Session-to-Session Irreproducibility Connecting to Internet: LXDE, openSUSE 11.3, Ethernet Card

English Network/Internet
1

A brief history is that in an installation of the OpenSuSE-11.1, Linux operating system I at first had difficulty in connecting to the Internet using a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Internet service in my friend’s mobile home using an RJ-45 cable extending between an external modem and an ethernet card, which in turn was plugged into the side of my Hewlett Packard, Pavilion, ZE1110 notebook computer. A major obstacle was in realizing from an Internet posting that I needed to set the gateway as the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the external modem. But once I had the settings set properly, I could gratefully reproducibly connect to the Internet that way time after time to obtain updates to my installed software in OpenSuSE 11.1.

In an openSUSE-11.3-replacement installation the settings in Network Manager for a successful connection to the Internet were probably similar, but perhaps with a possible difference in their arrangement within Nework Manager. Still I have gratefully obtained many updates for openSUSE 11.3 in multiple, successful Internet connections. However, from one session to another in openSUSE 11.3 sometimes I had to “fiddle” with or enter some settings again before I could connect to the Internet again. On occasion it is as if some change(s) was (were) being made between starts of openSUSE 11.3 that I sometimes could not see being made. This is at least imagineable if, say some setting or a variable value is reset with a start of openSUSE 11.3 in the LXDE.

But there was at least one thing I could see. That is my computer has only 256 MegaBytes (MB) of Random Access Memory (RAM) installed in it. Often I use the I think LXDE because things may run faster for me in it than in the KDE (K Desktop Environment). Even so, sometimes I had to wait some seconds before a button’s label’s letters’ colors would change from gray to black so that clicking on the button would be effective. I suspect that I may be dealing either with an error in the Network Manager or openSUSE-11.3 software which sometimes changes some setting from its value from one session to another of openSUSE 11.3; or else given the time delay of seconds that I mentioned, my computer’s low RAM supply might be causing some irreproducibility problem that I could not see or understand. Once I was able to successfully connect to the Internet, successful Internet connections were made on two consecutive starts of openSUSE 11.3 when the first start included the downloading and installing of many updates from the Internet, sometimes including a new Linux kernel, and the second start was a restart of the computer as requested of me.

Here are some details of the settings I have been used:

I could right-touch-pad-button-click on the Network Manager icon and select “Edit Connections.” I think my ethernet card was often automatically detected by an openSUSE-11.3, Linux program and was called “Auto eth0” by it. So on the ensuing “Wired” tab and with “Auto eth0” selected, one could click on the “Edit” button. On the next “Wired” tab I did not change the MACaddress. I had the check box beside “Available to all users” checked. On the “IPv4 Settings” tab I had “manual” set as the “Method.” Then under “Address” I entered a meaningless IP address. Under Netmask I entered 255.0.0.0. And under “Gateway” I entered the IP address of the external modem.

Again I could right-touch-pad-button-click on the Network Manager icon and select “Edit Connections.” This time by clicking on the ensuing “DSL” tab a new connection I eventually called dsl0 as the connetion name was added by clicking on the “Add” button. With its listing seleted I could click on the “Edit” button and input some settings, if I wished to do so. On the “DSL” tab I input the user name and password for my friend’s Internet service and left the check box beside “Show password” unchecked. I had a check mark in the check box beside “Connect automatically.” On the “PPP Settings” tab listed, but not by me, were “EAP, PAP, CHAP, MSCHAPv2, MSCHAP.” I had check marks in the check boxes beside “Allow BSD…,” “Use TCP,” “Send PPP…,” and “Available to all users.” On the “IPv4 Settings” tab I had “Method: Automatic (PPPoE).” On the “Wired” tab I left the MACaddress blank and had “MTU” set to “automatic.”

