Arch Linux

hennnrik

Member

Registered: 2010-12-24

Posts: 3

Old USB modem

Hello everybody
I've got some network questions, but as I'm a noob in Arch (I come from Ubuntu and never really cared about how the system worked till now), I guess I should post here.

I use an old USB modem, which I installed following this guide https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsbAd … Connection.
In Ubuntu, I started the connection automatically using a script at startup.
There it says that to start the connection automatically with udev (which is what I could do in Arch), I should write a udev rule and a udev script.

I haven't do that yet, as I would like to know if it's possible for the network daemon to start the connection with the modem automatically, by previously setting the network interface or something like that in /etc/rc.conf, or other config files. I think there has to be a simpler way that doesn't involve writing rules, scripts, etc.

I've tried setting ppp0 as the only interface of the system in rc.conf, but the daemon says that it can't find it.

If you could point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it a lot

Last edited by hennnrik (2010-12-27 11:19:26)

.:B:.

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2006-11-26

Posts: 5,819

Website

Re: Old USB modem

Check netcfg's documentation, and a google/forum search should give you some information as well. You can set up a profile that can be called from rc.conf (so there is tight integration).

Welcome to the forums .

Edit: while netcfg has a ppp sample configuration among its examples, it does not seem to require a username and password, which seems a bit odd. You might want to check with the developer (iphitus).

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hennnrik

Member

Registered: 2010-12-24

Posts: 3

Re: Old USB modem

Thank you very much .:B:. That's exactly what I wanted.

You were wondering how come it doesn't require a username and password.
Well, it does need a username and a password, but they are supposed to be already in the following files

/etc/ppp/peers/nameofdriver
/etc/ppp/chap-secrets
/etc/ppp/pap-secrets

where nameofdriver is the name of the driver the modem uses.

The format of these files appears in the link I wrote in my first post.

In the ppp example provided, in the line

PEER='provider'

the provider field is also nameofdriver. The name is kinda confusing, provider reminds me of the ISP.

I would say the problem is solved but I have more questions hehe.

This is the output while it's starting the connection (I have replaced the IPs with xs):

Plugin pppoatm.so loaded.
PPPoATM plugin_init
PPPoATM setdevname_pppoatm - SUCCESS:8.35
Using interface ppp0
Connect: ppp0 <--> 8.35
PAP authentication succeeded
Cannot determine ethernet address for proxy ARP
local  IP address x.x.x.x
remote IP address x.x.x.x
primary   DNS address x.x.x.x
secondary DNS address x.x.x.x

- If I do

# netcfg myprofile

to connect while I'm on the desktop, it works fine, but if I put the daemon in rc.conf to connect at boot, it's quite slow. It spends around 10-15 seconds between the line Connect: ppp0 <--> 8.35 and the next one. How come? (I know I can speed the boot process by backgrounding the daemon but I'm curious about why it's much faster at the desktop than at boot).

- Any ideas on why it says Cannot determine ethernet address for proxy ARP?

- Doesn't the default Arch network daemon, network, support ppp connections somehow? Just curious.

PS: excuse me if I write a bit weird sometimes, English isn't my first language.

Last edited by hennnrik (2010-12-27 22:50:48)

hennnrik

Member

Registered: 2010-12-24

Posts: 3

Re: Old USB modem

I have got rid of the Cannot determine ethernet address for proxy ARP message, but I don't know why starting the connection at boot is slower than doing it after boot.
Maybe there is some module that hasn't finished loading or something like that? Any clues?