# No support for PPPoE DSL connections



## Jonas Cox (Sep 27, 2000)

Just bought a G4 and am in the process of getting Earthlink DSL, but just came across this warning in a bulletin board: OSX offers "no support for PPPoE DSL connections like those provided by Earthlink."  I plan on porting to OSX eventually, so should I reconsider getting DSL from Earthlink?


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## fmalloy (Sep 27, 2000)

Yes, its true - no PPPoE is supported in the beta. By the time of the true release, the PPPoE software *should* be available.

But there is an alternative - an expensive one. You can purchase a DSL router from MacSense or LinkSys which has on-board support for PPPoE. Easy to set up and works with OS X. However, the cost is over $100.

PPPoE is an abomination; a screwy idea of applying the PPP dialup protocol to always-on DSL. Stupid idea. Problem is, most DSL providers are forcing it on you.


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## red_pages (Sep 28, 2000)

Someone has developed a fix for this, and I am using my SWBell PPPoE DSL connection right now on OSX. You have to go into the command line and it's not very user-friendly, but if you follow the directions exactly it will work great. For instructions go to

http://media.helioshealth.net:8080/


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## Jonas Cox (Sep 28, 2000)

Thanks both for your advice.  The nuances of DSL are beyond me at the moment, but I've got plenty of time to learn; by the time Mindspring/Earthlink gets around to sending out their install guy, we'll be on OSXIV!


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## Pascal (Sep 28, 2000)

> Someone has developed a fix for this


Once the fix is applied, does it work automatically on start up ? In other words, must one go each time in the terminal window to set up ADSL after each restart in X or is it a "one time set up forget it afterwards" setting ?

MY ADSL provider (or maybe is it the software that was provided to me for OS 9), has the bad habit of droping the line when the ADSL has not been used for a certain time. I don't know if other providers do that, but if they do, what is this PPoE software's reaction to this situation : auto-detect and auto-reconnect (my wish) or wait for a human hand ?


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## pixel (Sep 28, 2000)

has anyone gotten this working under sympatico access manager? I installed the path and went into the command line and followed all of the given instructions...i like it's set up right.....when trying to connect, my modem blinks and sends info out, but does not get anything coming back

any ideas
thanks
Josh


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## red_pages (Sep 28, 2000)

> _Originally posted by Pascal _
> *Once the fix is applied, does it work automatically on start up ? In other words, must one go each time in the terminal window to set up ADSL after each restart in X or is it a "one time set up forget it afterwards" setting ?*



When you use the Roaring Penguin PPPoE you can only connect once each time you boot. If you were to get disconnected you would have to reboot and type in 3 commands in the terminal to get it going again. Personally, I haven't rebooted OSX in nearly a week and have been using the same connection all that time. So for me it is not a problem, but if your provider has a bad habit of disconnecting you, then you will have ro reboot each time and retype in those commands to get back online.


-Dan


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## Pascal (Sep 28, 2000)

> When you use the Roaring Penguin PPPoE you can only connect once each time you boot.


Thank you for your reply, but can you explain to me why one cannot restart the process without rebooting ? That seems to be a (useless) pain in the ... !


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## red_pages (Sep 28, 2000)

> _Originally posted by Pascal _Thank you for your reply, but can you explain to me why one cannot restart the process without rebooting ? That seems to be a (useless) pain in the ... ! [/B]



When it comes to computers and thier rules I never ask why, I just follow them, and I know from trying it myself that this rule is true. But if you are interested in learning why you can probably find out at MacNN.com. There is a very lengthy thread in the MacOSX forum in which the guy who ported Roaring Penguin to OSX collaborated with several other of the posters there on getting it to work. The link is http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/Forum3/HTML/000861.html  You will have to wade through 139 posts though. This would also be a good place to start if anyone is having problems with it since many many people have posted their troubleshooting questions there and had them answered. There are several people in that forum who are by now very knowledgeable about this program.

-Dan


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## MasonMcD (Sep 28, 2000)

I'm a complete CLI newbie, and I'm posting PPPoE from Verizon with MacPoET on OS X. Don't be intimidated by the instructions. Just keep plugging away. It took me a couple of hours, but I eventually got it.

