Void's Forums

by **dishawjp** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:03 am

Hi All,

Yesterday I installed FC2 on an older HP computer for a student here. Overall the install went well, but the RCA cable modem was not detected. The modem connects to the computer through a USB port connection.

I've googled this a bit, found that the modem is manufactured by Thompson, but wasn't successful in getting any real advice on getting it to work.

I have two questions:

1) If I install a NIC, and connect that to the cable modem, the modem does have a port for cat 5 available, will that solve the problem easily?

2) Any suggestions on how to get FC2 to recognize and deal with this thing if not?

From what I've found out, FC normally detects and configures these things normally, but this is my first encounter with one. Might it have been a bad install?

I did do a modprobe and lsmod and it is seeing the USB, but not the "ctcmodem" or whatever I was supposed to find. I grepped through dmesg, /var/log/messages & etc. but didn't pick up any leads there either.

Sorry for being a bit vague here, I'm at work and don't have access to teh computer right now to give more exact information.

As always, TIA for any assistance.

Jim Dishaw

by **Void Main** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 3:51 pm

I would "assume" that installing a NIC and connecting via Ethernet would solve your problem. I only use Ethernet for this kind of stuff and it seems to always work. I haven't done any research on the subject though. If it doesn't show up on an lsusb then I don't think you are going to get any farther with it via that connection.

by **dishawjp** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 8:25 pm

Void,

Well, things didn't go so well tonight. I installed the NIC, it was a 3-Com and it was recognized. But no internet connection was established. It kept suggesting that I check the cable connections. I tried the "neat" route several times and uninstalled/reinstalled the interface several times. I also rebooted the cable modem a few times just for giggles, but no go with that either. So I picked up a new cat 5 cable and tried that. I uninstalled and reinstalled the eth0 interface at leat a dozen times... or maybe that was a dozen beers and half a dozen times... things are a bit foggy, but anyway, no joy. There are probably worse ways to spend an evening than having a cute little redhead bringing you beers, but I really wanted to get Linux working on her computer. As a next to last resort, I tried a reinstall from a couple of FC2 didks that came with one of my Linux magazines. All I got was a fatal error on the X server and the install aborted. The last resort was to put in a SUSE Live disk that I had riding around in the back of my truck and it worked perfectly. So there are no hardware problems, so the problem has to be with the install or the configuration.

Since that (the SUSE Live) allowed her to access her e-mail and AIM and all, I left it there for now, but will see her tomorrow. I have a set of SUSE 9.0 disks (also from one of my Linux magazines) and want to get a hard drive install that will get her connected to the internet and all. My wife is an understanding person, but there are limits to how many evenings she will let me spend with a 22 yr. old girl ;-)

In your opinion, should I try to reinstall FC2 and hope that this time it detects and configures everything, or should I try to just install SUSE 9.0 instead. Or, is there something I should try with the existing install to get it to work? I do want to make sure that she has access to some sort of an update system like apt or something but having next to no experience with SUSE, will some sort of an updater be available to her at no cost similar to that if I go that way?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Jim Dishaw

by **Void Main** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 8:36 pm

Well, that's a hard call. I would just say install SUSE 9.1 but unless you have CDs that will be a little slow over a modem. If it were me and I had a cute young red head bringing me beers all night I think I would break it on purpose. It would be interesting to know what the exact model of modem it is and if there is any documentation on it. Did you get it working via the USB cable or via the network card? If it was via the network card then you should have no trouble using Fedora with it too. Both distros use the Linux kernel so worst case scenerio is you would have to recompile a kernel to get things working, assuming it is a driver issue.

It's really hard to say as I don't have enough details. For example, if you are using SUSE, what steps exactly did you do to get this working. If you used an ethernet connection how did you get an address (DHCP, PPPoE, etc). If you are using an ethernet connection and the reason Fedora isn't working because it is not detecting the ethernet card then I can work with you on that, would need the exact model (in SUSE do an "lspci" and an "lsmod"). The more information you can give me the easier this will be.

by **cdhgold** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 8:39 pm

I run Suse as my primary linux distro . as far as an update mechanism there is apt for suse at http://linux01.gwdg.de/apt4rpm/ which works great also in suse there is the YOU util which is online update built into suse for security and native suse updates that can be set to run automatically everynight as can apt with the right setup.

Chris

by **dishawjp** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 6:18 am

Void,

I got it to work with the SUSE 9.1 Live CD using the NIC and not the USB connection. The modem is an RCA cable modem, which is made by Thompson. It seems to be a fairly common unit and there are some references to it on Google, but nothing covering the problem I'm having.

Another odd thing that I noticed with the install was that using Gnome, right clicking on the desktop didn't give the "disks" option for mounting and umounting the floppy and CD drive like it usually does. I guess it's possible that I just have a bad install of FC2, though this is the first time I've ever had problems like these.

With the SUSE 9.1 Live disc,I didn't have to do anything other than sit back and sip on a cold beer. The SUSE 9.1 Live install recognized and installed everything. I do have the SUSE 9.0 regular install CD's and could just install from that, or I could just try to reinstall FC2 from those CD's that I have.

I really don't have a lot of time tonight since I don't get out of the office until 4:30 or 5:00 tonight and do want to be back for the SyrLUG (Syracuse Linux Users Group) meeting by 7:00. So I'd like to be able to run a quick install, set up an updater, a little quick configuration, and be finished. A LOT of students here are very interested in switching to Linux, we're picking up several new people every month.

If it were me and I had a cute young red head bringing me beers all night I think I would break it on purpose.

Yeah, working in higher education is pretty rough sometimes... ;-)

Cdhgold,

Thanks for the info. I think that I will try to install the SUSE 9.0 and set up apt for her. How is the YOU utility accessed in SUSE? Can I just type "you" from a root command line prompt, does it sit on the task bar, or is it accessed from the menus? I can't imagine it's too deeply buried, so I should be able to find it myself if you don't get back to me before this afternoon.

by **Void Main** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:48 am

Yeah, sounds like for you just installing SUSE would be the easiest thing for you to do (although it wouldn't be what I personally would do). I have a thread on setting up apt on SUSE as well. Let me dig for it, was very recent. I think it's all buried in this thread if you are interested:

viewtopic.php?t=1155

by **dishawjp** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:24 am

Well, I installed SUSE 9.0 last night and the install was perfect. Everything was detected, internet connection no problem, it was a piece of cake. I figured out the YOU updater and it worked very well.

The SUSE disc I had was VERY limited and didn't even include Open Office. It was one that came with a Linux magazine. I think I'll buy a copy of SUSE 9.1 Personal, it's only about $30 at CompUSA and upgrade her to that. Then I'll just install it on one of my computers to play around with a bit. I'm thinking that my wife might prefer SUSE with the KDE desktop to my Fedora with Gnome. My youngest daughter recently switched from Fedora to Slackware and she loves that.

I've never played around with any Linux distros other than RH and FC, maybe it's time for me to start broadening my horizons.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!

by **Void Main** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 8:45 am

You can download the 9.1 personal ISO for free if you prefer. Novell was nice enough to release that one. Also, you can set up apt and install all the good 3rd party goodies just like you can with Debian/Fedora/redhat.

SUSE 9.1 ISO:
http://www.linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=2

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