Then by left-touch-pad-button-clicking on the Network Manager icon I could attempt to connect to the Internet on either the “eth0” or “dsl0” connections by clicking on one of those listed items. Using eth0 a successful connection to the Internet was often reported, at least sometimes rather quickly. However, a successful connection using the dsl0 connection was instead required in order to download openSUSE-11.3 updates from the Internet. It was in making Internet connections via dls0 that I often was unsuccessful. The typical behavior after selecting dsl0 for connecting to the Internet was a waiting period of some seconds followed by a failure to make such a connection. Using dsl0 I’m not sure what action made a successful Internet connection or what has been sometimes preventing one to be made. But once one was made, I think it was likely to be usable or one could again be made during the duration of that session of LXDE in openSUSE 11.3. On at least one occasion reentering the dsl0 settings was not sufficient to solve the problem. Please help me obtain stable Internet connections in session after session in the LXDE of openSUSE 11.3.

2

I think for your connections you should just use the Wired “auto eth0”.
The DSL modem possibly already supplies the user name and password to the ISP for the connection so you may not need to use the dsl0 for connections.

3

Sorry, I earlier spelled “imaginable” incorrectly as “imagineable” and did not find a way to make that correction in the posting in which I started this thread. Thanks, Tararpharazon, for kindly taking the time to promptly respond to my posting in this thread. However, my notes show that I could not visit a Web page via the wired connection specified on the “Wired” tab of Network Manager; instead I had to use the “dsl0” software connection to do that. I am not confident to comment with certainty on whether a user name and password can be “written” inside the external modem or not. For the wired connection I don’t recall any tab on which the user name and password could be input; but that is something which could be checked. So if it turns out that the modem has no way to have the user name and password “written” inside it and there is no tab via editing the wired connection on which the user name and password can be input, it could turn out that via the “DSL” tab in Network Manager is the means by which the user name and password are input into the Network Manager software for use in the DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connections to the Internet. However, there are some things I wrote above of which I am not absolutely certain. But again thanks for very kindly taking your time to write me and post your thoughts.

4

Then by left-touch-pad-button-clicking on the Network Manager icon I could attempt to connect to the Internet on either the “eth0” or “dsl0” connections by clicking on one of those listed items. Using eth0 a successful connection to the Internet was often reported, at least sometimes rather quickly. However, a successful connection using the dsl0 connection was instead required in order to download openSUSE-11.3 updates from the Internet. It was in making Internet connections via dls0 that I often was unsuccessful. The typical behavior after selecting dsl0 for connecting to the Internet was a waiting period of some seconds followed by a failure to make such a connection. Using dsl0 I’m not sure what action made a successful Internet connection or what has been sometimes preventing one to be made. But once one was made, I think it was likely to be usable or one could again be made during the duration of that session of LXDE in openSUSE 11.3. On at least one occasion reentering the dsl0 settings was not sufficient to solve the problem. Please help me obtain stable Internet connections in session after session in the LXDE of openSUSE 11.3.

From your original post you wrote you were connecting using the wired.
The question is which works and which works but works slowly.
Try to verify which of eth0 or dsl0 works best for you by enabling only one at a time to make connections automatically. Uncheck “connect automatically” for dsl0 when using eth0 and uncheck “connect automatically” for eth0 when using dsl0.

Pls post terminal session screen output from both connections. To use terminal sesseion, mouse right click on desktop -> “open in terminal”.
At the commandline prompt, something like ~ “localhost:->” enter


 ifconfig  -a

Pls copy and paste the output in a reply. In the reply, select advanced edit, select all of the pasted output, and click on the # to enclose the output as code.
If you want more information about the ifconfig command enter


