Normally, PPP accounts are used to dial in using a modem to an Internet Service Provider
(ISP). Using PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), you connect to a large network
(the Internet) through your ISP; your machine becomes a part of that
network and you use the resources of the network.
Both GNOME and KDE offer useful tools for establishing and modifying PPP
accounts used to connect to ISPs. These utilities remove much of the
guesswork in creating an online connection; in many cases, your only
requirement is an ISP account.
Your own ISP may have specific connection requirements for their service
which differ from the instructions in this chapter. Before connecting with
either of these tools, check first with your ISP for any specific
instructions that they provide, including the following information:
RP3, the Red Hat dialup configuration tool, can make
easy work of connecting to the Internet or to some other network
devices. You can use RP3 to connect your
modem to a PPP account, and then you can view statistics about the
connection, such as the time, speed, and cost of the current connection.
 | RP3 and netcfg |
|---|
| | While RP3 is useful for creating a PPP account,
you should avoid using the application in conjunction with another
network configuration utility, called Network
Configurator (netcfg). Both
applications can create a PPP dialup connection, but you should use
either one or the other. For most account purposes, the
Dialup Configuration Tool will work well.
|
RP3's Dialup Configuration
Tool dialog (see Figure 6-1) allows
you to easily configure your system for an Internet connection,
helping you to locate your modem, enter the account information, and
connect.
To create a new PPP account, go to => => .
Next, type your root password when you're prompted and click on
OK to continue to the opening screen for the
Add New Internet Connection tool.
If you don't already have devices configured, you'll see the
Add New Internet Connection dialog (see Figure 6-2).
 | If Devices Are Detected |
|---|
| | If there are devices detected, such as an Ethernet card, you can
simply choose a listed device so that the application is running on
the panel or the desktop. Once the application is running, right-click
on the application to open the Options menu and select
.
|
To proceed, click on Next; to quit the
utility without making any changes or additions, use the
Cancel button. You can cancel without saving
changes at any time during the process. You can also return to a
previously completed screen by clicking on the Back
button.
Your next task is to configure a modem. RP3
will try to automatically detect a modem on your system (as in Figure 6-3).
If your modem isn't detected during the search, you'll receive a
message stating that it couldn't be found.
You can still enter details about your modem's location, speed, and
other information, in the Edit Modem Properties
dialog, as shown in Figure 6-4. This dialog will
appear if no modems were detected on your system. Refer to your modem
manufacturer's documentation for specifics to enter here.
To access the Edit Modem Properties dialog at any
time, go to =>
=>
=> . Select the Modems tab,
click on Edit, and make the desired changes.
| What are Winmodems? |
|---|
| | If your machine uses a modem which relies on software drivers for
some of its functionality, you've probably got a "Winmodem." Because
they depend on Windows-based software to operate correctly, these
types of may not function in Linux.
|
In the Edit Modem Properties dialog, you can
specify the location of your modem, its baud rate, your preference
regarding the speaker volume during a call, and whether to use touch
tone dialing.
Although RP3 attempts to detect the correct
port, you can adjust the settings here.
If you know that your modem is attached to COM2
under Windows, for example, its location in Linux will be
/dev/ttyS1. Here is a comparison of serial port
names in MS-DOS (and Windows) and Linux:
COM1 = /dev/ttyS0
COM2 = /dev/ttyS1
COM3 = /dev/ttyS2
COM4 = /dev/ttyS3
Using the pulldown list in the Modem Device field,
select the port to which your modem is connected. Then, in the
Baud Rate field, enter the fastest recommended speed
for your modem. Due to most modems' data compression capabilities,
select a baud rate that is faster than the modem's advertised speed (a
typical 56k device, for example, would have a baud rate of 115200).
You can also select your volume and dialing preferences in this
dialog. Dragging the bar to Loud in the
Modem Volume field will let you hear everything
that goes on during a connection, from dialtone to the connection
negotiation. Note that some modems will allow only a sound
on/sound off configuration, rather than gradations of volume.
