Networking Linux box (knoppix 3.4) with Windows XP PC

[nicorellius]

I have a dual boot system running XP pro and knoppix 3.4 and another PC running Windows XP pro only. I have DSL running and I have the two PCs running through an NR041 Linksys router. I can access the internet from both PCs so I know my lines are solid. How do I network the PCs together, though, for file sharing, printing and CD burning, etc.? The XP pro system has the CD burner and the printer... Any ideas, help or suggestions?

Thanks!

[mzilikazi]

http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13901&view=next

[nicorellius]

I am having a problem... I was able to follow the Samba directions a create a file but it didn't work.

I can ping my windows PC and I can ping myself (ie, linux to linux) but I cannot ping my linux box from windows PC. I went into LAN properties and made sure that there were no locks on the windows PC, but it still isn't working.

Any ideas on how I can even ping my linux box to winXP PC and vice versa?


Help! :?

[Harry Kuhman]

......I can ping my windows PC and I can ping myself (ie, linux to linux) but I cannot ping my linux box from windows PC. I went into LAN properties and made sure that there were no locks on the windows PC, but it still isn't working......
Very strange. You should certainly be able to ping any system on the local network from any other (getting Samba working may be a different issue, but the ping has to work first). You are trying to ping by IP address, are you not? I know that under windows from computer "desktop" I can ping "notebook" with a simple "ping notebook" and windows will resolve the address. But until you have everything working I'm hoping your restricting the ping to the more typical "ping 192.168.0.100" type commands.

When you say you can ping yourself, linux to linux, are you talking about linux on 2 PC's (not really pinging yourself)? And can you ping the router from both systems? Are you very very sure you have the IP addresses right?

[nicorellius]

I am restricting the pings to simple, ie, IP number to IP number. When you say ping router, do you mean ping 192.168.0.1? I think I have but (feeling dumb) can't remember the results... So far, however, this is what is going on,

linux = 192.168.1.101 (only one machine)

windows = 192.168.1.100 (only one machine)

two PCs total

ping: linux -> windows (192.168.1.101 -> 192.168.1.100) successful

ping: windows -> linux unsuccessful

ping: linux -> linux successful

ping: windows -> windows successful

I am at work currently and therefore not with my home PCs, but as soon as I get home, I am gong to try pinging everything all over, making very, very sure that I have the correct addresses...

Any thoughts so far?

[Harry Kuhman]

I am restricting the pings to simple, ie, IP number to IP number. When you say ping router, do you mean ping 192.168.0.1?
Well, pretty much, but see below. If the router isn't responding to a ping them you likely have something even more basic going wrong, so you might as well do this test.


however, this is what is going on,

linux = 192.168.1.101 (only one machine)

windows = 192.168.1.100 (only one machine)
......
Any thoughts so far?

Now, something looks wacky right away. You said above the router was 192.168.0.1. The 192.168.xxx.xxx addresses are ranges of IP addresses that are class C addresses, they use a mask of 255.255.255.0. So if the router is at 182.168.1. then it should be handing out addresses like 192.168.0.100 and 192.168.0.101, not 192.168.1.xxx addresses. Most of these routhers let you assign both the router IP address and the range of IP addresses that the router hands out, but you should keep that range in the same class C address range that the router is in. So if the above address you gave are correct and not a typo, either move the router to 192.168.1.1 or move the IP range the router hands out to the 192.168.0.xxx range.

And you are assigning IP addresses by DHCP, rather than manually setting them, are you not?



linux = 192.168.1.101 (only one machine)

windows = 192.168.1.100 (only one machine)

two PCs total

ping: linux -> windows (192.168.1.101 -> 192.168.1.100) successful

ping: windows -> linux unsuccessful

ping: linux -> linux successful

ping: windows -> windows successful

Pinging your own IP address is meaningless.

Once you resolve the IP address issue I brought up above, if you still have the problem, and if you can ping the router from each system, then either boot both systems in windows, or burn another Knoppix CD and boot both of the computers in Knoppix. Then you can see if you really have a windows/linux issue, or is you just have a problem pinging. My guess is that if you can't ping by IP address between the windows box and the Linux box, and there is no firewall issue blocking pings, then you would not be able to ping between 2 knoppix boxes either. If you can ping when Knoppix is running on each system then look for a firewall blocking pings on the windows box.

