dsl connection problem

[HK-47]

i've just downloaded the CD version of knoppix 5.0.1. this is the first time i've tried linux on a live CD, and the first time i've tried linux in years. i remember giving up on linux back then due to frustrating hardware (and software) setup. imagine my surprise when knoppix automatically detected almost all of my hardware, with the exception of my webcam, which i don't really use anyway. and it already came with practically all the applications i used to have to struggle finding the binaries for, or attempt to compile the source code only to find out i lacked certain libraries, which needed more libraries, and so on. i'm also surprised with its speed, considering that i only have 256MB of ram, and that it runs off a CD. in short, i'm really impressed!

the only problem i have is trying to connect to the internet. it successfully detects my NIC (on-board nForce3). i connect it directly to my DSL modem, a Zyxel prestige 600 series, without a router. my ISP requires PPPoE, so in windows, i use a PPPoE dialer to connect to the internet, and i figured i'd do the same here. i used the PPPoE config tool, and put in my username and password. it appears to connect successfully, but i still can't access the internet. what do you think is the problem?

thanks!

[Harry Kuhman]

I've gotten PPPoE to work, as a test, and it was very simple and clean. I can't guess what your problem is (you really didn't give us any details to comment on). But why in the world would you not use a router? It would solve this and other problems for you. You mantion that you use Windows, which is extremely subject to infection when not protected by a router's NAT firewall. (And you wouldn't need the PPPoE software in Windows either, freeing up memory and making it more stable.) I would not run without one. (My test was only with Knoppix, not windows, and even then I took several extra precautions to be sure that my system was not infected.)

[HK-47]

apparently, my dsl modem has a built-in router. this is what i got afer running ifconfig:

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:16:EC:34:87:C3
inet addr:192.168.1.33 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::216:ecff:fe34:87c3/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:13 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:18 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:2132 (2.0 KiB) TX bytes:2344 (2.2 KiB)
Interrupt:17 Base address:0x6000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:18 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:18 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:900 (900.0 b) TX bytes:900 (900.0 b)

[Harry Kuhman]

... a Zyxel prestige 600 series, without a router

my ISP requires PPPoE, so in windows, i use a PPPoE dialer to connect to the internet, and i figured i'd do the same here.....

apparently, my dsl modem has a built-in router.

Yea, it looks to me like that is a private IP address assigned by a NAT router. If that is correct then I doubt that you need (or want) PPPoE software under Windows either. And you should not need it under Knoppix. Are you sure that you are not already on the Internet? Most of us with routers just boot Knoppix, it gets its setup by DHCP, and we are on the Internet as soon as the boot finishes, no other setup needed.

[HK-47]

well, i can't access the internet before or after using the PPPoE dialer.

and i messed up on my last post. it looks like i left out part of the ifconfig output. her's the whole thing:

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:16:EC:34:87:C3
inet addr:192.168.1.33 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:35 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:55 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:3591 (3.5 KiB) TX bytes:4511 (4.4 KiB)
Interrupt:10 Base address:0x8000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:100 (100.0 b) TX bytes:100 (100.0 b)

ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
inet addr:210.213.159.36 P-t-P:210.213.156.1 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1492 Metric:1
RX packets:10 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:5 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
RX bytes:435 (435.0 b) TX bytes:97 (97.0 b)

i don't really know what all of this means, being a networking noob. but maybe this will help reveal the problem. thanks again!

[Harry Kuhman]

1) Quit running PPPoE software, you don't need or want it in Linux or Windows.

2) You say you can't access the Internet, but you don't explain that statement. What are you trying to do? What happens? Do you get an error or what?

3) Do you know the router's local IP address? It is likely 192.168.1.1 but it could be elsewhere in this range. Can you ping the router? Can you open a Web interface to the router at http://192.168.1.1 (or whatever address it is at)?

4) Can you ping 72.36.188.40 ? If so, can you ping knoppix.net ? If so, why again do you say that you can not access the Internet?

