A few tips for dialup users running Linux

Discussion in 'all things UNIX' started by Mrkvonic, Nov 7, 2009.

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  1. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Hi guys,

    I need your help ...

    There are hundreds of millions of dialup users in the world. And we want to help them use Linux. My article presents several tips and tricks on how to connect to the Internet using dialup on Linux, focusing on friendly distributions and modem hardware, but it's rather thin at the moment.

    You can help make this tutorial even better, especially if you have personal experience you are willing to share.

    http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/dialup.html


    Cheers,
    Mrk
     
  2. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    From the Linux Mint forums. Sorry no personal experience yet.

     
  3. chronomatic

    chronomatic Registered Member

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    Back in the day (say 2001 or so) when I first began using Linux, I only had dial-up. I quickly had to give up and go back to Windoze because it was impossible to get a Winmodem working in Linux in those days. There was one company that had created Linux drivers for some Winmodems, but they wanted $30 a pop. I said hell with it and waited a few years until I got broadband. I have been using Linux ever since and don't plan on looking back. ;)

    I feel really sorry for dial-up users, especially those who use Linux. I would just assume not to have the Internet at all if I had dial-up.
     
  4. FastGame

    FastGame Registered Member

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    Hi, dial-up expert here. Problem is I have a major tragedy (death) in the family, if you can wait a day or two I'll be back with all one needs to know (easy & CL free).

    Until then I'll leave some hints....

    Ubuntu 9.10 sucks real bad for dial-up :thumbd:

    Puppy is the king of all distro's, detects and has drivers for many internal PCI modems (external modems are a breeze). All other distro's should be ashamed of themselves.....:rolleyes:

    When my mind is clear I'll list all major distro's and what needs to be done.
     
  5. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

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    I had success with a Conexant pci modem in Ubuntu 9.04 (haven't tried it with Karmic yet) but it required using part of Dell's Conexant 8.04 tar package with Linuxant's latest tar package. The end result was I had a full speed dialup connection (5 to 6 KBs per second...same as in Windows). I did find that kppp had more features and worked better than the Gnome connect manager. This link should help explain how to do it...

    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DialupModemHowto

    In the next few days I'll try it with Karmic. If I can get it to work I'll post a detailed howto.
     
  6. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

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    Success getting dialup going on a Conexant pci modem. I will post the procedure shortly. This is on a Karmic Desktop.
     
  7. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

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    ****This is for hsf modems***************

    First, you need to find out if your Conexant pci modem is supported. The best way is to use Terminal to check your Vendor device pci id with "lspci" :

    lspci
    0000:01:0b.0 Communication controller: Conexant HSF 56k Data/Fax Modem (rev 01)

    Then, type "lspci -n" and look at the same identifying numbers to get the vendor:device id

    lspci -n
    0000:01:0b.0 0780: 14f1:2f00 (rev 01)

    In this example, it's 14f1:2f00. Vendor ID is first part (14f1), then a ":" separates the Device ID (2f00).

    Now see if your VendorID and DeviceID match those listed below...

    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2F00
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2F01
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2013
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2014
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2015
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2016
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2F10
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2F11
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2F12
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2F13
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2F14
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2F20
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=4311
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=1025
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=2004
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=2005
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=2013
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=2014
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=2015
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=2016
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=4311
    VendorID=127A : DeviceID=2114
    VendorID=8086 : DeviceID=2416
    VendorID=8086 : DeviceID=2446
    VendorID=8086 : DeviceID=2486
    VendorID=1106 : DeviceID=3068
    VendorID=10B9 : DeviceID=5453
    VendorID=10B9 : DeviceID=5457
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2043
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2044
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2045
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2046
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=2443
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=1631
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=1636
    VendorID=14F1 : DeviceID=1637

    If it does then you're probably in luck.

    Next, make sure you have build-essential installed and it's dependencies. gcc and make are also required but are generally already installed.

    Now, download this package...

    http://www.bargweb.net/images/2009/november/hsfmodem-7.80.02.05-DiacoEdition.zip

    Unzip it to /home/user-name.

