Linux, PPP, and Modem... at wits end!

[BruceJ]

Well, I've had zero luck in finding a remedy that works and every remedy I do find is in regards to someone who is unable to connect to the internet at all.

That's not my situation... I can connect... once... via KInternet in SuSe and KPPP in RedHat. The problem is that if I disconnect (or get disconnected) I can no longer connect again. It dials, negotiates, then PPPD starts and just hangs.

The RH Dialer in either RH 6.2 or 7.0 is a joke... if I cancel the dialing it will continue to attempt to dial out repeatedly until log in as root and kill it.

Off topic to my my post: The FONTS! Many of the sites I go to are virtually unreadable... especially at my employers site where I need to log in occasionally and check the source tree for whaetever project I happen to be currently invloved in. I tried the webfonts-1-3.noarch.rpm in both RH 6.2 and RH 7.0... didn't do a thing. I guess that's limited to a version that I don't have. Haven't tried the xsftt method yet... I'm not sure I want to waste a bunch of time again to achieve yet another 'nil' result.

I've been looking forward to getting into Linux but after a week of hassling with this stuff my enthusiasm has all but vanished. I don't know who those are that evangelize Linux as a viable alternative to Windows as a desktop client OS, but to those extremists that believe such a thing, let me tell you something: Linux poses a threat to Windows as a client-side OS about as much as WinZip.

Do I sound like I'm whining, *****ing, moaning, and complaining? Damn right... I've *earned* it.

Cheers,

-Bruce

[SCuSI]

Sorry that past advice hasn't worked for you.
Maybe a process is still left running after initial disconnect, maybe a lock file still exists after termination. KPPP gives you the option of not using a lock file, maybe that will help. Stick with linux through it's learning curve and you will be rewarded (it was steep for me for a while but the more you learn the easier it is to pick up new things-accumulative knowledge). I checked out some of your programs on your website. They seem to be about making things do something for which they weren't normally intended-- linux is the perfect platform for you. Hopefully someone will have the answer that works for you!

[BruceJ]

Hi SCuSI,

Thanks for the concern... but I've damn near tried it all. I've read every damn article in SuSE's Support Database regarding PPP and it always boiled down to the same few things... none of which worked.

Tried with KPPP in SuSE 7.0... and got the 'no ppp support in kernel' message... so... I went in as root and checked the setUID for kppp... now that message is gone. But... KPPP can't even connect... not even once. It hangs on PPPD just like KInternet does on the second try.

Edited the 'pap-secrets/chap-secrets' as suggested.

Edited the 'options' as suggested... w/noauth or w/o noauth... w/lock or w/o lock.

Ad infinitum...

This is complete nonsense and absolutely ridiculous! Until I have the ability to connect reliably to the internet and am able to *read* something on the interent... ol' Linux will be on the bookshelf collecting dust I'm afraid.

Thanks again for your concern.

-Bruce

[ashoksagar]

The same thing happened to me once after a reinstall, where I left the /home partition intact. In the end I deleted the .kde and .kderc files and then logged in fresh to kde and it started behaving correctly after that. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

[BruceJ]

I *wish* that was it... but unfortunatley it wasn't.

I'm gonna give it one last stab with RH 6.2 Deluxe... the ISO's I downloaded for RH7 and SuSE7 are in the trashcan and off my system.

From all the research I've been doing in the hopes of coming up with a solution, I hear occassionaly that the 7.X releases (of any distro) have problems. So, I'll give the 6.X series a shot an dsee how it goes.

Thanks,

-Bruce

[dvdnut]

wrt your problem.

i had major problems with mdk 7.1 and with rh7

rh 6.2 was fine and dandy but i wanted more gui

(yes i know sad aint it)

anyway now i've installed freshly mdk 7.2 and i must admit i cant find a fault

i aint a linux guru nor a geek but for what i use it for it suits me fine,
all i use windoze for is mail and news

can anyone suggest a good mail client and news client in x?

thanks

dyf

[ColdPack]

I'm not up on the news client thing but kmail works just fine for me as well as balsa.
When Evolution hits 1.0 it will sweep the rest off my desktop. It is so close to being so very nice!


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"What do people mean when they say the computer went down on them?"
---Marilyn Pittman

[zippohippo]

Hey Bruce,

If the fonts are killing ya (which they did with me at first), try viewing the pages in Konquerer. The pages render fast, and the fonts are nice ' clear. Also if you are usin 'Drake 7.x, it comes with a nice feature to get True Type Fonts off a Windows partition. I think Red Hat has a similar feature, though I can't remember the name, now.



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"Quiet, brain or I'll stab you with a Q-Tip!"
-Homer J. Simpson, Sector 7G

[BruceJ]

Hey ZippoHippo,

I did just that... last night I downloaded via a friends cable modem the ISO's for Mandrake 7.2 and imported a bunch of Windows Fonts... What a difference... I can read things now! http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

Now I just need to connect to the internet....

I talked to my ISP and they use fricking Windows NT as their server... on top of that... they don't even have it setup right.

It looks like I may just have to switch ISP's if I can't come up with a solution fairly soon.

Cheers,

-Bruce