Cable Modem

Forum: Networking
Topic: Cable Modem
started by: Quaoar

Posted by Quaoar on Sep. 30 2004,19:15

I'm new to DSL, and can't seem to get online when I'm running it.

My ISP is Cox Communications, and the modem seems to be working fine.

If I boot with a Knoppix LiveCD I can get online without having to do anything, but when I use DSL, nothing. What am I doing wrong?

Posted by AwPhuch on Sep. 30 2004,21:20

Quote (Quaoar @ Sep. 30 2004,15:15)

You have to unplug cable modem for 5-10 min, power on cable modem then boot dsl, since the MAC address has changed the DHCP server is locked in on the old MAC

Brian
AwPhuch

Posted by ke4nt1 on Sep. 30 2004,22:06

Would the MAC address change if he is simply swapping out a
knoppix cd for a DSL cd ? ?
It may request a new lease from the dhcp, but the nic hasn't changed, right?
Same box, same modem... ?

73
ke4nt

Posted by AwPhuch on Oct. 01 2004,03:45

Quote (ke4nt1 @ Sep. 30 2004,18:06)

I dunno, I dont think so unless the hardware/software some how sets it up differently

Brian
AwPhuch

Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 01 2004,04:50

How is your cable modem connected to your computer?

Is it connected via a LAN cable (looks like a phone cable with a bigger jack), or is it connected via a USB cable?

Posted by ke4nt1 on Oct. 01 2004,04:53

Bingo !

Sharp guy..

ke4nt

Posted by Quaoar on Oct. 01 2004,06:37

Quote (cbagger01 @ Oct. 01 2004,00:50)

How is your cable modem connected to your computer?

Is it connected via a LAN cable (looks like a phone cable with a bigger jack), or is it connected via a USB cable?

LAN Cable at the moment, although the modem can do either, so I can switch to USB if that would help.

I tried leaving the modem off fro 10 minutes, then turning it on and booting into DSL; I also tried leaving the modem off for 10 minutes, booting DSL and then turning on the modem. Either way it gives me a DNS error when ever I try to open a web page.

I'm using Knoppix 3.6 right now, with no problems, and I tried an older version earlier that was able to pull up webpages without trouble as well.

Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 01 2004,18:01

Hmm...

LAN cable is usually the best approach. Most cable modems use DHCP (Obtain IP address automatically) for their Internet settings.

Do you get a message during bootup about detecting a network card?

You may be able to get further information about your network card by typing:

dmesg | more

inside an xterminal. Look for anything mentioned about network or eth0

If so, you may be able to get networking up and running by choosing netcardconfig from the control panel.

Also, you can check to see if you are on the network by typing:

ping 207.46.245.156 (microsofts web site) and see if you get a response.

Posted by Rapidweather on Oct. 02 2004,04:45

I tried ping 207.46.245.156, and the terminal said:
PING 207.46.245.156 (207.46.245.156): 56 data bytes.
After a while, I "Control-C" and got this:
--- 207.46.245.156 ping statistics ---
20 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss.
---
I'm online, so I wonder if Microsoft won't let us DSL users do that.
---

Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 02 2004,14:39

OK, then let's try the www.yahoo.com web site instead:

ping 216.109.117.206

Posted by Quaoar on Oct. 02 2004,16:06

Quote (cbagger01 @ Oct. 01 2004,14:01)

LAN cable is usually the best approach. Most cable modems use DHCP (Obtain IP address automatically) for their Internet settings.

Okay, I used "dmesg | more" and read through the list, it didn't mention anything about network or eth0 or anything like that.

I tried pinging both 207.46.245.156 and 216.109.117.206 and it failed both times.

So, I decided to try with the USB cable instead of the LAN cable, and now it works. Thanks for all the help so far, but does anyone have an idea as to why it works with one but not the other?

Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 02 2004,16:40

My guess is that there is a problem with the driver for your Ethernet LAN card.

What is the manufacturer and model number of your LAN card? If you have windows up and running it should be listed in the Device Manager. Otherwise, you can look it up in knoppix by typing "lspci | more" inside an xterminal.

DSL does not come with lspci. However, if you install the alsadebs extension you will be able to run lspci from DSL.

Posted by Quaoar on Oct. 02 2004,18:17

Quote (cbagger01 @ Oct. 02 2004,12:40)

What is the manufacturer and model number of your LAN card?

According to Window's it's a Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller.

The system is a Dell Inspiron 8500, with a P4 Mobile Processor if that helps any.

Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 02 2004,18:43

It sounds like you need the Broadcom 440x network driver, bcm4400

My guess is that it is probably not on DSL but is on your version of knoppix.

Try:

sudo modprobe bcm4400

in an xterm and see if it installs without error. If so, then run the networking config script in the control panel.

Otherwise, you will need to grab the file bcm4400.o (NOT bcm4400.ko) from the knoppix 3.4 dated 5/17/2004 and copy it over to your DSL system. It is probably located somewhere like /lib/modules/kernel/2.4.26-xfs/net/bcm4400 This is probably not exactly the correct path but you get the idea.

If this file is not contained inside that version of knoppix, your only recourse for Linux drivers is to compile the driver yourself from source using the *.tar.gz file that is provided by the manufacturer. You will need a hard disk install + the gcc1 compiler DSL extension in order to do this.

Also, you might be able to get it to work by using the Microsoft Windows driver files and the program ndiswrapper which is now included in the latest version of DSL (0.8.2).

Or you can just keep using the USB port :-)

Good Luck.

Posted by ke4nt1 on Oct. 02 2004,22:33

I thought you had it nailed, CB..
You figured it out anyway..

I was rootin' for ya' !

I checked the ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net site ..
They have several broadcom chipsets listed, but not the 44xx
Lots of 43xx's and 943xx's , though ..
I don't know how dated the info listed is ..

Let us know if the Windows drivers work with the ndiswrapper ..
You'll need the correct .inf and .sys files for your card ..
Most of the driver CD's I've looked at so far have many sets to choose from.
Perhaps you could check your properties in System of your XP install
for the correct network card driver names..

73
ke4nt

Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Oct. 03 2004,19:16

actually, the driver is b44.o and it's located in /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/drivers/net/

and it's already in DSL, even though i spent a long while hunting it down in knoppix... don't know why it isn't auto-detected...

-J.P.
SaidinUnleashed

Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 03 2004,21:18

Hmm...

The webside I visited had the file described as "bcm4400"

Oh well. My bad.