    Then...

    cd hsfmodem-7.80.02.05-DiacoEdition

    Issue these commands...

    sudo make install

    after the process has finished making and installing, then...

    sudo hsfconfig

    The last command builds the hsfmodem module.

    If successful, your modem should now be ready at /dev/ttySHSF0.

    ***Ubuntu Karmic (9.10), Jaunty (9.04), Hardy (8.04) and SUSE (11.0, 11.1) users with HDA modems: installing the latest alsa-driver-linuxant package is necessary before installing this driver located here....

    http://www.linuxant.com/alsa-driver/

    I didn't install the alsa-driver. The only thing I found, at least in my case, was when the modem was dialing out you couldn't hear it. No big deal or I don't have an HDA modem.

    Install either gnome-ppp or kppp to control your dialup connection.

    A problem I encountered after this install was being allowed to connect to the ISP (a question of permissions). I solved that problem with the following...

    sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

    and add this...

    chmod u+s /usr/bin/wvdial

    This allowed me to connect.

    Sources I used...

    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DialupModemHowto/Conexant
    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=190728/
    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1308328

    This process worked for Ubuntu Karmic kernel 2.6.31-14.

    Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2009
  8. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Wow, thank you very much!
    Mrk
     
  9. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

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    Location:
    Virginia - Appalachian Mtns
    Howdy folks,
    For those older linux users on dial-up with poor eyesight, or some other limitation, you can use this bash script to make Desktop launchers for those links you use most frequently. Just change the url link between the quotation marks , in my case "http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox", save it as possibly "gmail.sh"...and make it an executable "chmod a+x gmail.sh". You'll need to make a copy of this script for each Desktop link you wish to use.

    Start of code.....

    #!/bin/bash

    function Start_url_link # Start Firefox....
    {
    gnome-open "http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox"
    while ps ax | grep firefox | grep -v grep > /dev/null ; do
    sleep .25
    done
    zenity --question --text="Do you wish to disconnect?" --ok-label=Yes --cancel-label=No
    if [ $? = 0 ]; then # FYI...(0)=Yes, (1)=No
    killall wvdial
    fi
    } # End of Firefox start....

    ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep wvdial > /dev/null

    if [ $? = 1 ]; then # wvdial is not running...

    nohup wvdial > /dev/null & # dial...

    sleep 25

    Start_url_link

    else # wvdial is running...start new link...

    Start_url_link

    fi
    exit

    End of code.....

    Just install wvdial...configure wvdial.conf with your information (number, login name, password, etc), create a Desktop launcher with "bash /path/to/script" in the Command line and you're ready to go. This script will auto dial (if wvdial is configured properly), sleeps long enough for a connection to complete (still working on this part), opens your default browser with the link you provide, monitors to see when you close your browser, then pops up a box that offers to shutdown your connection should you wish (yes, just like Internet Explorer does...this was the big reason why I've never been able to get Dad to try Linux...he has poor eyesight and his hands slightly shake so he wanted that disconnect box to pop up). This really has been done for my Dad but I thought I'd share it.

    If I had a place to upload this deb I made for the Karmic Conexant driver so that others could link to it that would be really nice.

    BTW, once I get the connection timing thing worked out (I'm presently using a sleep 25 command) then I'll post it.

    Later...
     
  10. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Updated the article with your suggestions guys! Much appreciated!
    Mrk
     
  11. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    George, S.Africa
    I see you have credited me with actually having tried dial-up, but all I did was find the post.
    :) o_O
     
  12. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    You provided the info :)
    Mrk
     
  13. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

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    Hi,
    This is my completed scripts for people who use dial-up under Gnome Linux (Karmic for me) as their means of connecting to the internet. The advantage of these scripts are they allow you to click on Desktop links you use most frequently which then activate wvdial, wait for a connection to be established, then calls your preferred browser (firefox in my case). Also, once you close out your browser the script offers to terminate the connection. You can choose "Yes" if you want to disconnect or "No" if you wish to click another Desktop link. Here's my first script, which I called myscript.sh, which basically carries out all the functions...

