[H-GEN] FreeBSD Gurus? setup dialin ppp!

[Everist, Geoff]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and  ]
[ Unix-related topics.  Please observe the list's charter.           ]
[ Worthwhile understanding: http://www.humbug.org.au/netiquette.html ]

[snip]
> Hello,
> 
> I've searched but I'm not a modem guru, how do I connect two computers
> with modems and no telco in between?  (ie. Connected by a telephone
> wire.)  Actually both modems are on the same computer, one 
> dials out and
> I'm trying to set the other up for dialin ppp.  So far it 
> hasn't worked
> so I need a way to test and debug it.  (Would that be possible with
> pppoe from another client on the local net?)  I'm past the 
> getty stage -
> the modem accepts calls - it's the pppd stage I'm stuck on.  
> There seems
> to be about 20 methods documented on the web, I don't have 
> one working. 
> I'm looking for a simple method; I don't mind having a dedicated ppp
> dialin user but I would rather use mgetty to allow any user 
> to launch a
> ppp session.  I'd also prefer to use kernel ppp.
> 
> Any help appreciated.
> 

Not knowing how much you know about modems nor what you are ultimately
trying to achieve, please forgive me if these questions are a little basic.
Your problems may well have little to do with your ppp config:

Why do you need to use modems? Why not just wire up a null modem cable and
connect the two serial ports together directly?

If you must use modems, you will have problems if you try to connect them
directly unless you can configure them for leased line mode (assuming this
is supported). This is due to two reasons:

1. Unless you use the string ATX0, the dial-out modem will expect dial tone,
which is normally provided by the telco.

2. Unless you use leased line mode (AT&L1 on some modems, assuming it is
supported), the receiving modem will expect ring tone before it answers a
call (in auto-answer mode), or your ppp scripts will probably expect RING
strings from the modem before answering.

There are a number of approaches you can take depending on what you are
trying to do:

- Obtain a "telephone line simulator" which will simulate dial and ring tone
(http://natcomm.com.au/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?page=index2.htm look for the
Ringmaster Telephone Line Simulator)
- Set your modems up for leased line operation if this is possible and
connect directly modem to modem
- Ditch the modems and directly connect via a null modem cable

Once you have verified that you have an end to end connection via the modems
(which can be done by looping back TX and RX at the RS232 level at the dial
in end, and looking for character echo with something like minicom), then
you can start looking at your ppp scripts.

> IanP
> 

HTH

Geoff Everist

--
* This is list (humbug) general handled by majordomo at lists.humbug.org.au .
* Postings to this list are only accepted from subscribed addresses of
* lists 'general' or 'general-post'.