Can't set up a DSL connection

[odinbaal]

Hi,

I've just downloaded 4.2 and tried it but, contrary to 4.0 which, I recall, had tk-pppoe installed by default, I am having problems setting up my dsl connection, especially since Network Manager (in the tray and in the Settings), is greyed out. I am using the live-dvd.

Doing a search on the form returned, as far as I'm aware, very few hits with no easy solutions.

ifconfig shows that eth0 is up and running;
net-setup is very basic and doesn't do anything;
rp-pppoe is not installed (pppoe-setup doesn't do anything) and the rp-pppoe package (and its tk-pppoe gui) is not installable because of missing dependencies.

Any idea why the dsl tab in Network Manager is constantly greyed out, and any suggestions on how to set up my dsl connection (I need rp/tk-pppoe or Network Manager to also define a Service Name for my connection)?

Thanks!

[odinbaal]

Anybody?

I've tried downloading various pppoe files from the Sabayon 4.2 repositories (from another machine), but I get dependencies "hell" when installing.

Linux without an internet connection is not fun...

[mdmarmer]

It is usually not difficult to set up a DSL connection. This has nothing to do with Sabayon. Where are you located? Who is your internet service provider? What type of modem do you have (Manufacturer and model)? Do you have a router?

As you are having problems, the easiest solution is to set up DSL on a Windows box. You can use the CD provided by your ISP, or contact them for support. Once the DSL connection is working in Windows, it will be much easier to set up a Linux connection.

If your connection is already working in Windows, we need to know the make, model and version of your network card. Are you trying to connect a wired or wireless card?

Network Manager often does not work. You may want to try installing wicd.

Have you installed 4.2? Exactly which packages are unable to install?

Mike

[odinbaal]

Thanks, Mike.

Setting up my dsl usually has nothing to do with the isp or modem/router/location.

It's a simple pppoe connection using a simple network card on eth0.

The only things I do whenever I set up my connection is put the username, the password, and the "service name," and I'm all set.

DSL in Windows works out-of-the-box, and I've never had an ISP CD, I just plug in the cable from the dish to my network card, and that's it. In Windows, my connection type is "broadband," and the device name is "Wan Miniport - pppoe." The network type is Intel Pro/100 VE Network Connection.

Usually, rp-pppoe just does the trick (pppoe-setup), and I'm fine. If I'm able to also install its gui, (tk-pppoe, in the same package), then it's perfect.

However, for whatever reason pppoe seems not to ship with Sabayon 4.2, and trying to install it or wicd brings, as I said, dependency hell.

It's weird because I can do the above with 99% of all distros (all kde and gnome flavors).

And no, I've not installed 4.2 on the hd, as I don't want to go through the whole setup and find that I can't connect. I'm only using the 4.2 livecd. I guess if the dsl tab is greyed out in the live session, it will be greyed out when I install.

Cheers!

[odinbaal]

It seems somebody else (on Gnome with Sabayon 4.2) is having exactly the same problem:

viewtopic.php?f=86&t=17450&p=102586#p102586

[odinbaal]

Can anybody from the developers/maintainers/moderators answer this simple question, please:

Is dsl in NetworkManager greyed out on the livedvd because it's a bug
or
do I need to fully install Sabayon 4.2 to get full functionality?

Removing an OS and installing another one is no simple decision, and I'd appreciate getting an answer before doing it.

Thanks.

[odinbaal]

Ok,

So I installed 4.2 fully onto the hd and hoped to see some changes, but no.

The dsl tab in NetworkManager is still greyed out and unusable, no pppoe setup, nothing.

Am I missing something?

Anybody out there with a dsl connection and how they did it?

Hello?

[odinbaal]

Well,

What can I say?

Except for Mike above (thanks!), nobody helped, and I'm sorry to say that I'm very disappointed by this forum and by its maintainers.

Not being able to connect to the internet (for the 6th day) is a major show-stopper, and either I have missed something or there is something very wrong with 4.2's dsl capabilities.

In either case, I would have appreciated some help.

But maybe this is the wrong forum?

Anyway, Sabayon seems to be not for me at all.

[wolfden]

Maintainers are busy and sometimes helpers are busy also and it's easy for help to slip through the cracks, have patience. We are not in endless supply here and nobody gets paid for it. We have people helping on forum and irc and as you can see, it's a lot of coverage. It's a busy time of year also, so patience.

The gentoo documentation is there for networking

have you tried:

Code: Select all

pppoe-setup

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/h ... #doc_chap3

Most find that if they are having issues with NM than they switch to wicd. I have dsl, but I have my pppoe all setup in the router so I never have to mess with username/passwords/dsl setups. It saves a headache for all distros. I'm not a fan of NM at all and our future releases will have wicd as an option also. I use wicd myself.

[odinbaal]

Thanks, Wolfden.

Six days is patient enough without an internet connection.

I know that nobody gets paid for this, but then again the help documentation is not even there (clicking on the help button in NM shows that help is not even installed), and the kde manual's "networking" section is also empty.

When developers come out with distros and their upgrades, there should be either very clear help files associated with the system functions, or more readiness to help users. And we all thank you for taking the time to do this, believe me.

Referring new users to Gentoo help is counter-intuitive, and doing things the Gentoo way is time-consuming; Sabayon is supposed to smooth things out. Times have changed, and a modern distro should take care of trivial issues like connecting to the internet automatically. I remember the time when the mouse scroll was not recognized in SuSE 7 (?) and I had to edit the config file myself.

I hope you can see things from my angle (I am not a total newbie), as I genuinely like Linux and appreciate the effort to create a modern and efficient OS.

As I mentioned in my very first post, pppoe-setup doesn't do anything (even as su), so the command is not there, and I couldn't install wicd because, as I also mentioned, I get dependency hell.

But anyway, thanks again for the help; I've switched to another distro because I can't afford to lose even more than six days to solve what should be a trivial issue.

I will be back for Sabayon 5, hoping it will have ironed things out.