    ###############################################################################
    #!/bin/bash
    # needs libnotify-bin to be installed
    ###############################################################################
    # Function 1

    function chk_if_online
    {
    if [ ! -f /var/run/ppp0.pid ]; then # if no ppp0.pid exists
    until [ -e /var/run/ppp0.pid ]; # loop until value exists
    do
    sleep 0.1
    done
    notify-send "Connection established..."
    Start_browser # first time connect after bootup
    else # not first time connect after bootup
    Oldpid="$(cat /var/run/ppp0.pid)" # Read current ppp* pid
    Newpid=$Oldpid # Set Newpid = Oldpid

    until [[ $Oldpid != $Newpid ]]; # Loop until condition met
    do
    Newpid="$(cat /var/run/ppp0.pid)" # Read current ppp* pid
    done
    notify-send "Connection established..."
    Start_browser
    fi
    }

    ###############################################################################
    # Function 2

    function Start_browser # start browser....
    {
    #notify-send "10 minute online time limit in effect"
    $browser $url
    until [ -e $(pidof $browser) ]; # give browser enough time to open
    do
    sleep 0.1
    done
    while ps ax | grep -v grep | grep $browser > /dev/null ; do # check if browser is running
    sleep 0.5
    done # when browser no longer running...ask to disconnect
    #timer
    zenity --question --text="Do you wish to disconnect?" --ok-label=Yes --cancel-label=No
    if [ $? = 0 ]; then # FYI...(0)=Yes, (1)=No
    disconnect
    fi
    if [ -e $(pidof $browser) ]; then
    killall $browser
    fi
    }

    ###############################################################################
    # Function 3

    function timer
    {
    FINISH_TIME=`date +%s`
    SECONDS=$((FINISH_TIME - START_TIME))
    if [ "$SECONDS" -gt "$TIME_LIMIT" ]; then
    notify-send "Online time limit reached..." \ "Disconnecting"
    disconnect
    fi
    }

    ###############################################################################
    # Function 4

    function disconnect
    {
    killall wvdial >/dev/null # kill wvdial
    notify-send "Disconnecting..."
    kill $$
    exit 0
    }

    ###############################################################################
    # Main execution section

    browser="firefox"
    # Replace firefox with opera or epiphany-browser or chromium-browser or arora, or etc.
    # Needs to be process name (open browser then look in System Monitor).
    # Also, make sure your preferred browser is list as default in Preferred Applications

    #TIME_LIMIT=600 # 10 minute time limit
    #START_TIME=`date +%s`
    link=$@

    # Desktop links
    if [ $link -eq 1 ]; then
    url="http://my.yahoo.com/index.html"
    fi
    if [ $link -eq 2 ]; then
    url="http://www.ebay.com/"
    fi
    if [ $link -eq 3 ]; then
    url="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?"
    fi
    if [ $link -eq 4 ] ; then
    url="http://www.ubuntuforums.org/"
    fi
    if [ $link -eq 5 ] ; then
    url="http://www.google.com/ig"
    fi
    if [ $link -eq 6 ] ; then
    url="http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox"
    fi
    # add more url links here if you wish
    # end of Desktop links

    ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep wvdial > /dev/null

    if [ $? = 1 ]; then # wvdial is not running...(0)=Yes, (1)=No
    nohup wvdial 1>/dev/null 2>/dev/null & # dial...
    chk_if_online
    else # wvdial is running...start new link...
    Start_browser
    fi
    ########################################################################

    To make Desktop links that call this script...right click in an open space on Desktop and choose Create Launcher...put in a name for your link (Facebook - Home, for example)...then in the Command line put...(the .scripts part is a hidden folder in my Home folder)...

    bash /home/user-name/.scripts/myscript.sh 3

    ...the number at the end corresponds to the url link in the above script. Choose an icon for your link and click OK. You need to make a Desktop link for each url you wish to access from Desktop. Obviously, you need to change my url links to those you prefer.

    As you can see, I put in a timer function at one point but decided to go with a cron job script instead. If you do not wish to use my cron job script but would like to use the timer then remove the "#" symbol in front of the following lines in the script...

