Very Computer

Hey all,

 YES! Debian Linux 2.2rev2 is FINALLY on my laptop AND (drumroll
please)...the mouse no longer registers as 3 inches to the right of where it
really is (do you have ANY idea how hard it is to navigate X that way?;)).
anyways, now I'm onto hurdle 2:

 The network.

Here is the deal: I have a Linksys PCMPC100 card.  My school's network runs
on DHCP (at least, I believe so - my desktop gets the IP addy automatically
as well as doesn't use a gateway or a dns server...)  I did not select my
card or DHCP during setup (not quite sure if there were options and I just
missed them or what...it was 2 am when I finally got linux on there:)

Anyways, now I would like to set it up...but I have NO idea what to do now.
I know my card can work under linux (the readme file on the driver disk
tells me to edit /etc/pcmcia/network.opts...but network.opts doesn't seem to
allow for DHCP since it wants me to enter IP and DNS stuff...)  Also, I'm
not even sure if my card is working...the lights go on, so I assume that is
a yes, but I can't access anything.  Finally, I did a find / -iname dhcp*
and didn't find anything...should I need some file (a daemon? or is that
only if I am running the actual DHCP server?)?

Thanks a lot for the help...I'm just lost as how to even begin figuring out
what to do (i.e. how can I set up dhcp if I don't even know if my card is
working!?:))

thanks again!
Dave

The thing that interacts with DHCP servers is called   pump.
A read of the manpage will get you started, provided that you
have networking stuff installed.  To find that out, read the bootup
log (on my RedHat system, it ends up in /var/log/dmesg).  There should
be a bunch of log items about 18 lines down beginning with NET4.
If not, you need to install the stuff; I guess the easiest way is to redo
your installation, looking for the relevant options.

ok, will do, thanks!
(hours later...no joke..spent 8 hours on this)
I find that my having a linux laptop means that it is very hard to install
an ethernet card.  I have reinstalled debian 6...6!...times, and spent hours
reading and searching the web.  I knew linux could be difficult, but this is
driving me insane.

-dave

Quote:> > Hey all,

> >  YES! Debian Linux 2.2rev2 is FINALLY on my laptop AND (drumroll
> > please)...the mouse no longer registers as 3 inches to the right of
where
> it
> > really is (do you have ANY idea how hard it is to navigate X that
way?;)).
> > anyways, now I'm onto hurdle 2:

> >  The network.

> > Here is the deal: I have a Linksys PCMPC100 card.  My school's network
> runs
> > on DHCP (at least, I believe so - my desktop gets the IP addy
> automatically
> > as well as doesn't use a gateway or a dns server...)  I did not select
my
> > card or DHCP during setup (not quite sure if there were options and I
just
> > missed them or what...it was 2 am when I finally got linux on there:)

> > Anyways, now I would like to set it up...but I have NO idea what to do
> now.
> > I know my card can work under linux (the readme file on the driver disk
> > tells me to edit /etc/pcmcia/network.opts...but network.opts doesn't
seem
> to
> > allow for DHCP since it wants me to enter IP and DNS stuff...)  Also,
I'm
> > not even sure if my card is working...the lights go on, so I assume that
> is
> > a yes, but I can't access anything.  Finally, I did a find / -iname
dhcp*
> > and didn't find anything...should I need some file (a daemon? or is that
> > only if I am running the actual DHCP server?)?

> > Thanks a lot for the help...I'm just lost as how to even begin figuring
> out
> > what to do (i.e. how can I set up dhcp if I don't even know if my card
is
> > working!?:))

> > thanks again!
> > Dave

If I understand the issue, you have a pcmcia network card which may or may
not work and you need to connect using dhcp to get things working on a
debianized laptop?  Does this laptop have a pcmcia modem also?  Do you have
a dialup ISP by any chance?  You can download the dhcpcd deb package to your
laptop, take the laptop to where you want to test it, install the dhcpcd deb
package and edit the /etc/pcmcia/network.opts file to tell it to use dhcpcd
instead of static.  Now the easy part of this is, you can kill dhcpcd easy
and test things with another network card, etc.  I would use dhcpcd and not
pump personally although I have used both.

You could also download the deb package to a windows system, copy it to a
floppy, take the floppy to your laptop, and install it.  Make sure to give
the resulting file a 8.3 name like dhcpcd.deb.  When you visit
www.debian.org, go to the stable package lists and network and select a
download server.  YOu will want to mount the floppy diskette using the mount
command and then copy the deb file to a place on your linux laptop.  Next
become root and do a dpkg -i dhcpcd.deb.  This will install the deb package
without an active internet interface.  Now you can play with the pcmcia
adaptor a bit and see if or how it will work.

Take a read of the pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net pages on how to set up
different "schemes" for pcmcia ethernet and it also explains in some detail
how to do dhcp.  The schemes thing is pretty powerful and you can switch
schemes on the fly by using the cardctl command.  You can also read what
cards are supported, which ones require additional configuration, etc.  I
believe that the pcmcia-cs package supports a lotta cards now, so you may be
pleasantly surprised.

--
Michael Perry

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