Now I just need an internet connection

redge · 2006-12-20 01:45:10

Last night, after trying out Linux with Ubuntu, I loaded Arch Voodoo base. The installation went very smoothly (my compliments), except that like some others I was slowed down during the install, and am now when I boot, by the following:

ata2.00: ATAPI, max UDMA/33
ata2.01: qc timeout (cmd 0xa1)
ata2.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x4)
ata2: failed to recover some devices, retrying in 5 secs
ata2.01: qc timeout (cmd 0xa1)
ata2.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x4)
ata2: failed to recover some devices, retrying in 5 secs
ata2.01: qc timeout (cmd 0xa1)
ata2.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x4)
ata2: failed to recover some devices, retrying in 5 secs
ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33

I am so happy that the installation went well that this minor, and as I understand it fixable, problem is at the moment nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

The bigger problem is that I have been unable, despite a good deal of fiddling, to establish an internet connection. I am hoping that someone might be able to pinpoint what the issue is, if not provide a solution.

This is my connection:

Computer eth0 > ethernet cable to Speedstream 4200 modem > telephone cable to phone jack > phone line to the high speed Digital Subscriber Line service offered by Bell Canada/Sympatico.

Because it might be relevant, I should explain something about the connection that may not be common.

In Windows XP, which is the operating system that I use on another computer, the way that this normally works is that one clicks on a Sympatico icon and enters one's user name (actually, one's principal e-mail address, JohnDoe@sympatico.ca) and password. This establishes a PPPoE connection.

I was having trouble connecting this way. Consequently, Bell, from its end, disconnected that connection and established a permanent connection. Now, when I use Windows to connect to the internet, I simply enable my Local Area Connection. I don't enter a user name or password. The Broadband Connection is disconnected, and Bell has told me not to enable it.

A couple of months ago, I loaded Ubuntu on a different computer and connected it to Sympatico. For various reasons, I had decided that I no longer want my Windows computer connected to the internet except for software updates. Ubuntu worked exactly the same as Windows. No user name, no password, but rather a permanent connection, and it worked pretty much out of the box, although I recall that I had to fiddle a bit to get Sympatico e-mail to work.

Yesterday, I replaced Ubuntu with Voodoo. Now I'm trying to figure out how to consumate the marriage between Voodoo and Bell. I'd call Bell's technicians, but I suspect I'll be told the same thing as when I explained to them that I use Opera as a browser: "You're on your own". On the other hand, if anyone thinks that there are factual questions that I should be asking Bell, as distinct from asking their technicians for advice, I'd be more than happy to give it a whirl.

Here is what I know:

Regardless of whether I run and configure pppoe-setup, the command "ping 192.168.2.1" gets a solid response. From that, I conclude (correctly, I hope) that Voodoo is communicating with my modem.

Regardless of whether I run and configure pppoe-setup, when I run a pacman command to connect to an Arch FTP site, I get the response "unable to connect" for each of a long list of sites.

When I have configured pppoe-setup and type the command "pppoe-status", I get "Link is down (can't read pppoe PID file /var/run/pppoe.conf-pppoe.pid.pppoe)".

When I have configured pppoe-setup and type the command "pppoe-start", I get "Timed out" together with some related information.

When I type the command "dhcpcd", I am told that it is running.

I have tried configuring pppoe-setup two different ways: with my user name and password and with the default user name and no password. Does anyone know if it is possible to configure pppoe-setup with no user name? Because Bell says that it supplies DNS server information, I have stuck with responding to the question about Bell's principle DNS address, as pppoe-setup contemplates, by typing "server".

In /etc/rc.conf, I have tried leaving gateway disabled and, when I have enabled it, I have tried the default, asterisk and the gateway address that I get when I run Ubuntu or Windows.

In /etc/modprobe.conf, I have tried doing nothing, and also adding "alias eth0 3c55x" and "alias eth0 3c55xtoo" (for the 3com Network Interface Card).

As the foregoing may demonstrate, I am not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to computers. I am at a point where I have reloaded Voodoo several times, and reconfigured files several times, to try out these various combinations, but a connection continues to prove elusive. I could really use some advice on what to try next.