    #timer
    #TIME_LIMIT=600 (600 seconds or 10 minutes...set to whatever you wish)
    #START_TIME=`date +%s`
    #notify-send "10 minute online time limit in effect"

    The following is my cron job script ( I named it wvdial-browser-check.sh)...

    #!/bin/bash
    # cron job should look like this " */5 * * * * ~/.scripts/wvdial-browser-check.sh"
    # Get dbus info
    nautilus_pid=$(pgrep -u $LOGNAME -n nautilus)
    eval $(tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$nautilus_pid/environ | grep '^DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=')
    export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

    browser="firefox"
    # Replace firefox with opera or epiphany-browser or chromium-browser or arora, or etc
    # needs to be process name (open browser then look in System Monitor).

    wvdialpid=$(pidof wvdial)
    browserpid=$(pidof $browser)
    if [ -z $wvdialpid ]; then # checks if wvdial is running
    echo ""
    else
    if [ -z $browserpid ]; then # if wvdial is running but browser is not, then...
    notify-send "Disconnecting..."
    killall wvdial
    fi
    fi
    kill $$
    exit
    #####################################

    The command to use the cron job is in the script above. It checks every 5 minutes to see whether wvdial is running or not. If it is, but your browser isn't, then it disconnects for you. If wvdial is running, as well as your browser, then it doesn't disconnect.

    I saved both scripts (myscript.sh and wvdial-browser-check.sh) in a hidden folder (.scripts) in my Home folder.

    One last thing. You need to install wvdial (and it's dependencies) and libnotify-bin for some really nice notifications like "Connection established...", "Disconnecting...", "10 minute online time limit in effect", or "Online time limit reached..." \ "Disconnecting". Each notification will display for 5 seconds. Also, to create a cron job open Terminal and enter "crontab -e". Copy and paste your cron job command, then Ctrl+Alt+x, Y (yes) to save, then Enter.

    As I said, I made these scripts primarily so my Dad would use Linux. They make connecting and disconnecting very easy for him which is what I wanted. Hope they help someone else.

    Later...

    **Note**
    I wrote this up late last night but this morning I'm finding all kinds of "errors". So, that's why the revisions. Sorry.
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2009
  14. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

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    Mar 1, 2005
    Posts:
    1,204
    Location:
    Virginia - Appalachian Mtns
    Forget wvdial! Use pon/poff...plus you'll save about 3.5 MBs of disk space.

    I've changed my script to conform to my switch to pon/poff. There's some differences between pon/poff and wvdial. Under wvdial when you boot up your computer /var/run/ppp0.pid doesn't exist (same with pon/poff) but on your subsequent dialouts ppp0.pid exists but the value changes...thus a different section in my last script to deal with that. Under pppd, /var/run/ppp0.pid is deleted each time you close your dialup connection. This fact simplified my new script a little bit. Here's my new script...

    ###############################################################################
    #!/bin/bash
    # Needs libnotify-bin to be installed for notification messages (about 65 KBs)
    ###############################################################################
    # Function 1

    function chk_if_online
    {
    until [ -e /var/run/ppp0.pid ]; do # loop until ppp0 pid exists
    sleep 0.5
    done
    notify-send "Connection established..."
    Start_browser
    }

    ###############################################################################
    # Function 2

    function Start_browser # start browser....
    {
    $browser $url &> /dev/null
    until [ -e $(pidof $browser) ]; # give browser enough time to open
    do
    sleep 0.1
    done
    BrowserCheck=`ps ax | grep -v grep | grep $browser` # check if browser is running
    if [ ! "$BrowserCheck" ]; then # if not, then ask to disconnect
    zenity --question --text="Do you wish to disconnect?" --ok-label=Yes --cancel-label=No
    if [ $? = 0 ]; then # FYI...(0)=Yes, (1)=No
    disconnect
    fi
    fi
    exit
    }

    ###############################################################################
    # Function 3

    function disconnect
    {
    poff
    notify-send "Disconnecting..."
    kill $$
    exit
    }