man ifconfig
ifconfig --help
5

Sorry, Tararpharazon, it appears that my thinking may have been wrong about something; and you are probably correct about it. My friend’s Internet service is the AT&T Yahoo! DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) Express Service. So I called an AT&T Yahoo!'s technical support person and learned that yes, the modems it uses generally do have ways to write the passwords and user names inside them (However, I don’t know the details of how that writing is physically performed. I presume that the modem may include some sort of “hard-wired” memory rather than use a hard-disk drive inside it.). Then I learned that AT&T Yahoo! provides this means for apparently setting the user name and password for its Internet service.—For a wired rather than wireless Internet connection I assume that the external modem will have to be connected to the ethernet card via an RJ-45 cable and that the ethernet card should be plugged into the computer at the time; and, of course, the external modem should also be connected to a phone line via an RJ-11 phone cable. The means is to open a Web browser and type in its address bar the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the external modem being used. After that hopefully one can see a Web page in which one can input the user name and password for the use of the AT&T Yahoo! Internet service being used. Then I think one continues to another Web page and inputs the modem access code for the external modem. So in a future trip to my friend’s mobile home perhaps I should try deleting the software connection “dsl0”, inputting all of the data I just mentioned via a Web browser, and then seeing if I can visit a Web page via the software connection “eth0.” With no other place in the “eth0,” KNetwork Manager software that I could see for inputting the user-name-and-password pair together for the Internet service, it appears that in that situation that the software “eth0” connection would “rely” on what is written inside the modem for that user name and password, similar to what you kindly proposed, Tararpharazon. Or instead maybe the data input from the browser might be something like turning on a switch; once the switch is “on,” that’s all about which “eth0” “cares” (This latter idea is nothing but imagination on my part, not based on anything I know about the real situation.) To reduce the chances for possible errors, I like the idea of using the simplest approach which works. So if “eth0” existing without “dsl0” existing is sufficient, I would like it.

It might be days or weeks before I travel to my friend’s mobile home in a neighboring state here in the United States to perform this experiment. If the above experiment fails, then I suppose obtaining the output you propose via an “ifconfig -a” command could be tried. Thanks, Tararpharazon, for your kind attention to the challenge I face.

6

#1 I’m hoping your friend’s DSL modem has already been set with his username and password. If he is using his DSL modem to access the Internet with Windows then the userid and password have been set. His modem should have all green lights on its front when connected and it should be left on and connected to the RJ-11 telephone line all the time, 24x7.

When you visit you should only need to use the eth0 connection. The only other issue is whether his DSL modem will work with your MAC address. In that case just copy your friend’s PC MAC address into you Network Manager as your “eth0” MAC address and DHCP Client ID address.

Last and most important,** AT&T will only help setup it’s DSL modem if its connected to Windows**** operating system**** and Internet Explorer browser or MAC OS/x operating system and Safari browser.** They will not help setup their DSL modem connected to Linux. Complain to the FCC and your federal representatives about AT&T monopolistic and proprietary policies.

7

Unfortunately after visiting my friend’s mobile and there making some tests, I still haven’t found a permanent and reproducible solution to the problem I posted here. But here is a report of my tests, results from them, and more thinking on the matter.

I deleted the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connection “dsl0.” I set the wired connection “Auto eth0” to “Connect automatically” to the Internet probably on the startup of the openSUSE-11.3, Linux operating system. I could not visit a Web page in the Mozilla, Firefox Web browser. Also in the Firefox browser entering http://…Internet Protocol (IP) address of the external modem…/ did not result in an AT&T Yahoo! login page being displayed. I added “dsl0,” entering the data for it as earlier. There was a problem with the password for the AT&T Yahoo! service. I rebooted into the Lightweight X11 (X Windows System, version 11) Desktop Environment (LXDE) of openSUSE 11.3. I probably set “Auto eth0” not to connect automatically to the Internet. But I probably set “dsl0” to connect automatically to the Internet. This time the default keyring password was requested, something I had previously set. After entering that password, via the “dsl0” connection to the Internet I could gratefully visit a Web page in the Firefox browser and via Yet another Software Tool 2 (YaST2) download some updates to my already-installed, openSUSE-11.3 software and programs. An additional, unwanted “DSL Connection 1” was also listed in KNetwork Manager or Network Manager after right-touch-pad-button-clicking on its panel icon and selecting “Edit Connections,” etc. After deleting that connection, via “dsl0” I could still visit a Web page. I changed the MAC address in “Auto eth0” from a non-blank to a blank value (For a long time I had left the MAC address blank in the “dsl0” connection; that was what I usually did.). That didn’t change the results.–Namely no Web page could be visited with “Auto eth0” active; but a Web page could be visited via the “dsl0” connection. Conclusion: The MAC address entered in “Auto eth0” was not a factor in successful visits to a Web page via “dsl0.”