[nicorellius]

Thanks a lot, Harry, for your help so far. Here is what's going on:

First of all, I have only one of my PCs dual booting, the other is only XP. So I booted both with XP. Here are the ping results:

XP 192.168.1.101 -> 192.168.0.1 success
XP 192.168.1.101 -> 192.168.1.1 success
XP 192.168.1.101 -> 192.168.1.100 no success
XP 192.168.1.101 -> 192.168.1.101 success

XP 192.168.1.100 -> 192.168.0.1 success
XP 192.168.1.100 -> 192.168.1.1 success
XP 192.168.1.100 -> 192.168.1.100 no success
XP 192.168.1.100 -> 192.168.1.101 success

My router is assigning IPs with DHCP but they stay the same.

When I go to 192.168.0.1 I get an SBC site (maybe a modem IP) where I see all my account info, true IP, login, etc...

When I go to 192.168.1.1 I can log into my router and make changes, etc...

Since I have only one linux box, I cannot boot both with linux. That is why I booted both with windows. I figure if I can resolve this issue using windows then when I boot linux, I will be golden. The samba thing will have to wait, though.

I know you said that pinging myself is meaningless. But why, then, can I not ping the 192.168.1.100 from either IP, but I can reach 192.168.1.101 from both IPs?

Is it possible that SBC has something to do with my problem?

Any thoughts?

[Harry Kuhman]

When I go to 192.168.0.1 I get an SBC site (maybe a modem IP) where I see all my account info, true IP, login, etc...

When I go to 192.168.1.1 I can log into my router and make changes, etc...

You had previously said that the router's address was 192.168..0.1, but now it sounds like the router is at 192.168.1.1. I'm not sure what SBC means to you. Is it your ISP ? Is it your brand of modem?

I've never worked with one, but have seen discussion that some new modems do have a router built in. If that is your case then both the modem's built-in router and the other router would be doing NAT. If that is what is happening, you should really disable the router in the modem and use just the external router for NAT, DHCP and the like.

That said, your pinging problem still doesn't make much sense. Looks like the address ending in 100 is just not responding, which might be a firewall issue of some sort, but I would have to see more to really make a call.


...

First of all, I have only one of my PCs dual booting, the other is only XP. So I booted both with XP. .....

Since I have only one linux box, I cannot boot both with linux. That is why I booted both with windows. I figure if I can resolve this issue using windows then when I boot linux, I will be golden. The samba thing will have to wait, though.


Burn two Knoppix CD's and boot both computers from CD, not from the hard disk. I would even suggest booting the computer where you have Knoppix installed on hard disk from CD instead during the test - things seem to break in Koppix when installed to hard disk, there is no reason to add any extra variable to the test. Once everying is working right from CD then boot the dual boot one from Knoppix on the HD and confirm that nothing has changed, but for now keep things simple.

I want to get a look at how things look with 2 Knoppix systems because I think (but am yet far from certain) that the reason for the strange ping results so far is Windows software, not any hardware issue. Pinging when both systems are in Knoppix is a test that will bypass windows.

By the way, when you ping your own address you do go through some levels of the TCP/IP stack, but not all levels, so you're not realy testing everything and certainly not testing hardware. There are two other addresses that are intended for self-testing of the TCP/IP stack - but understand that none really check everything, although they are potential first checks that the local stack is working. For any address range, the lowest address in that range is yourself. Thus, if the router is handing out addresses in the range 192.168.1.xxx and a mask of 255.255.255.0, then either computer cound "ping itself" at 192.168.1.0, the lowest address in this range. Also, the address 127.0.0.1 is always a loop back address for your own stack.


I know you said that pinging myself is meaningless. But why, then, can I not ping the 192.168.1.100 from either IP, but I can reach 192.168.1.101 from both IPs?

Is it possible that SBC has something to do with my problem?

Any thoughts?
I don't know, but my theory is that it's something in windows, maybe a firewall that's not letting that box respond to pings. Thus I want to get Windows out of the equation and try pinging this address when it's running Knoppix. Looking forward to hearing what SBC is. And if it's not the modem, then please identfy what make and model of modem you have, and give more information of what you see when you point your browser at 192.168.0.1.

[nicorellius]

Sorry for the confusion. SBC Yahoo is my DSL internet provider.

