Problem solved partially. I am now on the net using knoppix but I must do the following:

#su
#password
#mii-tools
reply is :

eth0: 100mbit half-duplex no-link

so then I

mii-tool -F 10baseT-HD eth0

pppoeconf as normal.

eth0 is configured static similar to my win98 setup in winipcfg but with nothing in default gateway.

My problem now is I have to be in su mode to log on. How do I change the pppoe permission so that all users can log on?

And is there a way to keep the eth0 in 10 half-duplex all the time? So I don't (or more importantly my girlfreind) doesn't have to keep typing these commands?