    ###############################################################################
    # Main execution section

    browser="firefox"
    # Replace firefox with opera, epiphany-browser, chromium-browser, arora, or etc.
    # Needs to be process name (open browser then look in System Monitor)
    # Also, make sure your browser of choice is listed as default in Preferred Applications

    url="$@"
    # make Desktop launchers with this format...bash /home/user-name/myscript.sh "http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox"

    killall $browser # make sure another instance of browser is not running

    ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep pppd > /dev/null # check if pppd is running

    if [ $? = 1 ]; then # if no, then...(0)=Yes, (1)=No
    pon your-ISP's-name # dial...
    chk_if_online
    else # if yes, then start new Desktop link...
    Start_browser
    fi
    ########################################################################

    Here's the script I call with a cron job to insure the connection is monitored to prevent forgetting to disconnect....

    ####################################################
    #!/bin/bash
    # cron job should look something like this... */10 * * * * ~/.scripts/pppd-browser-check.sh
    # Get dbus info...(needed for libnotify-bin)...
    nautilus_pid=$(pgrep -u $LOGNAME -n nautilus)
    eval $(tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$nautilus_pid/environ | grep '^DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=')
    export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

    browser="firefox"
    # Replace firefox with opera, epiphany-browser, chromium-browser, arora, or etc.
    # Needs to be process name (open browser then look in System Monitor)
    # Also, make sure your browser of choice is listed as default in Preferred Applications

    pppdpid=$(pidof pppd)
    browserpid=$(pidof $browser)
    if [ -z $pppdpid ]; then # pppd not running
    echo ""
    else
    if [ -z $browserpid ]; then # if pppd is running but browser is not (-z=null -n=not null)
    notify-send "Disconnecting..."
    poff
    fi
    fi
    kill $$
    exit
    ####################################################

    When creating Desktop launchers use this format....

    bash /home/user-name/.scripts/myscript.sh "http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox"

    Just drop the links you want to use between the quotation marks. Hope someone can use it. It makes dial-up under Linux a whole lot easier. :).

    Later...
     
  15. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Posts:
    1,204
    Location:
    Virginia - Appalachian Mtns
    This version is much simpler than previous versions and works great (needs libnotify-bin installed for the cool notifications)...

    ####################################
    #!/bin/bash

    if [ ! -d ~/.scripts/counter ]; then # Does config directory exist?
    mkdir ~/.scripts/counter
    touch ~/.scripts/counter/end-time
    fi

    START_TIME=`date +%s`
    echo "$START_TIME" > ~/.scripts/counter/end-time

    browser="firefox" # Replace firefox with opera, epiphany-browser, arora, etc.

    url="$@" # Desktop launcher should look something like this...
    # bash /home/user-name/myscript.sh "http://www.google.com/ig", for example

    ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep pppd > /dev/null # check if pppd is running
    if [ $? = 1 ]; then # if not connected, then... (1)=No
    pon Your-ISP # dial...
    until [ -e /var/run/ppp0.pid ]; do # loop until ppp0 pid exists
    sleep 0.1
    done
    sleep 2 # give enough time for connection to establish
    notify-send "Connection established..."
    fi

    $browser $url &> /dev/null
    BrowserCheck=`ps ax | grep -v grep | grep $browser` # check if browser is running
    if [ ! "$BrowserCheck" ]; then # if not, then ask to disconnect
    zenity --question --text="Do you wish to disconnect?" --ok-label=Yes --cancel-label=No
    if [ $? = 0 ]; then # FYI...(0)=Yes, (1)=No
    poff
    notify-send "Disconnecting..."
    kill $$
    fi
    fi
    END_TIME=`date +%s`
    echo "$END_TIME" > ~/.scripts/counter/end-time
    killall $browser # make sure another instance of browser is not running
    exit
    ####################################

    Here's the script that monitors the connection to check whether the browser is still open at certain intervals. Not really needed for most folks. It's aimed at older or real young people who might forget to disconnect...

