PPP Troubleshooting on the BeOS Preview Release

This document is a troubleshooting guide which attempts to answer some of themajor questions that people have been having surrounding PPP under the BeOSPreview Release. It is quite incomplete, but hopefully it will give you someguidance insolving your problem with PPP.

This document is aimed at people using the BeOS Preview Release. If youare still using the DR8 release of the BeOS, check the guidelines for troubleshooting PPP under DR8 instead.

This page was last updated on July 23, 1997.

Please note that this document does not attempt to explain creating aPPP interface under the BeOS. The BeOS User's Guide, inthe section titled "NetworkInterfaces for Modem Connections" explains this process.

If, after using the instructions to create a PPP Networkinterface, you are still having problems, it's time to start working ontroubleshooting. Generally, PPP problems (and solutions) can be broken down tothese areas:

• You're not quite sure how to use PPP
• Broken or Incorrectly wired modem cable
• Unsupported modem (GeoPort or Express Modem, TelePort GoldII)
• Serial port busy ("can't open /dev/serial1" message)
• Unresponsive modem or modems do not connect
• Modems connect, authentication fails
• Other problems and techniques to try to solve them

Note: Some of the suggestions below require you to edit variousnetwork settings files manually. Whenever you edit any of these files, you needto openthe Network settings application, and click the "Restart Networking" button forthe changes you've made to the settings to actually take effect.

Caution: More importantly, you need to back up any network settingsfile whenever you make manual changes. This is because if you ever make andsave changes using the Network preferences application, the settingsfile may be overwritten, and your manual changes will be lost.

You're Not Sure How to Use PPP

The BeOS User's Guide for the Preview Release is available on the Be web site,in the Documentation section:

http://www.be.com/documentation/index.html

The relevant section to read for details of connecting your BeOS system to theInternet, including via a PPP connection, are in chapter 4 "Connecting the BeOSto the Internet," in the section "NetworkInterfaces for Modem Connections." You should definitely read the entirechapter, and particularly that section, to understand certain concepts aboutconnecting BeOS systems to the Internet.

Here are a few quick tips about PPP that you might miss in the new User'sGuide:

• The Connect application has nothing to do with PPP, and in fact can causecontention with PPP over the use of the serial (modem) port. See the FAQ on Connect for details.

• You initiate a PPP connection by using a network tool to connect to anon-local service, for example, clicking the Be Home Page link inNetPositive.

• If your service provider is using the CHAP authentication protocol (theirdocumentation should tell you this), you cannot use PPP on the BeOS with thatprovider. The BeOS is not compatible with CHAP at this time. Ask your provider ifthey can support the PAP protocol in addition or instead.

Bad or Incorrect Modem Cable

It is possible that your modem cable is bad, or not wired correctly. A modernmodem cable is required for PPP to work properly. The cable should wire the RTS,CTS, and DTR lines. Many older cables do not correctly wire all of theselines.

If you suspect that your modem cable could be bad, or incorrectly wired,borrow a friend's cable, or buy a new one at a store on the condition that youcan return it if it doesn't solve your problem. Connect your modem using the newcable, and try your PPP connection again.

Unsupported Modem

The following modems are unsupported on the BeOS:

• Apple GeoPort Telecom Adapter Pod (GeoPort "Modem")
• Apple Express Modem
• Global Village TelePort Gold II

If you are trying to use PPP with any of these modems, you will be unable tomake it work. These are not true modems in the sense that portions of the modemhardware are emulated in software. This software runs under the Mac OS, butequivalent software has not (yet) been written for the BeOS.

Further details regarding why thesemodems do not work under the BeOS can be found in the FAQ section of the website, if you're interested.

Serial Port Busy

• You tried to use Connect to start PPP (which it won't do), and now Connecthas tied up the serial port.

  In this case, you can try quitting Connect and attempt to connect usingNetPositive. If that doesn't work, try restarting your machine, and then attemptthe connection in NetPositive.

• Your serial port is being tied up by the serial debug output.

  In this case, you should try connecting your modem to the other serial port onyour Mac. After plugging the modem into the other serial port, try yourconnection using NetPositive.

Unresponsive Modem

If you are not getting a dial tone when you try to initiate a PPP connection,or if your modem cannot connect to your ISP's modem, the problem is most likelyan incorrect modem initialization string.

Different modems require different initialization strings. These strings setthe modem to the correct configuration for establishing the connection withthe service at the other end of the phone line. You choose the modem string byselecting your modem (brand and model) from the Modem pop-up menu in the PPPconfiguration panel dialog of the Network preferences application.

If you do not find your modem in the pop-up menu, or if your modem is therebut does not seem to work, you will need to edit the file that contains theinitialization strings, and add a new modem/string combination to the file. Thisprocess is very simple:

1. Open the /boot/beos/etc/modems.ppp text file by opening it with theStyledEdit application.

2. Add a new blank line to the file. Putting it at the beginning makes iteasy to get to in the (very long) menu.

3. Type the name of the modem/string combo, without spaces (for example,"Global_Village_Custom_288").

4. Type a space.

5. Type the initialization string for this modem (say, "AT&F1", which workson my GVC TelePort Platinum).

6. Save your changes and close the file.

7. Return to the Network preferences application and choose the new modem inthe Modem pop-up menu.

8. Restart networking.

9. Attempt your connection.

To help you determine what initialization string to use, details regarding thesettings which must be enabled or disabled on your modem can be found in the BeOSUser's Guide: Changing the Modem Initialization String (even if theinstructions for how to do it are incorrect, the string you build will be thesame).