Thanks

pelle.k · 2006-12-20 03:55:13

I'll do my best to help you out.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but since they told you to not setup a pppoe session, but rather a simple LAN/WAN connection without authorization, why are you wrestling pppoe-setup?
If "Bell" say they provide the DNS automatically, they probably have DHCP servers giving you the IP as well.
What you should do (if adding those entries to /etc/modprobe.conf was necessary? Do you still have eth0 visible when running "ifconfig" without them? if so you can remove them permanently) is just;

eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)
ROUTES=(!gateway)

in /etc/rc.conf. That _should_ be it.

You do not need to run anything else than '/etc/rc.d/network restart' as root to restart network with current settings in rc.conf
So what is the ouput of 'ifconfig' now then?
Also make sure both modules for this network card isn't loaded at the sime time. How can you do that? simple. do 'lsmod | grep 3c55'

Now report back!

ralvez · 2006-12-20 03:59:49

OK let me see if I understand the situation.
Bell told you NOT to use the pppoe connection. Now that's fine ... then do not deal with it at all.

Now, lets get back to the NiC card in your computer.

edit /etc/rc.conf and make sure you have the following:

eth0="dhcp"
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)

then go to your /etc/resolv.conf and enter the DNS servers given to you by sympatico in the form :

nameserver 123.123.123.123
nameserver 234.234.234.23

(naturally, those above are just an example)

and try again and let us know your results.

Edit: actually, never mind about /etc/resolv.conf because DHCP will add them for you.

redge · 2006-12-20 04:17:49

Thanks pelle.k and ralvez,

I explained the background to the connection because I wasn't sure about ignoring pppeo-setup, and when I tried to do that, it didn't work. However, you are saying that that is the right road to be on, and you have suggested some ideas for resolving this, for which I am grateful. Now I don't feel quite so stupid for talking about the details at some length.

Pelle.k, yes the command ifconfig recognizes, and gives me full info on, eth0 without touching /etc/modprobe.conf. It is why editing that file was one of the last things that I tried. Also, before I loaded Voodoo, I did a full series of screenshots in Ubuntu of information about the connection, and yes, one of those screenshots suggests, although the suggestion is a bit oblique, that what I have is in fact a DHCP connection rather than a PPPoE connection.

I am writing from a laptop at a hotspot from the moment, but I will try the suggestions that you guys have made when I get home. I am very eager to see if they will work.

I am much obliged to both of you for taking the time to help.

Best regards

redge · 2006-12-20 08:40:58

I now have Voodoo connected to the internet.

I reinstalled Voodoo base, made one change, as pelle.k and ralvez recommended, to the default network configuration, and did not run pppeo-setup. The configuration change was: eth0="dhcp".

Then, as pelle.k advised, I ran "lsmod | grep 3c55".

Next think I knew, I had a connection. I was pretty blown away.

Thanks both of you. Now I have to do some reading to figure in a more detailed way why what I had been doing didn't work, and this did.

Have a great holiday season, and thanks so much to both of you for steering me in the right direction.

Rory

ralvez · 2006-12-20 13:10:28

Rory,

Glad it worked. I would venture to say that if in the original installation you did not have eth0="dhcp" then *that* was the reason.
The lsmod | grep 3c55 is just to verify that the module for the NiC card was loaded because if it is not loaded you would never get it to connect, however, since you could ping inside the network I was very much sure that the NiC was working.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Rick

brain0 · 2006-12-20 17:16:07

redge wrote:

Last night, after trying out Linux with Ubuntu, I loaded Arch Voodoo base. The installation went very smoothly (my compliments), except that like some others I was slowed down during the install, and am now when I boot, by the following:
ata2.00: ATAPI, max UDMA/33
ata2.01: qc timeout (cmd 0xa1)
ata2.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x4)
ata2: failed to recover some devices, retrying in 5 secs
ata2.01: qc timeout (cmd 0xa1)
ata2.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x4)
ata2: failed to recover some devices, retrying in 5 secs
ata2.01: qc timeout (cmd 0xa1)
ata2.01: failed to IDENTIFY (I/O error, err_mask=0x4)
ata2: failed to recover some devices, retrying in 5 secs
ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33

If you get those, you should probably install with the ide-legacy option. We should add a warning about that in the new docs.

redge · 2006-12-21 00:43:57

Hi brain0,

As you suggested, I reinstalled using the ide legacy option, but it made the problem worse. Instead of a slow boot (a good excuse to make a cup of tea), I got the same sequence quoted above followed by a kernel panic.