I could not visit http://…Internet Protocol (IP) address of the external modem…/ and see an AT&T Yahoo! login page in the Firefox browser when either “Auto eth0” or “dsl0” was active. After the next boot into the LXDE of openSUSE 11.3, I could not visit a Web page via “dsl0” or “Auto eth0.” I deleted “dsl0” and added it again with settings as earlier, except that initially I found that in “dsl0” the check box beside “Available to all users” was “greyed out” so that I could not check it. But later after a reentry onto that tab, I could check that check box. I think I restored the MAC address to its non-blank value in “Auto eth0.” But I could not see Web pages anymore via “dsl0” and gave up on that for that visit to my friend’s mobile home.

  1. I realized that “dsl0” has a “PPP Settings” tab that “Auto eth0” does not have. Also 2) in “dsl0” the user name, name of the DSL service, and password for entry into it are entered; the entry for the set of those things is missing in “Auto eth0.” Perhaps one or both of these reasons might be why I have probably always found it essential to only via “dsl0” or a DSL connection like it to be able to visit a Web page in the LXDE in openSUSE 11.3. When I tried to visit a Web page with “Auto eth0” active, it appeared as if the Firefox browser was not even “trying” to connect to the Internet.–That is I don’t recall any visible evidence that it was making an attempt to visit the Web page.

The cause of the intermittent lack of the capability to visit Web pages in the LXDE in openSUSE 11.3 is still unknown to me. But sometimes, not always, by by "Edit"ing and reentering the tabbed data for the software connections “dsl0” and/or “Auto eth0” to the Internet I could eventually visit Web pages. One idea of mine is that perhaps the default keyring password for “dsl0” has to be requested of me and successfully entered for “dsl0” before I could successfully visit a Web page.—I’m not sure about that conclusion; I just know that during my most recent visit to my friend’s mobile home that after entering that password I could visit a Web page. But that password wasn’t always requested of me on attempting to connect to the Internet and visit Web pages using the “dsl0” software connection. Is there a way I can force that password request to be made of me? A way I can attempt to connect to the Internet via “dsl0” is to click on the KNetwork Manager or Network Manager panel icon and select “dsl0.”

For completeness I think I will mention something which I would hope would not be a factor here. In openSUSE 11.3 via a panel icon I gratefully have the capability to input either Mandarin-Chinese- or English-language text. Occasionally I noticed that panel icon was in the Chinese-language input state when I wanted it to be in the English-language input state. But on seeing Chinese characters near the panel or taskbar it is obvious when that happens. Then it is easy to return the input state back to the English-language input state. Also when inputting text somewhere it is not difficult to tell the difference between Roman letters in English or Chinese characters in Chinese.

In contrast to the difficulties I have had without editing any settings to reproducibly be able to visit Web pages or download openSUSE-11.3 updates via YaST2 using my ethernet card, regarding just the openSUSE software I found things to be much easier using a WiFi, CardBus card in a public library where free, WiFi broadcasting is gratefully available. That LevelOne, WPC-0600, N_One Wireless CardBus Card of mine was configured automatically for me by openSUSE-11.3 Linux when it was plugged into my notebook computer during an openSUSE-11.3, LXDE start! I was very pleased with that excellent arrangement someone or some people built into openSUSE 11.3! Thanks for it! The problems I had were in learning what to do with security-related questions prior to entering a library, user-name-and-password combination in my Firefox browser in order to visit Web pages using my notebook computer there.–But those problems or questions were not problems with the Linux software, which gratefully worked extremely well using my WiFi card. After discussing what to do about the security-related questions with a member of the library staff, I could know how to deal with them. For a good thinker perhaps the success of the WiFi arrangement can eliminate some possible causes of the trouble I have been having at times to visit Web pages using my ethernet card in openSUSE 11.3.

I hope someone can still offer some help with my openSUSE-11.3 arrangement and software using my ethernet card. Thanks in advance for it.

8

Two minor corrections in my previous postings here: 1) “Unfortunately after visiting my friend’s mobile and …” should read as “Unfortunately after visiting my friend’s mobile home and…” 2) Replace “dls0” with “dsl0.” Sorry, I made those mistakes.