The Use touch tone dialing button, when
selected, will dial using touch tone; when deselected, you'll dial
using pulse.
Check Make this modem the default modem to
use your current modem settings each time you run
RP3.
You can also rescan your system for modem information by selecting the
Auto Configure button, then choose to keep the
settings it finds.
Once you're satisfied with your settings, click on
Next to proceed to the following screen.
| Manually Create a Modem |
|---|
| | Even if your modem is automatically detected,
you can adjust the modem's settings by choosing to Manually
create a modem after RP3
detects your device. Your choices, such as location of modem, baud
rate, and volume, will be identical to those you'd find if the modem
had not been detected.
|
In the Phone number and name dialog (see Figure 6-5), you should enter both the name you would
like to give your account and the telephone number of your ISP. If you
need to dial an area code, fill that in here.
If you must dial a "9" to reach an outside line, enter this number in
the Prefix field. To disable call waiting, type
*70 in this field.
| Other Dialing Options |
|---|
| | RP3 uses an application called
Wvdial for some of its functions, such as
dialing and authentication with the PPP server. To learn about other
dialing options which might be available, read the
Wvdial man page. Type man
wvdial in a shell prompt. Use the
spacebar to move forward through this document a
page at a time, use the [b] key to move back, and use
the [q] key to quit.
|
The dialog which follows, User name and password,
asks you to provide the name you use to sign on to your ISP, as well
as your login password for the service. Your password will appear as a
series of asterisks (see Figure 6-6).
In the next dialog that appears (Other Options)
you can choose a pre-selected ISP or a Generic
Account, if your ISP isn't listed. If your ISP is listed,
you should select the appropriate entry, due to variations in
connection protocols which require specific network negotiations
between your system and your ISP's.
You can check your information in the Create the
account dialog which follows (see Figure 6-7).
If you're satisfied with your entries, click on
Finish to create the account; if you want to
modify the information, click on Back to go to
a previous screen.
The configuration tool modifies multiple files. The main files which
are affected are
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ppp* and
/etc/wvdial.conf. If you find it necessary to
modify an existing entry, however, you can edit that entry with
RP3, rather than edit a file by hand. See
the section called Customizing and Configuring RP3 for more information on
customizing the settings.
Once you have configured your PPP account, you can dock a launcher for
RP3 on the panel (right-click on the
=> =>
=> ) and just click on it to start
RP3.
To see all of your user-controllable network devices, such as modems
and Ethernet cards, from the go to
=>
=> . Similar to the two previous methods, the
application will appear on the desktop, rather than docking onto the
panel.
You can also launch RP3 without docking it
into the panel from either the (by going to =>
=> =>
) or from the shell prompt, by
typing /usr/bin/rp3 in a shell prompt.
When the application starts, you'll be asked to select which interface
you want to activate; choose the name of the PPP service you created
during configuration.
To begin your online session, left-click on the RP3 monitor and, in the dialog which asks if you want
to start the interface, select Yes. You can
also right-click on the monitor, then drag your cursor to the
Connect to... entry showing your ISP account
name.
Similar to the procedure for connecting, you can disconnect from your
session by left-clicking on the monitor, then choosing
Yes to close the interface (or right-clicking
on the monitor and selecting Disconnect from...).
When the RP3 monitor is docked on the
panel, it will look like Figure 6-9.
During the time you're connected, the RP3
monitor will display two bar graphs showing connection activity: the
top graph will show data transmitted and the bottom graph will show
data received (see Figure 6-10).
Beneath the graphs, you'll find text entries which will display the
bytes received per second and either your total connection time or the
total cost of your current session (if you've specified this option
when you configured the account).
RP3 makes easy work of setting up an
Internet account, but you may still find you've got a little tweaking
to do before you're up and running.
By default, when RP3 connects to your ISP,
it starts pppd. What is
pppd? It means Point-to-Point
Protocol daemon; briefly, it helps your machine "talk" to
your ISP.