Before reading your latest exchange with Mandos in the thread on Voodoo 0.8 installation ( http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … &start=40j ), I tried adding "earlymodules=piix" to the kernel line in grub/menu.1st. If I understand that exchange, your point is that this will no longer work. That's certainly what I found. It accomplished nothing, so I erased that addition.

Then, instead of booting Arch Linux Primary, I decided on a whim to boot Arch Linux Fallback. To my surprise, the boot went smoothly and quickly.

So right now I have a choice between a standard installation and a Primary, slow boot, or an ide legacy installation and a Fallback, fast boot.

Sometime tonight I may try a standard installation and a Fallback boot just to see what happens.

I'd love to hear any comments from you or others about why, with an ide legacy installation, the Primary boot won't work but the Fallback boot will. And what is the practical difference between a Primary boot and a Fallback boot?

Anyway, the bottom line is that I have both a working installation and a working internet connection.

Cheers,

Rory

redge · 2006-12-21 05:23:41

I just tried a standard Voodoo install with a Fallback boot. The computer is an IMB Thinkpad, five or six years old, with a Pentium III 850MHz processor. Here is the summary of what I found, in case anyone is interested:

Standard install, Primary boot: successful but slow due to the sequence quoted above.

Standard install, Fallback boot: successful but slow due to the sequence quoted above.

Ide Legacy install, Primary boot: kernel panic.

Ide Legacy install, Fallback boot: successful and quick.

I don't really care how fast the boot is. Any comments on which option to pick, of the three that result in a successful boot, appreciated.

Best,

Rory

pelle.k · 2006-12-21 07:17:47

Hi regde.
You are very curious. And patient!
The reason the fallback image is an alternative in grub, is because it provides an "boot image" with _all_ modules loaded in kernel, thus it can save you some trouble when the correct module isn't loaded automatically by the standard image (which autoload its modules when they're needed)
You should strive to use the standard image, as less memory (amongst other things) are used up.

I don't know how to solve your problem though

brain0 · 2006-12-22 02:08:29

redge wrote:

I'd love to hear any comments from you or others about why, with an ide legacy installation, the Primary boot won't work but the Fallback boot will. And what is the practical difference between a Primary boot and a Fallback boot?

zcat /boot/kernel26.img | cpio -t

Please

redge · 2006-12-22 03:48:48

Hi,

Got a long list of files and, after running this command, started to get a kernel panic when I ran ide legacy fallback.

redge · 2006-12-23 21:50:57

For others who run into this problem and come across the last few posts:

I was able to resolve this after discovering that the ide legacy install option does not do what one might expect it to do. The solution, or at least one solution, is discussed at: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=27994&start=60 The result should be a completely clean boot from both default/primary and fallback.

Best,

Rory

RedShift · 2006-12-24 10:45:18

Did you investigate the possibility of a hardware problem?

Arch Linux

#1 2006-12-20 01:45:10

Now I just need an internet connection

#2 2006-12-20 03:55:13

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#3 2006-12-20 03:59:49

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#4 2006-12-20 04:17:49

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#5 2006-12-20 08:40:58

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#6 2006-12-20 13:10:28

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#7 2006-12-20 17:16:07

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#8 2006-12-21 00:43:57

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#9 2006-12-21 05:23:41

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#10 2006-12-21 07:17:47

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#11 2006-12-22 02:08:29

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#12 2006-12-22 03:48:48

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#13 2006-12-23 21:50:57

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

#14 2006-12-24 10:45:18

Re: Now I just need an internet connection

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