Very Computer

I'm spending the next couple of months travelling (already suffering
withdrawal symptoms from not having my cable internet connection -
wah!) so I've purchased a cheap modem and have registered with AOL
for their 'unlimited free hours for 3 months deal'.  Looking for
something very cheap to tide me over - and you can't get much
cheaper than 'free'! (although AOL still insists on a credit
card number or cheque account number so they can automatically
start billing you in the hope you'll forget to cancel after the
free trial period.  Sigh).  I'd hoped to be able to use AOL like
any other ISP for linux, dialing them up with PPP from hotel
phones as I move around.

AOL is working fine with their software under Windows XP but I can't
get it to work with my Linux 2.4.16 (Slackware 8.0).  I've done
searches on the web and dejanews to see if anyone has been able
to use AOL with Linux but have only found negative comments.
However, most of the articles I've found have been several years
old - I don't think I've found any dated within the last year -
so I thought it might be worth while to ask anew.

I don't know much about Windows but a simple 'ipconfig/all' on XP
seems to suggest that AOL works like 'normal' TCP/IP, giving my
machine a TCP address, etc.  I'd hoped I'd be able to run up PPP
under Linux for AOL as I have with at least six other ISPs over
the years, but I can't get CHAP to authenticate.  Here's the
relevant part of the debug log from the pppd daemon:

pppd[420]: using channel 1
pppd[420]: sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0xd76c9e52>
<pcomp> <accomp>]
pppd[420]: rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 < 00 04 00 00> <mru 1524>
<asyncmap 0x0> <auth chap MD5> <pcomp> <accomp> <mrru 1524> <endpoint
[MAC:00:c0:7b:71:e2:cb]>]
pppd[420]: sent [LCP ConfRej id=0x1 < 00 04 00 00> <mrru 1524>]
pppd[420]: rcvd [LCP ConfAck id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0xd76c9e52>
<pcomp> <accomp>]
pppd[420]: rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0x2 <mru 1524> <asyncmap 0x0> <auth
chap MD5> <pcomp> <accomp> <endpoint [MAC:00:c0:7b:71:e2:cb]>]
pppd[420]: sent [LCP ConfAck id=0x2 <mru 1524> <asyncmap 0x0> <auth
chap MD5> <pcomp> <accomp> <endpoint [MAC:00:c0:7b:71:e2:cb]>]
pppd[420]: rcvd [CHAP Challenge id=0x1
<af783f453a72ac3dfa89e6bcca7c6bb3>, name = "tnt26.lax3"]
pppd[420]: sent [CHAP Response id=0x1
<89080f2ffdba57c05702b28b074fdf19>, name = "Bradley"]
pppd[420]: rcvd [CHAP Failure id=0x1 "\000"]
pppd[420]: sent [LCP TermReq id=0x2 "Failed to authenticate ourselves
to peer"]
pppd[420]: rcvd [LCP TermAck id=0x2]

I'm no expert with PPP or low-level networking protocols either,
but in the past, knowing my ISP 'username', I've been able to run
pppd with the 'name' option ('name Bradley' in this case, which
is my registered AOL username and which works for my Windows
AOL software) and have a line for 'Bradley' in
/etc/ppp/chap-secrets (if that's not the exact filename
please forgive me; I'm forced to reboot to XP to send out
this posting!).

It *seems* to me that AOL might be using some other sort of
(proprietary) format for the 'username', something like

'we-put-magic-here-so-we-stuff-up-linux*Bradley' or something
like that.  I don't know enough about Windows to be able to
sniff the packets that it sends out for my successful Windows
AOL connections, so I'm wondering if:

a.  anyone out there knows what sort of 'user name' string
    AOL expects to be sent for CHAP authentication - presumably
    something with the *actual* AOL username embedded within;

b.  Will there be further hurdles to face, assuming I can
    eventually authenticate with CHAP?

c.  Has anyone been able to get Linux to work with AOL for
    simple TCP (a' la' ISP) connectivity?

