How do I connect to the Internet with Suse 9.0 Pro and Comcast High Speed Cable?

Please help a novice connect to the Internet! I have no idea what I am
doing so please reply in basic English, keeping the techno terms and
geek jargon to a minimum!


Suse 9.0 Pro
RCA Cable Modem from Comcast


I found this in another post:


For the first two open a console(konsole) and type "su -" minus the
quotes, yes you do need the dash. A console can be opened from within
the System -> Terminal menu from the Suse button. Then enter the root
password at the password prompt. Next type "ifconfig". You should see
an
entry called eth0 and it should have an IP address such as
192.168.0.100
next to "inet addr:". If you don't have both than this could be one of
the problems.


I did this but I didn't get the eth0 output. I got:


Link encap: Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask: 255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 metric:1
RX packets:162 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets: 162 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueue1en:0
RX bytes:11340 (11.0 Kb) TX bytes:11340 (11.0 Kb)


What can I do???? Thank you for your help. X 10

jesse4349@gmail.com wrote:

> Please help a novice connect to the Internet! I have no idea what I am
> doing so please reply in basic English, keeping the techno terms and
> geek jargon to a minimum!
>
>
> Suse 9.0 Pro
> RCA Cable Modem from Comcast
>
>
> I found this in another post:
>
>
> For the first two open a console(konsole) and type "su -" minus the
> quotes, yes you do need the dash. A console can be opened from within
> the System -> Terminal menu from the Suse button. Then enter the root
> password at the password prompt. Next type "ifconfig". You should see
> an
> entry called eth0 and it should have an IP address such as
> 192.168.0.100
> next to "inet addr:". If you don't have both than this could be one of
> the problems.
>
>
> I did this but I didn't get the eth0 output. I got:
>
>
> Link encap: Local Loopback
> inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask: 255.0.0.0
> inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
> UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 metric:1
> RX packets:162 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
> TX packets: 162 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
> collisions:0 txqueue1en:0
> RX bytes:11340 (11.0 Kb) TX bytes:11340 (11.0 Kb)
>
>
> What can I do???? Thank you for your help. X 10

Hi Jesse,

First of all SUSE 9.0 is old (missing support for newer hardware) and no
more supported with security updates. I would suggest you to download SUSE
10.0 from some ftp server from list that you can see on:
http://www.novell.com/products/susel...t_mirrors.html
You will be presented few directories and you need i386.
You need either 5 CD version or DVD version. Download iso image files and
burn CDs. You need all 5 CDs as installation looks for files all over them.

If you want to stick with 9.0 than to give advice it is necessary to know
what model is modem? What you use to connect computer and modem, USB or
network cable? If you have both options than please use network cable as it
will probably work without problems, automatically.

--
Regards,
Rajko.

jesse4349@gmail.com wrote:
> Please help a novice connect to the Internet! I have no idea what I am
> doing so please reply in basic English, keeping the techno terms and
> geek jargon to a minimum!
>
>
> Suse 9.0 Pro
> RCA Cable Modem from Comcast

I'm a Comcast user... I'm guessing this is the crappy USB modem
from comcast. Tell them your computer has problems with USB
and they should be able to swap it out with a real modem (RJ45
to your NIC). Don't have NIC? Comcast will give you a cheap
NIC as well (believe it or not).

NIC is a Network Interface for ethernet. It has a RJ45 8wire
connector that looks a lot like a phone wire.

If your modem connects to your computer via your NIC (LAN jack)
then everything should just work... BUT I highly, highly, highly
recommend getting a router/firewall applicance... such as
a Linksys or DLink. You'll be hacked in seconds without
protection.

SUSE 9.0, though a bit dated, certainly works with comcast.
But I won't guarantee the state of using a USB cable modem
(regardless of SUSE version).

Hopefully this wasn't too technical... any chance there
are some linux folks nearby that could help you out
directly?

> Please help a novice connect to the Internet! I have no idea what I am
> doing so please reply in basic English, keeping the techno terms and
> geek jargon to a minimum!
>

Access to the internet is pretty much automatic after install of Suse 10,
if your comcast connection is done the way normal humans would do it
(rather than what Comcast tells you). That basically means: cable line ->
cable modem -> router/firewall -> PC (or multiple PCs) with Windows or Linux.

I suspect you don't have a router/firewall... and that is what makes it
hard to configure and horribly unsafe. A decent router/firewall will cost
you less than $50, protect you, and make your life a lot easier. I
recommend the Linksys WRT54G but any that allows you to set the MAC address
will do.

If you want to kill two birds with one stone, get Vonage with the Linksys
WRTP54G router/firewall and save on telephone service too (don't get it at
a store - configuration and rebates are easier if you order from the vonage
web site). This router is basically the same as the WRT54G, but has
special stuff to support Vonage.

Here are my suggestions. There are many other ways to do it, but this
should be the simplest and safest way to get started.

1) Use a windows machine to verify your comcast connectivity (without the
firewall). If it does not work, call their support line. Once it works,
go to a Windows command prompt and type "ipconfig /all". Record the MAC
Address that is displayed in that mess of stuff.

2) Configure the router. Use the MAC address you recorded in step 1.
Disable the wireless in the configuration, until such a time when you need
it and are ready to learn about wireless security.

3) Now install Linux from scratch. Use Suse 10 (you can download it from
suse.org and burn it into 5 CDs using a windows machine. Use all defaults
for the networking. Done - you are internet ready.

Good luck.