Frequently Asked Questions

Table Of Contents

• pppd says "FATAL:Module pppoatm not found."
• Will installing the driver and firmware on Linux affect Windows?
• Both LED's of my modem are green, but the line isn't even connected!
• I cannot compile the br2684ctl.c utility.
• What is the correct VP/VC to use ?
• Everytime I start pppd it complains about ATM_SETBACKEND?
• pppd says "No auth is possible" - what's up?
• I use PPPoA and ppp complains about a device not found.
• pppd connects fine, but I cannot reach any webpages.
• How do I disconnect from the web?

pppd says "FATAL:Module pppoatm not found."

There are two reasons you could get this message, either your kernel was compiled without support for pppoatm or you compiled support for pppoatm into the kernel. Either way, the pppoatm module doesn't exist. When pppd loads the pppoatm.so shared library it tries to modprobe pppoatm and so you get the error message. If your kernel was compiled without support for pppoatm then you need to either compile a new kernel or somehow install a kernel that does support pppoatm.

If you compiled support for pppoatm into the kernel then the error message is harmless and can be ignored. If it bothers you and you want to stop it then edit the ppp-2.4.3 source code and then recompile the pppoatm.so plugin. Comment out line 136 of ppp-2.4.3/pppd/plugins/pppoatm/pppoatm.c by putting /* */ tags around the modprobe command. Untar the ppp-2.4.3 source, cd into it and then execute these commands. Be careful with the sed, it's all on one line, which your browser may line wrap so it may be safest to copy and paste the whole thing

Enter roots password then

Will installing the driver and firmware on Linux affect Windows?

No. When you reboot or switch the computer off the modem gets powered down. The memory inside the modem is volatile so it forgets everything between reboots. That's why the firmware needs to be loaded every time you boot. So as far as the Speedtouch is concerned, Windows doesn't affect Linux and Linux doesn't affect Windows.

Both LED's of my modem are green, but the line isn't even connected!

Be careful. There are two reasons both LED's can be green. When the device is plugged in and assigned an address, but the firmware is not downloaded yet, both LED's will be green.
When the modem is fully configured and initialised both LED's are also green. When using Windows this is not a problem because Windows powers down any device it has no drivers for.

When you boot, you should see the following:
1. both LED's green for a very short period.
2. Left LED is blinking, right LED is green.
3. Left LED is green, right LED is green/red
4. Left LED is green, right LED is blinking
5. both LED's are green.

Now that both LED's are green after going through the whole sequence (about 10 to 15 seconds total) your modem is up and initialised.

I cannot compile the br2684ctl.c utility.

This probably means you forgot to install the latest ATM package. You can find it here. Install this package and try again. If the ATM package refuses to compile, do not fear and do a 'make install' anyway. This will install the headers successfully and allow you to compile the br2684ctl.c utility.

What is the correct VP/VC to use?

Some providers are autosensing and can use both PPPoA or PPPoE (bridging).
If you have the choice, choose PPPoA as it's generally easier to get it working.
If the value for your country or provider is not present, please look in your Phonebook.ini file in your windows driver distribution and send the values to the mailing list. You can also find these in the Windows registry.

* Apparently, PPPoA also works on some Belgacom lines. These lines seem to be autosensing.

Everytime I start pppd it complains about ATM_SETBACKEND?

If you get the following text in your console/syslog when trying to setup your PPPoA:

	kernel: PPP generic driver version 2.4.1
	pppd[350]: Plugin /usr/lib/pppd/plugins/pppoatm.so loaded.
	pppd[350]: PPPoATM plugin_init
	pppd[350]: PPPoATM setdevname_pppoatm
	pppd[350]: PPPoATM setdevname_pppoatm - SUCCESS
	pppd[352]: pppd 2.4.0 started by root, uid 0
	kernel: atm_connect (TX: cl 1,bw 0-0,sdu 16386; RX: cl 1,bw 0-0,sdu 1502,AAL 5)
	pppd[352]: ioctl(ATM_SETBACKEND): No such device
	pppd[352]: Exit.

You have forgotten to "modprobe pppoatm" before you start pppd.

pppd says "No auth is possible" - what's up?

The usual reason is that the username in your secrets file (pap-secrets or chap-secrets) is not exactly the same as the username you provided in /etc/ppp/peers/speedtch (or whatever file you use to configure pppd). Compare them carefully - a single mistyped character is enough to cause this error.

I use PPPoA and ppp complains about a device not found.

When I start ppp it gives me the following error:

	pppd[1234]: PPPoATM plugin_init
	pppd[1234]: PPPoATM setdevname_pppoatm
	pppd[1234]: PPPoATM setdevname_pppoatm - SUCCESS
	pppd[1234]: pppd 2.4.0 started by root, uid 0
	pppd[1324]: Connect(8.35) :No such device
	pppd[1234]: Exit.

This means that your speedtouch kernel module is not correctly configured or that the firmware didn't load. Did the lights flash?

pppd connects fine, but I cannot reach any webpages.

First, check you have the usepeerdns option in /etc/ppp/peers/speedtch (or whatever file you use to configure pppd).

And then when pppd connects it will write the IP addresses of your ISP's nameservers in /etc/ppp/resolv.conf
Make a symbolic link from /etc/resolv.conf pointing at /etc/ppp/resolv.conf

OR copy it into /etc (that's not such a good solution as your ISP may change it's nameservers).
OR figure out the dns server of your provider (see Windows or Google) and edit your /etc/resolv.conf file. It should look something like:

with aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd  and eee.fff.ggg.hhh matching the ip addresses of your internet providers primary and secondary DNS.

How do I disconnect from the web?

Root can disconnect from the web with the command

and reconnect with

On Fedora Core you can do the same thing in a slightly more sophisticated way with the commands

and reconnect with

If you have any more questions, you can write to the mailing list.