Oh, those commands that seem so onerous are 1) adsl-start 2) adsl-status and 3) route add default xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx    which you get from the adsl-status command. Not too hard if I can do it. My default route is always the same (I'm assuming a router at the CO, or maybe my Wellfleet modem. Don't know if it acts as a router) so after the first couple of times, you can connect pretty effortlessly.


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## red_pages (Sep 28, 2000)

Yes, I know that Apple argues that MacOSX does not require you to ever look at the command line, but if you want to use the latest apps that have been ported over from unix like Roaring Penguin or Seti@home then you should go ahead and get comfortable using the terminal. It is not as hard as it may seem at first.

I think I read somewhere that you could make scripts that would automatically execute terminal commands. Does anyone know how to do this?

-Dan


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## Pascal (Sep 28, 2000)

> I think I read somewhere that you could make scripts that would automatically execute terminal commands. Does anyone know how to do this?


I would suspect it would be using Cron, the integrated daily planner of a Unix computer (and _yet_ another thing I have to learn  ), combined with the scripting language of the terminal... (did I say  ?)

Someone knowledgeable ought to tell us, now, really.


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## erogers (Oct 3, 2000)

> _Originally posted by red_pages _
> *Someone has developed a fix for this, and I am using my SWBell PPPoE DSL connection right now on OSX. You have to go into the command line and it's not very user-friendly, but if you follow the directions exactly it will work great. For instructions go to
> 
> http://media.helioshealth.net:8080/ *



What settings did you enter for SWBell?  It asks for a server IP address, but SWBell uses a dyanimc PPPoE server, so I can't find the address.  Thanks.


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## red_pages (Oct 3, 2000)

[/QUOTE]

What settings did you enter for SWBell?  It asks for a server IP address, but SWBell uses a dyanimc PPPoE server, so I can't find the address.  Thanks. [/B][/QUOTE]

If I remember correctly, I put 1.0.0.0


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## sdpalmer (Dec 31, 2000)

I went to http://media.helioshealth.net:8080/, downloaded and installed PPPoE, configured my OSX environment -- followed the instructions meticulously. In 5 minutes, I was up and running. Thank you, thank you, thank you.


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## ksv (Feb 23, 2001)

After I have installed that hopeless PPPoe thing, and restarting my computer, OS X wont start, and I have to reinstall OS X. Great! All my apps gone! The roaring penguin thing is useless!!!


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## jcontonio (Feb 23, 2001)

It is included, I am running a recent build and the DHCP Client ID is there as well. So chill out.


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## ksv (Feb 24, 2001)

How do I install the new builds?


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## jcontonio (Feb 26, 2001)

You can't get the new builds legally. You'll have to wait until the final release of OS X, I just wrote that so you wouldn't get mad at Apple or anything. It will be included in the final release.


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## glowurm@mac.com (Mar 22, 2001)

PPPoE support is native in my 4K78 build and it has been indicated that it is native in the release/GM (Supposedly the 4K78 build is the GM)


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## ladavacm (Mar 23, 2001)

Maybe this helps (I cannot test it, because my PB machine is 1200 km away)

The culprit seems to be the default route, which cannot be overwritten; it has to be deleted first, using

route delete default

Probably, you should do that before adsl-start
Also, you might have to unconfig the interface,
using

ifconfig en0 inet 0.0.0.0

(where en0 is the appropriate network interface; it should not show under /dev)

and only then do the adsl-start

Please, please take this with a lot of salt, because adsl uses a kernel module which seems to have been ported from Linux, and I have no idea how does it hook into FreeBSD based Darwin IP stack (I would hazard a guess: in an ugly way, since it does not seem to register correctly). A much better idea would be to use the FreeBSD netgraph PPPoE module, if netgraph made it to Darwin (and, obviously, add netgraph to Darwin if it is not there already).

Another cause could be the fact that adsl module does not register itself, and repeated adsl-start may try to load it again, in which case all bets are off.


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