Connecting To the Internet

There are several ways to make a PPP connection with a Linux Machine. One is using dip, another one is using minicom I prefer to use it, 'cause I can see what's going at the other side with it. In this page I'll try to tell how minicom can be used as Windoze95's dial-up adapter.

In case you may want to use other tools refer to dip man pages and PPP-Howto documents.

First of all you have to make sure that you have ppp support in your kernel. If you aren't sure you may just try the steps and if it does'nt work try to compile the kernel. You can get help about compiling a kernel at How to Compile A New Kernel section.

There are mainly 4 simple steps to get connected to internet via minicom. These are:

Setting up the /etc/ppp/options file.
When the PPP daemon is invoked it reads the data stored in this file to control the connection. Download my sample /etc/ppp/options file. You can use it exactly the same, I think it should work.

Setting up The /etc/resolv.conf file.
When you forge a PPP connection you tell your Linux machine where it can get host name to IP numbers with thhe help of this file. In othere words you describe your nameserver in this file.Just download my sample /etc/resolv.conf file and edit it with your ISP's DNS configuration and save it.

Invoking Minicom.
You have finished the configuration files and it's time to get connected... At your command prompt type minicom and start the program. When it says OK, it means that it could succesfully initialize your modem and it's ready to dial. Just type atdt [ISP tel no] to dial your ISP's telephone. Login as usual and press CTRL+A+Q to exit minicom without resetting.

Invoking the PPP daemon
Simply type pppd -d -detach /dev/cuaX to invoke your PPP daemon. The X at the end of the command is the place where your modem is. If your modem is at Com1 at MS-DOS then it's at cua0 at Linux. I know that it is hard to type this command line before it gets disconnected. The you can make an alias in your .bashrc (in case you use bash shell) file. If you get trouble making an alias please let me know, I'll try to help.