I will investigate if my modem has a built in router. Also, I will boot both systems from Knoppix CD and do the ping test. I will give a report and include my modem information as well.

Thanks again... :!:

[nicorellius]

I booted both systems from Knoppix 3.4 CD and was able to succcessfully ping each PC from the other. In addition, I found out that 192.168.0.1 is the modem address, 192.168.1.1 is the router address, and 192.168.1.100, 101 are the addresses for each PC. I was able to ping all addresses from each PC booted from Knoppix 3.4.

I also found out that Service Pack 2 was installed on my Windows PC so I uninstalled that because it has caused nothing but problems so far, and also because I have other means of protecting that PC.

The modem is a SpeedStream 5100 and I believe it does not have a built-in router. There is a self test option at the modem address (192.168.0.1) that allows you to ping addresses to test connectivity. When I tried to ping my systems while at 192.168.0.1, it timed out. But then when I pinged from the console it worked fine.

When I visit 192.168.0.1 I get all my internet service info. I can reset modem, changed modem codes, get loggs and statitics reports, check and change IP address assignment lease time, see MAC address, PPP location, PPPoE...

When I visit 192.168.1.1, this is where I can change all the router settings like DHCP, DNS, Static and Dynamic IP...

So I think you are right when you said it's a Windows problem. But then when I re-booted Windows without SP2 installed and making sure the system was not blocking pinging, it still didn't work. I even changed a setting at 192.168.1.1 where I can block WAN requests (pings) to allow for access to my system... I am not sure what is going on.

SBC is internet service provider, by the way...

:?:

[Harry Kuhman]

The modem is a SpeedStream 5100 and I believe it does not have a built-in router. ...
It may well not have a router or do NAT, but seeing the two different 102.168.xxx.xxx subnets is pretty strange. It's also strange that the router even passed a 192.168.xxx.xxx address out the upstream port to get to the modem, as this should not be considered a routable address.

Still, it would be wise to double check and be sure that the modem is not also acting like a NAT router. Thinking about it, there is an easy way to do this. You router will have some sort of status page that shows if you are connected or not and, when connected, will show your assigned IP address. This is the IP address that the router uses to talk to the Internet, not it's local 192.168.1.1 address. Look at that address. If (in your case) it begins with 68, 69, or 166, then the router is getting a real Internet address and all is right. However, if your router reports that the IP address it is seeing for the Internet is 192.168.0.xxx, then the modem does indeed do NAT and one level of NAT should be disabled.


I booted both systems from Knoppix 3.4 CD and was able to succcessfully ping each PC from the other...... I was able to ping all addresses from each PC booted from Knoppix 3.4.

Good. Sounds like your original problem has been resolved, pinging between all system now works. I'm not going to be any help with Linux networking, but I've seen lots of people discusssing it in this forum. I expect if you scan the old posts you'll find more than enough information.


I also found out that Service Pack 2 was installed on my Windows PC so I uninstalled that because it has caused nothing but problems so far, and also because I have other means of protecting that PC.

Yea, I thought that might be a factor. I would still strongly suggest using a software firewall (in addition to the router firewall), but I would never trust the Microsoft firewalls (reasons too many to list). There are other firewalls out there that will work with XP.


There is a self test option at the modem address (192.168.0.1) that allows you to ping addresses to test connectivity. When I tried to ping my systems while at 192.168.0.1, it timed out. But then when I pinged from the console it worked fine.

I'm not really following this, not sure what "at 192.168.0.1" means or "from the console" means. I thought that you had told me that you could ping the 192.168.0.1 address from bothe of the computers (192.168.1.100 and 192.168.1.101). What "being at 192.168.0.1" meane eludes me.



The modem is a SpeedStream 5100 and I believe it does not have a built-in router. There is a self test option at the modem address (192.168.0.1) that allows you to ping addresses to test connectivity. When I tried to ping my systems while at 192.168.0.1, it timed out. But then when I pinged from the console it worked fine.

When I visit 192.168.0.1 I get all my internet service info. I can reset modem, changed modem codes, get loggs and statitics reports, check and change IP address assignment lease time, see MAC address, PPP location, PPPoE...

