Dial-up Connection Reboots - Why??

Let me preface this by saying I am COMPLETELY new to Linux. If I could get online, I could stay booted into Linux (have dual-boot system) long enough to putter around and learn it. But so far I'm failing. Which brings me to my question.

I think I have finally managed to get a decent driver for my modem and get the connection set up the way it's supposed to be. (Linux didn't used to even recognize that I HAD a modem and now it knows what it is, so this is progress!) I'm having this really bizarre problem, though. When I click to connect, the modem dials, connects and shows me the connection speed, tells me it's "starting pppd" and then REBOOTS THE COMPUTER. What is up with that???? I've never seen anything like it before.

I am using ELX ("Everybody's Linux"), with (I think) KDE. I am not new to computers; I've been using them since the mid-80's and used to be pretty familiar with DOS, so I'm not JUST a Windows user. But I'm starting to feel like it! :lol:

I would really, really, REALLY appreciate it if someone could help me get online because then I could take the time to learn Linux so I can eventually ditch MS. :!: Thanks in advance. :)

well for a first timer its a bad idea to pick an obscure distro like that. you will have better luck with somthing that has better support like suse or mandriva

Well, if no one uses it, it will stay obscure, right? :)

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Originally Posted by A2JC4life

Well, if no one uses it, it will stay obscure, right? :)

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Unless you have an older system ELX 2.4.x kernel is outdated. This may be why you're experiencing the rebooting problem.

Okay, so what qualifies as an "older" system? It's over 5 years old. I can't find the speed of my processor listed anywhere on my system. Anything else I should be looking for?


If I need to upgrade my version of Linux, how do I do that? I'm dual-booting right now, with Windows 98, and I really can't afford to mess up my Windows partition while I'm still having trouble with Linux! :) If I want to install a later version of ELX, or another distro, in place of the one I have now, what should I do?

What version are you using? I found some modem drivers on their site. I also noticed that you posted in their forum as well.
ftp://www.elxos.net/pub/elx/updates/

I have a driver and, as best I can tell, it isn't the problem. I have a modem with a Conexant chip, and I found a "linuxant" driver for it. Before that, ELX wasn't even recognizing that I HAD a modem; now it recognizes it, identifies, etc., and dials up with it. It actually CONNECTS before it has the problem. I'm watching the process in that whatever-it's-called window that you can choose to open for the sake of troubleshooting. It dials up, connects at 57600 (or so it says), claims to be opening pppd and THEN reboots. So I'm guessing the problem is with pppd (what does that do, exactly), rather than directly with the modem. It's tough to troubleshoot a problem, though, that results in immediately not being logged into the software! Is pppd something I can reinstall?

What version of ELX am I using? 2.0? I'm honestly not sure. I'll have to log back in and find out. (That's the bummer about not being able to get online from there. I can't ask for help FROM Linux.)

I've been searching to see if I could find where anyone else had the same problem but have yet to find anything. pppd is the point to point daemon. I just wonder if the permissions are not set correctly on pppd. It's found in /usr/sbin/, could you take a look at the properties and see what the permissions are for pppd?

I have Power Desktop 1.0 (and am wondering if it's just buggy, being so old; it seems to be locking up an awful lot).

The permission for /usr/bin say that the user can show entries, write entries, and enter. "Group" can show entries and enter. "Others" can show entries and enter.

The full text for the script debug window when I'm dialing up is:

ATZ
OK
ATM1L1
OK
ATDT *70,,7573204335 [at this point, the bottom of the window reads "Expecting: CONNECT". This is followed by modem noises.]
CONNECT 57600 [at which point the bottom of the screen reads "starting pppd"]

Then it reboots. Well, once it froze up instead. But, generally, it reboots.

It may be a buggy version of pppd.