[HK-47]

someone suggested that i leave the modem off during startup, and what do you know, it worked! apparently, my system was trying to access the net through eth0 instead of ppp0, even when ppp0 was activated. man, i feel really stupid for not having tried that before.

i've also asked my isp about having my connection set up so that i won't have to use PPPoE software anymore, but the customer service rep didn't know anything about it (which sadly is normal for our isp's reps). the rep basically said that she'll forward the request to their tech staff, but from experience it'll be ages before they take any action (IF they do). what's even worse it that i don't really have any choice on isps, because it's the only dsl provider in our area.

anyway, sorry for all the trouble harry. and thanks a lot for taking the time to help me out.

[Harry Kuhman]

someone suggested that i leave the modem off during startup, and what do you know, it worked! apparently, my system was trying to access the net through eth0 instead of ppp0, even when ppp0 was activated. man, i feel really stupid for not having tried that before.

I'm not really following this at all or why it works. After you turn the modem back on what do you do? I would expect that you would need to do, at the very least, a netcardconfig, which Knoppix will do for you automatically if the router is on when it boots. My modem stays on constantly (even have it on a ups).

i've also asked my isp about having my connection set up so that i won't have to use PPPoE software anymore, but the customer service rep didn't know anything about it (which sadly is normal for our isp's reps). the rep basically said that she'll forward the request to their tech staff, but from experience it'll be ages before they take any action (IF they do). what's even worse it that i don't really have any choice on isps, because it's the only dsl provider in our area.

Our support here is no better. The usual answer to everything is to tell you to reformat your hard disk and reinstall everything. Finding anyone with even a small clue as to what they are talking about is extremely rare. I'm absolutely certain that some people that I've talked to have never even seen the thing they are supposedly giving you support for. And in the past few years most of them have started talking in a heavy Indian accent, sometimes so strong that you can't understand them and just give up. I'm not sure that you want to involve them anyway (although if they provided the modem then they should know something about it). You should be able to do a simple experiment; now that you have some steps that work for you, try running Knoppix again, but leave out any step that involves PPPoE software, and indeed let Knoppix connect to the modem through eth0. If the modem does have a router then you should not need PPPoE, and you should get on of those 192.168.xxx.xxxaddresses assigned to it by DHCP.

Another thing that you can do is try to see if there is a web page based setup at 192.168.xxx.1 (sorry, I forget whch digit that you used where I typed xxx and I don't want to scroll back and look). If there is a router included, thjis web page setup is usually here. A router should include a place for you to tell the router your DSL user name and account number, which the router uses when it establishes it's own PPPoE connection. If the modem lacks a way to put the PPPoE configuration iformation into it then you must use PPPoE software (even if it has other router like features), but if you can get the modem/routher to make the PPPoE login and let it do the PPPoE protocal, then you don't want to do it under Knoppix or Windows too (the router would just need to strip out the PPPoE as it repackages all packets for the outside world anyway).

Also, and I should have asked this before, how many ethernet connectors does the modem have on it? If it has more than one then it definately has a router built in. If only one it still could have a router but need an external switch if connecting more than one computer, but any number more than one pretty much tells us that there must be a router.

[OErjan]

wow. I wish you could share my support. I have a "local" ISP, they even have persons with good UNIX/Linux knowhow on support staff.

[HK-47]

^i sure wish our isp was more like yours.

to be honest, i don't really understand why it worked either. i just went straight into the PPPoE config after turning on the modem. i believe the modem has a built-in router, although it has only 1 ethernet connector. i checked the zyxel website for the webpage-based setup for the modem. it's a zyxel 650R-31, i think zyxel models with the "R" have a built-in router. i managed to enter the setup page, but i had no idea what most of the settings meant and i was too afraid of messing up my modem to change the settings. i'll try looking around our local dsl forums to see if someone knows the correct settings. thanks again.