I guess I could spend some time tracking down this device and see what it has. But the idea that it deals with IP address lease time and the rest of the things you mentioned above really makes me think again that this device is doing NAT (you had me thinking it was not up to this point). So I really think you should look at the external router and see what IP address it thinks it's geting from the Internet, If it is a 192.168.0.xxx address, then you really really want to disable one level of NAT. With two NAT levels going on you'll slow your connection needlessly. More importantly, you'll never be able to use port forwarding, the DMZ feature, or some other features of your router.


So I think you are right when you said it's a Windows problem. But then when I re-booted Windows without SP2 installed and making sure the system was not blocking pinging, it still didn't work. I even changed a setting at 192.168.1.1 where I can block WAN requests (pings) to allow for access to my system... I am not sure what is going on.

Well, we know the local network is fine and you can ping one computer from another. I don't know how you removed SP2 or how sucessful that is. I do know that even before SP2, Xp had a firewall (not a very good one, might even be a joke to call it a firewall, but it might be blocking things like a ping). It just was not enabled. Maybe now that you've "rolled back" prior to SP2 the firewall is still enabled?

Anyway, seems like you can now focus on the networking question. Good luck going through the past posts, but there is plenty of information posted on that.

[nicorellius]

Harry,

Thank you for your time. I think I know what I have to do from here.

I wish I could bypass Windows all together, but that PC is my room-mates and she does not know anything about computers (not that I am a genious or anything)... So except for isolated times in which I can boot from CD, I have to leave that system running as XP. It's too bad because it has the CD burner, the printer, scanner, etc., all the devices that I don't have but wish I could network to from my linux box.

Anyway, I will dig through these enormous volumes of forum material and find out what I need to do. I have done this to a certain extent and I think I know where to look.

One more thing,

"There is a self test option at the modem address (192.168.0.1) that allows you to ping addresses to test connectivity. When I tried to ping my systems while at 192.168.0.1, it timed out. But then when I pinged from the console it worked fine."

When I go to http://192.168.0.1, I get internet provider info and several tabs that I can click that allow me to change modem settings. One of the options to test connectivity is an online pinging option. I think it sucks, so am thus disregarding it. When I said console, I meant in linux, a black box console screen in which you type commands, you know, a terminal program...

Anyway, thanks again, and I'm sure I'll be talking to you again with other linux problems... Take care!

nvm

[Harry Kuhman]

Good luck. I think I understand what you meant by "go to 192.168.0.1" now, and this is certainly another case of pinging an address from that same address not being valid.

Please post back what you find when you check what Internet IP address the router is being assigned. I wouldlike to know if my theory is right, but from everything you post about the router I think it is also doing NAT and that you have to resolve that.

[nicorellius]

Harry,

So figured it all out. Now on to the Samba issue, which I think I'll be able to figure out.

You'll never believe what is was. I'm such a fool.

First, my router is 192.168.1.1, modem is 192.168.0.1 and so forth. Modem is not doing NAT.

Since the XP PC was my room-mates, I had forgotten that Norton Internet Security was installed. So even though I disabled XP firewall, Norton's was still active. I turned it off, and voila. Then I configured Norton to accept 192.168.1.101 (me) and vice versa for my PC (when running XP rather than Linux).

I tell you, sometimes the silliest things hold you up.

Anyway, I will work on configuring Samba to help with Linux/XP intercommunication...

Thanks again.

[Harry Kuhman]

Glad to hear you worked it out. My experience is that Norton never does anything except causes problems.


First, my router is 192.168.1.1, modem is 192.168.0.1 and so forth. Modem is not doing NAT..

OK, if you say so. A Google search leads me to believe differently, but you have the hardware and if the Internet address that you see in the router at 192.168.1.1. is not a 192.168.0.xxx address then you're correct and the on-line information isn't complete.

[nicorellius]

Harry,

I hope you browse this post one more time because I have another question.

As you may have remembered, I was successful in setting up my network at home. I got samba to run and was able to ascces my linux box files from my PC with windows.

Now, if I want to access my linux box from work, how do I do that? I think it has to do with setting up my linux box as a server (sshd) and then logging in from work. Not sure how to do this though...

Oh yah, my computer at work is running xp pro and I am running cygwin so I can have an environment to access it...

Any thoughts?

[Harry Kuhman]

.... I think it has to do with setting up my linux box as a server (sshd) and then logging in from work. Not sure how to do this though....
Sorry, I have no insight on this at all. I suggest, failing researching the issue, to start a new thread on the topic.