Using my ethernet card gratefully the problem of irreproducibility from openSUSE-11.3 session to session in connecting to the Internet and successfully visiting Web pages and/or downloading updates in the Lightweight X Windows System, version 11 (X11) Development Environment (LXDE) in my installation of the openSUSE-11.3 operating system appears to have been solved. I tried to use the traditional method with ifup (interface up) to make connections to the Internet. It failed for one reason because, as I later discovered, I had the wrong cable connected to my friend’s modem at the time. Within Yet another Software Tool 2’s (YaST2’s) Network Devices, Network Services, then with my listed ethernet card selected on the “Global Options” tab, I returned to using Network Manager instead of the traditional method using ifup to connect to the Internet. I deleted the software interfaces “Auto eth0” and “dsl0” that I had previously made. In a restart of the computer into the LXDE in openSUSE 11.3 I allowed probably Network Manager to automatically detect my ethernet card. Via Network Manager that time it was called “Auto Ethernet.” I selected it, which allowed a connection to the Internet to be made. Gratefully I could visit a Web page in my installation of the Mozilla, Firefox Web browser without me inputting any settings within the “Auto Ethernet” interface or making a new “dsl0” software interface! So finally this supported what Tararpharazon kindly wrote here that my friend’s password and user name for the AT&T Yahoo! Internet, and perhaps also the name AT&T Yahoo! of that service, were probably written inside my friend’s external modem. “Auto Ethernet” had been automatically set to “Connect Automatically” to the Internet with a start of the LXDE in openSUSE 11.3. In the next five consecutive starts of my computer into the LXDE of openSUSE 11.3 connections to the Internet were automatically established and Web pages could gratefully be visited.

In the next restart of openSUSE 11.3 I instead entered the K Desktop Environment (KDE). This time I noticed the message “Not connected.” The panel icon in the KDE 4 looked different from the Network Manager panel icon in the LXDE. (When a connection to the Internet was made, a portion of it was green-colored.) So I just guess it might have been a KInternet panel icon. Anyhow, by clicking on that panel icon and selecting something like “Create a wired connection” I made a wired software interface I called “Auto Ethernet.” For it I clicked on the check box beside “Connect Automatically” to place a check mark in it. Beside “Restrict To Interface:” I selected “Wired Ethernet,” “wired Ethernet,” or something close to that and clicked on an “OK” button. I refused the then-offered “KDE Wallet” management of passwords. A connection to the Internet was then possible using the newly set-up “Auto Ethernet” interface. And gratefully a Web page could be visited. After a restart of the computer back into the KDE of openSUSE 11.3, still a Web page could be visited via the “Auto Ethernet” interface. After a restart of the computer into the LXDE of openSUSE 11.3 a Web page or Web pages could be visited in both the Mozilla Firefox and Konqueror Web browsers.

I was not requested to input the default keyring password in openSUSE 11.3 at any time during this most recent visit to my friend’s mobile home. During such periodic visits to my friend’s mobile home I updated my installed, openSUSE-11.3 software. I can’t explain in detail what was wrong with my previous installations of the previous interfaces “eth0” and “dsl0” to sometimes make it difficult for me to visit Web pages and download openSUSE-11.3 updates using my ethernet card. I wonder if switching the setting away from using Network Manager to using the traditional ifup method and then back to using Network Manager could have caused some default settings to be used in Network Manager which were more favorable to making connections to the Internet and visiting Web pages than previously in Network Manager. I am grateful that after deleting my software interfaces “eth0” and “dsl0” and having probably Network Manager detect my ethernet card and automatically set up the needed software settings that I could in the LXDE connect to the Internet, visit Web pages, and download openSUSE-11.3 updates. Also other than selecting the interface “Auto Ethernet” for the first Internet connection in the new arrangement using “Auto Ethernet,” it was nice that I did not have to input anything else into the Network Manager setup. In part this may have been because the user name and password for the AT&T Yahoo! DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) Express (Internet) Service may have been previously written into my friend’s external modem, as Tararpharazon thought. Sorry, Tararpharazon, that I did not obtain and here report to you the results of an “ifconfig -a” command in a terminal program when I was having trouble connecting to the Internet. But, as you may realize, recently and fortunately switching from using the ifup method back to using Network Manager, deleting “dsl0” and “eth0,” and starting over with the new interface called “Auto Ethernet,” that was automatically set up by probably Network Manager, gratefully made obtaining the results of an “ifconfig -a” command unnecessary. But anyhow, you were correct that using only the wired interface was eventually sufficient for my Internet connections (and visiting Web pages) in the LXDE of openSUSE 11.3. And thank you for very kindly taking your time to offer me some input here!