    #####################################
    #!/bin/bash
    # cron job should look something like this... */10 * * * * ~/.scripts/pppd-browser-check.sh

    browser="firefox" # Replace firefox with opera, epiphany-browser, arora, midori, etc.

    nautilus_pid=$(pgrep -u $LOGNAME -n nautilus)
    eval $(tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$nautilus_pid/environ | grep '^DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=')
    export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

    TIME_LIMIT=120 # <in seconds...set idle time limit on open connection (browser closed)
    CHECK_TIME=`date +%s`
    CLOSE_TIME="$(cat ~/.scripts/counter/end-time)"
    SECONDS=$((CHECK_TIME - CLOSE_TIME))

    pppdpid=$(pidof pppd)
    if [ -z $pppdpid ]; then # pppd is not running
    echo "$CHECK_TIME" > ~/.scripts/counter/end-time
    else # pppd is running
    if [ ! $(pidof $browser) ]; then # then, if pppd is running but browser is not
    if [ "$SECONDS" -gt "$TIME_LIMIT" ]; then
    poff
    notify-send "Disconnecting..."
    fi
    fi
    fi
    kill $$
    exit
    #####################################

    These scripts work great for my Dad and me. If you have any questions please ask away.
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2009
  16. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Posts:
    1,204
    Location:
    Virginia - Appalachian Mtns
    A point or two that I've discovered about pppd here recently. Open /etc/ppp/options as root and look it over. Three of the more interesting options were...

    ***These three options will need to be activated to use them. Just remove the "#" in front of each entry to enable***

    #persist...
    it monitors your dialup connection and if dropped it redials after a predetermined amount of time (that I was never able to find out)

    #maxfail <n>...
    sets a maximum number of time that a redial will be attempted (default is 10)

    #holdoff <n>...
    sets in seconds how long to wait before attempting a redial after a connection is lost

    The reason I found them interesting was once in a random while on attempting to dialout I was unable to establish a connect. The fault could have been my ISP, my modem, the driver, myscript...who knows. I tried many different approaches to restart pon in that situation but had little success. Then I found these options and life became much simpler.

    #######################################################
    #!/bin/bash

    if [ ! -d ~/.scripts/counter ]; then # Does config directory exist?
    mkdir ~/.scripts/counter
    touch ~/.scripts/counter/time-keeper
    fi

    START_TIME=`date +%s`
    echo "$START_TIME" > ~/.scripts/counter/time-keeper

    browser="firefox" # Replace firefox with opera, epiphany-browser, arora, etc.
    ISP="" # Put your ISP's name between the two quotation marks that you configured with pppconfig
    url="$@" # Desktop launcher should look something like this...
    # bash /home/user-name/myscript.sh "http://www.google.com/ig", for example

    ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep pppd > /dev/null # check if pppd is running
    if [ $? = 1 ]; then # if not connected, then... (1)=No
    pon $ISP # dial...
    notify-send "Dialing..."
    until [ -e /var/run/ppp0.pid ]; do # loop until ppp0 pid exists
    sleep 1
    done
    # double check connection is established
    until [[ `ifconfig ppp0 | grep -v '127.0.0.1' | grep 'inet addr'` ]]; do
    if [ $? = 0 ]; then # (0)=Yes
    break # then break from the loop
    else
    sleep 1 # else pause for one second and loop back
    fi
    done
    notify-send "Connection established..."
    fi

    $browser $url &> /dev/null
    BrowserCheck=`ps ax | grep -v grep | grep $browser` # check if browser is running
    if [ ! "$BrowserCheck" ]; then # if not, then ask to disconnect
    zenity --question --text="Do you wish to disconnect? " --ok-label=Yes --cancel-label=No
    if [ $? = 0 ]; then # (0)=Yes
    poff
    notify-send "Disconnecting..."
    kill $$
    fi
    fi
    END_TIME=`date +%s`
    echo "$END_TIME" > ~/.scripts/counter/time-keeper
    exit
    ########################################################

    My cron timer.........
    ########################################################
    #!/bin/bash
    # cron job should look like this */3 * * * * ~/.scripts/pppd-browser-check.sh
    browser="firefox" # Replace firefox with opera, epiphany-browser, arora, etc.

    nautilus_pid=$(pgrep -u $LOGNAME -n nautilus)
    eval $(tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$nautilus_pid/environ | grep '^DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=')
    export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

