE: Passwords are located here
Installing a dial up modem
If using a Free Geek test number/password for testing do not forget to erase them from Gnome PPP before giving the computer back to the customer
- Find a modem that works in linux (get one from tardis if you cant find one in tech support). And plug it in.
- Using a wired ethernet connection install gnome-ppp
apt-get install gnome-ppp
- run gnome-ppp (applications>internet>gnome-ppp) and click on setup then detect, to tell it to look for the modem. If gnome-ppp does not detect the modem it will give an error, in which case you should try a different modem.
- Get the user's ISP information (user/password/local phone number), and enter it into gnome-ppp. If the user does not yet have an ISP, we can sign them up for whiz to coho in tech support (to do, make a page on this).
- Make sure that "save password" is checked or things will not work.
- do a test run and make sure the modem is able to connect properly, user and password is correct, ect.
- Open firefox, in the URL enter "about:config"
- search the about config page for "networkmanager" (the full line is "toolkit.networkmanager.disable) set this to true. This will prevent firefox from always opening in offline mode.
- Create a shortcut to gnome-ppp on the desktop or panel (or both) and show the user where it is and how to connect.
- DONE!
Alternatives
Network Manager
This should work fine in Ubuntu 8.04, but not in newer versions.
First, you need to determine the device your modem is called by the OS. Open a terminal and run "wvdialconf". That program will probe for modems and report its findings. If a modem is found it will be in the form of "/dev/<device>", e.g. /dev/ttyS1 or /dev/ttyACM0.
- Open the network manager
- Click "Unlock" and put in your password
- select the point to point connection and edit
- put a check in "enable this connection"
- on the modem tab, make sure the device is set to what you found with wvdialconf
- on the options tab, make sure you are using the ISP's nameservers, and to set the connection as the default route
- on the general tab, fill in the information the isp gave you (username, password, phone number)
pppconfig
This program is always present on a Debian or Ubuntu box as part of the default install.
- Advantages
- reliable
- easy to configure for someone familiar with command line
- can be used by normal user
- Disadvantages
- requires root to create new connection and to debug
- not obvious to someone used to a gui interface
Configuration
- open a terminal, become root, type pppconfig
- Use the defaults for most things
- The modem may be autodetected if it is a ISA modem but if it is not, or the modem is a PCI modem, manually enter /dev/modem
Use
- to start a connection, type "pon" (if you created a connection with a name other than "provider", you must use "pon <name>")
- to close a connection, type "poff"
- to debug (as root) type "plog". this shows the tail of the ppp log.
- to tell if you are connected type "netstat -nr" and look for the ppp0 interface.
kppp
Part of the KDE desktop system, kppp is present on all freekboxen 2 and 3 but is not present on Ubuntu boxen.
- Advantages
- Graphical windows-like
- Easy to configure, defaults mostly good
- Easy to get ATI command responses
- Disadvantages
- Very flaky, fails to work at reasonable speed on good modems
- buggy
- Often need to edit pap-secrets anyway
See also
- http://www.virtual-cafe.com/modeminit.html for handy modem initialization strings
- modem configuration for the hardware end of things
Problems
password problems
With some ISP's using the default configurations of kppp and gnome-ppp does not work. In those cases, you can generally get the account going by editing the pap-secrets file.
by hand
You need to open a terminal and su to root. Then type the following line:
nano /etc/ppp/pap-secrets
(or use your favorite text editor)
Add your username and password on the last line of the file in the following format:
"username" * "password"
The "*" is necessary, as are the double quotes.
Save by typing ctrl+o, then enter, then exit with ctrl+x.
If you have a persistent error code 19 though the customers authentication information seems correct, try
chmod a+rw /etc/ppp/pap-secrets
Worked on a customer with att.net Luiz 20:06, 17 August 2010 (UTC)
pppconfig
pppconfig adds the username and password to pap-secrets. This is an easy way to fix password problems and gives you another dialer.