9

That’s great news.
Sorry I missed commenting on your Nov 22 post, but honestly I didn’t have an answer for that scenario and you were using the DSL0 configuration to connect on your visits and WiFi at the library.
Also, somehow I missed that you were using ifup/ifdown instead of just Network Manager. Wrong wire connection is a major problem, ifup/ifdown and ifconfig takes coordination and as far as I know you can’t enter passwords and userids using ifconfig. BTW, please read the man pages for ifup, ifdown, ifconfig and IP.

Should we assume you’ll use Network Manager and Knetwork Manager to set up your connections in the future?

Most important, glad you finally got the connections to work and very happy you stuck with it.

Please continue to post in the forum if you have more questions and/or if you can help others in the forum. Congrats.

10

Thanks again for responding to my postings, Tararpharazon. I didn’t spend much time attempting to connect to the Internet via the ifup (interface up) command either from me or automatically in an openSUSE-11.3 startup. But I failed to connect to the Internet in that way. For one reason that failure was due to not having a cable, which was connected to my computer, connected to the external modem. Instead at the time my friend had her television-watching system connected to that modem; and I didn’t “figure out” my trouble until after I had already returned to using Network Manager (She purchased the company Sky Angel’s Internet Protocol TeleVision [IPTV] service which has its television signals broadcast over the Internet.). Looking at my notes it appears that in openSUSE 11.3 Network Manager was probably involved in both my WiFi Internet connection at a public library using my WiFi cardbus card and my Internet connections at my friend’s mobile home using my ethernet card and my friend’s external modem. Therefore in the very near future any Internet connections using fast Internet services I make in openSUSE 11.3 using my computer will likely be made using Network Manager.

In openSUSE 11.3 I haven’t tried to make any connections to the Internet using a dial-up Internet service. In the year 2009 I tried to do that in OpenSuSE 11.1 using a dial-up, Linuxant modem driver for my computer obtained from Linuxant - Company information on the Internet. However, my Internet sessions that way were often made quite short, but often not by me. So when I had such Internet-disconnection trouble that method for connecting to the Internet was unfortunately often not very useful for me in OpenSuSE 11.1, especially for time-consuming downloads from the Internet. Another challenge with dial-up Internet connections was that to avoid compiling a new modem driver along with the Linux kernel probably source code, a modem driver appropriate for the Linux kernel being used is needed. If I remember correctly, I think the last I checked within Linuxant - Company information a precompiled, Linuxant modem driver was not available for both the Linux kernel I was using in openSUSE 11.3 and my computer’s type of modem; but of course one might become available in the future, if it doesn’t already exist by now. Still another problem is that after a Linux kernel version upgrade or replacement, it might be necessary to obtain a new, Linuxant modem driver appropriate to the new Linux kernel; or else have source code for it compiled along with the new, kernel source code. At the moment I don’t have a dial-up modem driver installed in openSUSE 11.3 that is appropriate for both the Linux kernel and the type of modem used by my computer. I don’t have any immediate plans to put forth the necessary effort toward obtaining dial-up Internet connectivity in openSUSE 11.3. Since it is questionable whether the Internet-disconnection problem could be solved after putting forth such effort to obtain dial-up Internet connectivity, the surer solution for me may be to occasionally connect to the Internet in openSUSE 11.3 using a fast Internet connection at my friend’s mobile home or at the public library which provides the free, WiFi service.

11

Chances are, you are correct. Unless you have one of the supported laptop modem HCL:Modems - openSUSE then it’s up to the vendor to supply a compatible Linux driver or source code to compile. Once you’ve compiled the software it should work for most 11.3 kernel upgrades without recompiling. On the other hand, if you plan to use the dial-up modem only at home and your laptop has the modem RJ45 jack, then I’d look for one for a sale on a supported OpenSuSe 11.3 external modem. Of course, dialup is nowhere as fast as DSL or WiFi but its good enough for email, small downloads, forums and google.

You can also post your modem question in the hardware sub-forum. Maybe someone in that forum knows of a Linux driver for your modem.