    TIME_LIMIT=180 # <in seconds...set idle time limit on open connection (browser closed)
    CHECK_TIME=`date +%s`
    CLOSE_TIME="$(cat ~/.scripts/counter/time-keeper)"
    SECONDS=$((CHECK_TIME - CLOSE_TIME))

    pppdpid=$(pidof pppd)
    if [ -z $pppdpid ]; then # pppd is not running
    echo "$CHECK_TIME" > ~/.scripts/counter/time-keeper
    else # pppd is running
    if [ ! $(pidof $browser) ]; then # pppd is running but browser is not
    if [ "$SECONDS" -gt "$TIME_LIMIT" ]; then # if time limit exceeded
    poff # then disconnect
    notify-send "Disconnecting..."
    fi
    fi
    fi
    kill $$
    exit
    #######################################################

    This should be the last version. Just trying to help.

    Later....
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2010
  17. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2006
    Posts:
    2,713
    Location:
    George, S.Africa
    Thank you for your sterling efforts Trespasser. I am sure many users with dial-up will benefit. :thumb:
     
  18. Trespasser

    Trespasser Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Posts:
    1,204
    Location:
    Virginia - Appalachian Mtns
    This pon dialup script waits for your primary and secondary DNS to show up in /var/log/messages before opening your browser. Much simpler and more dependable. I also suggest that you open /etc/ppp/options with your favorite text editor (as root) and enable persist (remove the "#" from in front the entry) as well as maxfail (default is 10 if not enabled).You could also enable holdoff (recommended is 10 seconds but I put mine at 5). Holdoff starts the redial process if a connection is dropped. Hope this helps someone.

    Code:
    #!/bin/bash
    
    if [ ! -d ~/.scripts/counter ]; then  # Does config directory exist?
      mkdir ~/.scripts/counter
      touch ~/.scripts/counter/time-keeper
    fi
    
    START_TIME=`date +%s`
    echo "$START_TIME" > ~/.scripts/counter/time-keeper
    
    browser="firefox"   # Replace firefox with opera, epiphany-browser, arora, etc.
    ISP=""   # Put your ISP name that you entered in pppconfig between the quotation marks
    url="$@" # Desktop launcher should look something like this...
             # bash /home/user-name/myscript.sh "http://www.google.com/ig", for example
    
    ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep pppd > /dev/null  # check if pppd is running
    if [ $? = 1 ]; then                    # if not connected, then... (1)=No
      notify-send "Dialing..."
      pon $ISP                           # dial...
      while :; do
        tail -n 2 /var/log/messages | grep DNS  # Waits for primary and secondary DNS 
        if [ $? = 0 ]; then                     # to show up before opening browser
          break
        fi
      done
      notify-send "Connection established..."
    fi
    
    $browser $url &> /dev/null
    BrowserCheck=`ps ax | grep -v grep | grep $browser` # check if browser is running
    if [ ! "$BrowserCheck" ]; then     # if not, then ask to disconnect
      zenity --question --text="Do you wish to disconnect?        " --ok-label=Yes --cancel-label=No
        if [ $? = 0 ]; then            # (0)=Yes
           poff
           notify-send "Disconnecting..."
           kill $$
        fi
    fi
    END_TIME=`date +%s`
    echo "$END_TIME" > ~/.scripts/counter/time-keeper
    killall $browser    # make sure another instance of browser is not running
    exit
    Guess THIS is my last version...but you never know. :).

    Later....
     
  19. clansman77

    clansman77 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2005
    Posts:
    234
    Location:
    kochi,kerala,india
    thanks trespasser.your efforts are commendable and i am sure will help a lot of dialup users.it did help me once to configure a conexant winmodem in ubuntu.thank you.
     
  20. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2004
    Posts:
    5,116
    i just recognised a url in my search results. it's a site i used years a go to get my dialup working :cool: it worked for me in 2004/5, maybe it can still be useful? this is for the Alcatel SpeedTouch USB Modem.
    http://steve-parker.org/speedtouchconf/
     
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