hi everyone
i just got started with linux and i want to get connected to the internet. i called my isp but they say they don't support linux.
i already have an existing internet account on my windows if that helps any.
thanks a lot

Whatcha connecting with? Cable modem, regular dial up modem? Most ISP's don't support over the phone cause those people read from scripts, but most do have help online.

i'm using a regular dial-up modem.

Well if your modem is already installed, the easiest way to configure dialing out is through the GNOME dial up configuration or Kppp within KDE.

i tried both.
pressing the kppp option in the menu didn't run anything!!
what the hell does that mean? it happened also with a couple of other things.
and i also tried the Gnome option.
that turned out to be better although after all was done when i tried to actually connect it didn't.
i configured two different connections but they both didn't get me connected.
can you explain to me the exact steps to establish a connection. and also is there an icon or something else that tells me that i am connected? how will i know other than manage to surf the internet?

Hi
I use Wvdial, It's run from the connand line, but is very easy to use.
I think it is included with RedHat 7.0.
The thing I like about it is that I can telnet into the computer running it, and dial up from another host.
I had some permission problems at first, but were quickly sorted out.
Just thought you might be interested.

Wazza

Yeah, you can try wvdial, I used to connect to internet with it (now I use a script that does it).

Pressing kppp in the menu didn't do anything?? Strange... what if you open an xterm window and try to start kppp from there? Does it start or do you get error messages?

When you try to connect with the Gnome's utility, do you get any error messages?

i know what the problem is now.
it's the modem.
when trying both wvdial and kppp i get a similiar message.
it says: cannot find /dev/modem (kppp) or modem not responding (wvdial).
just let me remind that i have a working modem on the pc and i use it with my windows. how do i set up a modem to work?

What serial port is your modem conneceted to? COM1, COM2 ..? Under Linux the devices are /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyS1 etc. so COM1 is the same as /dev/ttyS0 and so on.

/dev/modem is a symbolic link to your modem device. If /dev/modem doesn't exist, you must create it and link it to the right device. For example, if your modem is /dev/ttyS0, the command would be
ln -s /dev/ttyS0 /dev/modem

Then try connecting again.

greetings fellow linux newbie,

determine what your modem is...
check your pc manuals under internal modem...
more likely your modem is a winmodem...(as i have found, winmodems do not work in a LINUX operating system.)

regards,
kuikfox

Oh yea, I just forgot the possibility that the modem may be a winmodem... like kuikfox said, if it's an internal modem, it's most likely a winmodem. But you may get it to work. Check http://linmodems.org for more info.

hey everyone
now just wait a minute. i do not have an internal modem.
i'm positive that it's a totally regular modem.
i just didn't get the chance yet to check to which port it's connected like NGene said and link the damn /dev/modem and /dev/ttyS0. actually i'm still trying to figure out how i'd know to which port it's connected.
thanks a lot anyway.
but if you guys want to help out maybe someone can tell me where i can find out about this method of the devices being /dev files.

Aha, now comes the fun part: Talking to your modem. If you send strings like ATI1 t/m ATI9 to the comm port on which your modem is connected it will answer back, giving usefull info. Its the easiest to explain when you are in text mode, in virtual terminal 1 (press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to go there).
Then type, to make your modem (in case it's connected to /dev/ttyS0) write everything to the second virtual terminal:
# cat /dev/ttyS0 > /dev/tty2 &
And send a command to the modem:
# echo "ATI1" > /dev/ttyS0
Check virtual terminal 2 by pressing Ctrl-F2, to see if something answered.
Go back to terminal 1 and kill the cat (by typing fg <enter> Ctrl-C).
Try the same for the other serial ports. If one answers, send ATI2 t/m AT9 to that port to find out more.

Is this by chance a dual boot? If so, you can go into device manager on windows and see which port its configured on. If not, I'm not sure how you would find out.

If you don't have an internal modem then its external right? If so then its either connected to serial port A or serial port B, which means in Linux its:

/dev/ttyS0 for A

/dev/ttyS1 for B


The /dev bit means it is the directory /dev. This is where you will find all the devices you need to communicate with, such as windows partition (/dev/hda1), or the floppy drive (/dev/fd0).

You can see that the digits after /dev/ are different for each device. /dev/modem is not connected to a device but is LINK to a file which does communicate with a device, like /dev/cdrom is linked to where the cdrom is on you Motherboard.

Serial ports in Linux are called /dev/ttyS* (where * is a number).

If you cant link the file /dev/ttyS* (either 0 or 1) then make sure you are root, and/or try to force the link like so:

ln -sf /dev/ttyS0 /dev/modem