If you cannot find the initialization string for your modem in the modemstring listing file, or the one you found doesn't work correctly, try using aninitializationstring for a different modem made by the same manufacturer.

If even that fails, try looking for the initialization string in a connectionscript that successfully uses the modem on the Mac OS side (or on a Mac or PCusing that modem temporarily,should you be using a BeBox).

Modems Connect, Authentication Fails

If your modem is in fact connecting to your ISP's modem pool, but theconnection is notgetting past the authentication process, then you most likely have an incorrect(for your ISP's particular PPP server) PPP connection script. This script ischosen by the Server Type pop-up menu of the PPP connection settings dialog.

The PPP connection script handles sending your name and password (andsometimes aconnection protocol request) to the remote PPP server, in response to theserver's prompts. It works quite simply, waiting for the server to sendparticular strings, and then sending other strings back to the server.

The first thing to try is changing the Server Type to either "Standard PPP" or"Unix login", whichever one you don't have chosen now. "Standard PPP"tells the BeOS to use PAP to log you in; "Unix login" uses amore traditional Unix style method to log in. If neither of those works, try anyother options you see, in order, except for the "Manual" option.

Unfortunately, there is no universal script that will work with allPPP servers. The default scripts that come with the BeOS will work for many PPPservers,but not all. If none of the scripts work with your service provider, you can usethe "Manual" option, and log in manually every time, or you can write your ownPPP connection script.

There are no easy steps to follow to do this, so we can only give you guidanceregarding writing a PPP connection script.You will need to either learn a fair amount about PPP login procedures, or workwith your ISP's technical support group, todetermine the exact script to use.

You will probably find checking the "Display chat when connecting" checkboxto be extremely helpful in determining what your PPP connection script should be.Thiswill give you a small terminal window that appears when you connect, which willlet you seeexactly what the server is sending, and what the BeOS is sending back (whichmight not be working), and more importantly, it will let you figure out what theBeOS should be sending.

PPP connection scripts are stored in a text file, located at/boot/beos/etc/servers.ppp, and can be modified byusing the StyledEdit application. Each line of the servers.ppp file is a singlePPP connection script, and each script contains space-separated strings(send-string expect-string send-string expect-string...). For example, the"Unix login" PPP connection script is:

\T\e ogin:\s \d\u assword: \d\w\r\S

Explanation:

1. \T\e -- display the terminal window, and don't senda return, this is a do-nothing line
2. ogin:\s -- wait for the string "ogin:<space>"to be sentfrom the server
3. \d\u -- delay one second, then send the username(and the implied carriage return)
4. assword: -- wait for the string "assword:"
5. \d\w\r\S -- delay one second, then send thepassword, a carriage return, and then start the actual PPP session

Here are the special "escape codes", or tokens, which let you insert specialcharacters or character strings into the modem initialization string or the PPPconnection script (case matters with these, beware the upper and lower case"s"/"S" and "n"/"N" tokens!):

\s  --  a space\n  --  a newline (linefeed)\r  --  a carriage return\e  --  don't enter a carriage return after the send string\d  --  delay for one second\S  --  end login sequence and start PPP protocol\N  --  do nothing, go to next item in script\T  --  start up a terminal window (display and write)\#  --  a hashmark (reserved to allow comments in theservers.ppp file)\p  --  inserts the PHONE_NUMBER into the string\u  --  inserts the USERNAME into the string\w  --  inserts the PASSWORD into the string

\T starts up a terminal window. This window will show youthe login sequence as it happens, and it accepts keyboard input and has a "StartPPP" button, so you can manually start up PPP. This is extremely useful, forexample, if you need to enter a security code which changes for each login.

The \e token might seem unnecessary, but you need thissometimes because normally a carriage return will be sent automatically after asend string (for example, after the USERNAME), and sometimes you don't wantthat (though that is unusual).

Likewise the \N token, but it is sometimes useful if youare expecting two strings from the server, for example, and you don't want tosend anything in between.

Note: The modem initialization string and the PPP connection scriptboth separate each string with aspace. If you need to actually send a command that includes spaces, you need to"escape" them using the \s!

Other Problems and Problem-SolvingTechniques

It is possible that your ISP is using dial-uphardware which does not implement its PPP support completely to thespecification. In this case, your modems would connect, but then nothing wouldhappen.

Or perhaps you are having other problems that are not dealt with specificallyhere. Before you send in a request to Be's customer support department, you might trythe following (we'll ask you to try it when you contact us):

• After making sure that you have no network connections active ortransfers in progress, click the Restart Networking button in the Networkpreferences application. If the BeOS tells you networking cannot be restarted,you need to reboot your machine. Then try your PPP connection again.

• Try different baud rate settings for your modem (the Speed pop-up menuin the Serial Settings for a PPP connection). 19200 is a good one to try first.Trying speeds faster and slower than your modem can support is a good idea.

• Check the "Display chat when connecting" checkbox in the DebugSettings for a PPP connection. This will open a small terminal window where youcan see the progress of your connection. You may see an obvious mistake, or morelikely, you'll find information that will help you modify your Server Settingsscript, or help us track down your problem.

• If all else fails, we will probably ask you to check the "Log allbytes sent/received" checkbox in the Debug Settings for a PPP connection, andthen have you send us the resulting log files to look at. These log files will belocated at /boot/var/log/ppp-read.log and /boot/var/log/ppp-write.log, and theywill tell us everything that happened between your modem and your ISP, which mayhelp us diagnose the difficulty.