[Cialug] What's your modem?

[Kevin C. Smith]

On Tue, 2005-08-02 at 18:09 -0500, David Champion wrote:
> Kevin C. Smith wrote:
> >>On 8/2/2005 3:06 PM, Kevin C. Smith wrote:
> >>
> >>>>Rocket Robin Hood wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>On Tuesday 02 August 2005 10:51, Claus wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>>No offense, but I'd say the problem lies between the chair and the
> >>>>>>keyboard.  You have to realize that Qwest doesn't support Linux since
> >>>>>>they don't have the time and knowledge to do so.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>That is FINE but what perplexed me and still does is
> >>>>>a) Upon hearing none of my browsers work, I was encouraged to try
> >>>>>Netscape.
> >>>>>When this worked, one might be tempted to think "oh, there's some
> >>>>>browser
> >>>>>configuration trick, they've probably encountered people using
> >>>>>alternate
> >>>>>browsers (non IE er Netscape) before and have a general idea what's
> >>>>>wrong.
> >>>>>Perhaps they could tell me!"
> >>>>>DUH!
> >>>>>
> >>>>>I am assuming the problem lies 'between the chair and the computer'. I
> >>>>>seek
> >>>>>enlightenment. Let's assume I took my computer to someone's home
> >>>>>network
> >>>>>with
> >>>>>a working modem, plugged it in, and it did the same thing. What would
> >>>>>YOU do?
> >>>>>
> >>>>>See, if someone posted to the list something like "Uh, my burner's not
> >>>>>working" I would at least start out with "What happens when you type
> >>>>>cdrecord
> >>>>>-scanbus" or "type less /etc/fstab and copy and paste that to me"
> >>>>>or ....something. I wouldn't write an essay calling them a retard.
> >>>>
> >>>>I have had problems with my Actiontec DSL modem and linux clients -
> >>>>where DNS doesn't seem to work, but works fine from a Windows PC.
> >>>>
> >>>>My kludge to fix this is to change the Actiontec's DHCP config to assign
> >>>>a different DNS (like your ISP's) to the DHCP clients.
> >>>>
> >>>>-dc
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>Yes. This is the issue. I solved it for me by coping a working
> >>>/etc/resolv.conf over the bad one on ifup. I had forgotten this was an
> >>>issue
> >>>with the Actiontecs until Dave's comment. Easy fix though.
> >>
> >>Before Rocket Robin Hood assumes that's his problem I'd recommend that
> >>he verifies it.  In that case connections by using IP should work while
> >>connections via names won't. (ie ping 209.234.64.204 vs.
> >>storm.weather.net)
> >>
> > 
> > 
> > Correct. But only for Linux boxes behind the Actiontec trying to connect
> > to others on the "local" network. Well, almost true some outside IPs fail
> > to resolve also, such as one of the debian ftp servers.
> > 
> > Anyway, a moot point since he canceled the DSL service. For those
> > running linux behind an Actiontec this fix will improve DNS resolution
> > even if you do not have local resources you need to connect to.
> > 
> > 1. Log into the Actiontec and get the two DNS server IPs.
> > 2. Edit /etc/resolv.conf to look something like this:
> > 
> > nameserver 216.51.246.11
> > nameserver 216.51.246.12
> > 
> > Remove everything else.
> > 
> > Note: The config will get wiped out on reboot, so you will need to
> > address that. In Debian/Ubuntu I added this:
> > 
> > # The primary network interface
> > auto eth0
> > iface eth0 inet static
> >   address 192.168.0.109
> >   netmask 255.255.255.0
> >   network 192.168.0.0
> >   broadcast 192.168.0.255
> >   gateway 192.168.0.1
> >   # This copies my "good resolv.conf over the "bad" one.
> >   up cp /etc/resolv.fix /etc/resolv.conf
> > 
> > On a laptop you will need to install some sort of network detection
> > software and adjust the scripts as needed. I forgot which one I use,
> > but there are more then a few out there.
> > 
> > I may add some of this to the wiki and flesh it out more when I have time.
> 
> I think you're making too much work for yourself.
> 
> Go into your Actiontec web config, Advanced Config, DHCP Server, under 
> DNS switch it to Static and specify the new servers you want to hand out 
> to the clients (i.e. the ones you have in your resolv.fix).
> 
> Then ifdown / ifup your connection and it should have the correct 
> settings in your /etc/resolv.conf.
> 
> -dc

I tried that the first time and it only worked for a time. Then reset 
itself. I found that very annoying, so did it as above. I have updated
the image at least once since then and this may no longer be an issue, 
but I don't know.


-- 
Kevin C. Smith