What a pain it is, to have to reboot to Windows every time I
want to access the internet!  To have all my 'automatic'
network programs under Linux rendered impotent because of
AOL's proprietary mindset!  Arrrgh!

Any help would be most gratefully received - posted here or

Thanks,

Brad Rosser

Quote:> AOL is working fine with their software under Windows XP but I can't
> get it to work with my Linux 2.4.16 (Slackware 8.0).  I've done
> searches on the web and dejanews to see if anyone has been able
> to use AOL with Linux but have only found negative comments.
> However, most of the articles I've found have been several years
> old - I don't think I've found any dated within the last year -
> so I thought it might be worth while to ask anew.

The program you are looking for is called PengAOL.
That's the link to the developers' homepage http://www.pengaol.org.
I hope it will work fine.

you must use a different search engine than the rest of us:
http://www.google.com/linux  
with the search string: "aol connect" brings back valid URLS
with solutions.

Quote:> What a pain it is, to have to reboot to Windows every time I
> want to access the internet!  To have all my 'automatic'
> network programs under Linux rendered impotent because of
> AOL's proprietary mindset!  Arrrgh!

then you should find another service - first of all, by signing up
with this sub-optimal service, you are 'increasing' their sales
and [total] user statistics - ever see the commercials: "that's
why aol is number 1" .... only because they base the claim on
accounts, including the 'free' accounts. the best way to battle
this is to quit and TELL them it's because of their proprietary
method of connectivity [to their service]. the best solution is
to find a better, more flexible provider - not complaints and
a workaround for a suboptimal service

http://thelist.internet.com/misc/usa/

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Michael J. Tobler: motorcyclist, surfer,  #    Black holes result
 skydiver, and author: "Inside Linux",     #   when God divides the  
 "C++ HowTo", "C++ Unleashed"              #     universe by zero

If no-one else in the world uses www.e*.com, yes, I must use
a different engine than the rest of us/you.  I just looked at the
first 3 pages of results from your recommended engine and search
string but didn't have any better luck.  Thank you for the
reference, though; I've never used google for generic or
linux-focussed searches before, other than for newsgroup research.

Quote:

> > What a pain it is, to have to reboot to Windows every time I
> > want to access the internet!  To have all my 'automatic'
> > network programs under Linux rendered impotent because of
> > AOL's proprietary mindset!  Arrrgh!

> then you should find another service - first of all, by signing up
> with this sub-optimal service, you are 'increasing' their sales
> and [total] user statistics - ever see the commercials: "that's
> why aol is number 1" .... only because they base the claim on
> accounts, including the 'free' accounts. the best way to battle
> this is to quit and TELL them it's because of their proprietary
> method of connectivity [to their service]. the best solution is
> to find a better, more flexible provider - not complaints and
> a workaround for a suboptimal service

> http://www.veryComputer.com/

Thanks for the ISP list.  It still seems that AOL is providing the
most 'free' service - 3 months, unlimited hours during that period -
so I feel that I'm getting enough "out of them" to warrant
having to put up with their inflexibility.  Plus, I guess the
"challenge" of trying to get it to work with Linux is also
attractive; being able to use it with Linux for free for 3 months,
circumventing the wishes of their marketing people, if possible,
seems to me to be a better solution - or at least an acceptable
one - than letting AOL's policies shoo me off to spending more
money elsewhere.

If I was seeking a permanent arrangement then things would be
entirely different, and I would quite agree with you - elegance,
functionality and openness would easily win over a properietary,
marketing-orientated mindset any day.  However, for the next couple
of months, I'm in a very temporary, 'ad hoc' sort of situation,
and so getting the 'free' access from AOL seemed to be an acceptable
solution.

I'll have a look at the PengAOL software that the previous poster
suggested.  And if anyone else can tell me a bit more about AOL -
particularly, is it still definite that they don't use standard
PPP/CHAP for dialup access? - that would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Brad