You can learn more about pppd by reading
its man page. At the shell prompt, type man
pppd.
You can customize and configure account information by right-clicking
on the RP3 monitor and selecting the
Configure PPP entry.
In the Internet Connections dialog which appears,
you can add a new account, delete an account and modify current
account configuration. You can also debug the account, meaning that
you can test your settings to see if there are any problems (if you
have not set up an account, the Debug button
will read Dial and will not be functional).
Selecting the Add button will start the
Configure PPP tool, allowing you to enter
new account information.
If you choose to modify details in a current account, select the
Edit button. When the Edit Internet
Connection dialog opens, you can change account details in
the Account Info tab. Among the fields you can
modify are your login name, your password, and your ISP's telephone
number.
If your ISP provided you with DNS numbers, which may be necessary for
a successful connection, you can enter them in the
Advanced tab of this dialog (see Figure 6-12 for an example).
Among other options in the Advanced tab, you can
choose to have the connection start automatically (Begin
connection when computer is turned on) or manually
(Let user start and stop connection).
The option Let PPP do all authentication will
cause pppd to start immediately upon a
successful connection. Learn more about this in the section called Troubleshooting RP3.
In the Modems tab of the Internet
Connections dialog, you can specify the location of your
modem (such as /dev/ttyS1). You can either type
in the information, or click on the Find
Modem... button, which will attempt to automatically
detect your modem.
You can determine how you want to view some details about your
connection status. To change the default settings, right-click on the
application while it's running and, in the menu which appears,
left-click once on Properties to display
the RP3 Properties dialog box.
In the Properties dialog (see Figure 6-13), you'll find the following entries:
Connection name: Allows you to switch between
network connections that you have previously configured.
Count: Allows you to specify whether you want
to view your time online or the costs of your online session.
Confirm starting connection: Confirms your
intention to start a connection.
Confirm stopping connection: Confirms your
intention to stop a connection.
Cost per: If you pay for Internet access by
the hour, minute, or second, you can specify the cost for your
access here. When you're connected, your connection costs will
then be reflected on the RP3 monitor.
Sometimes, things may not go as well as you'd hoped when you're trying
to establish a connection. That's when debugging can be useful.
Briefly, debugging allows you to see some of what's happening
with your system when you're trying to connect.
To start, launch RP3 and open the
Accounts tab in the Internet
Connections dialog. Highlight the account you want to debug
and click on the Debug button in the options to
the right.
Once you choose to debug the account, you'll see a window similar to
Figure 6-14, showing you the commands which are
used to initialize your modem, connect to your ISP, and perform a
login to your Internet account.
The lines may scroll by very quickly at first. Once they stop, you
can scroll through the window to study the information. For easier
review, you can choose the Save Log button to
save the contents of the window as a text file. The text file can then
be printed or opened in a pager, a text editor, or a word processor.
You may find, for example, that you can connect to your ISP, but
you're not correctly logging in. Check first to make certain that you
entered the correct user name and password for your account.
It's also possible that the pppd is
starting too early, before you have a chance to log in with your name
and password. In this case, you appear to be
successfully connected, yet when you try to view a Web page with
Netscape Navigator, you receive error
messages.
If this is the case, stop debugging the connection by selecting
Close or Cancel, then
return to the Edit feature in the
Accounts tab.
In the Edit Internet Connection dialog, select
the Advanced tab and deselect the option
Let PPP do all authentication. By default, this
option isn't selected when you create an account. If everything else
looks correct, choose OK to return to the
Accounts tab.
Now, debug the connection again. You might find that your login
procedure goes a little more smoothly, since
pppd isn't started immediately, but rather
waits until your login name and password are sent to your ISP.
Working with the debug feature can help you discover the problem that
might be keeping you from a working connection. When you're finally
successful, close the window to stop debugging. Since the debug option
is only used to diagnose your setup, it won't maintain your connection
to your ISP.
When you've successfully configured your connection, start the
interface as described in the beginning of this section.
