[vox-tech] PPP problems; need help over phone or housecall (Sacramento)

[Peter Jay Salzman]

On Wed 21 Jul 04,  8:37 AM, Dave Margolis <margolid at ecs.csus.edu> said:
> Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
> >On Wed 21 Jul 04,  8:15 AM, Dave Margolis <margolid at ecs.csus.edu> said:
> >
> >>Henry House wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>På tisdag, 20 juli 2004, skrev Dave Margolis:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>Bill,
> >>>>
> >>>>If I remember correctly from some other thread, Margo lives across the 
> >>>>street from where I work (CSUS).  If she's got a laptop, she can run 
> >>>>over and see me - and at an actual helpdesk!
> >>>>
> >>>>I wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon or help her after work 
> >>>>tonight, but if she can come over here tomorrow morning...
> >>>>
> >>>>Happen to know what kind of machine she has?  Should I call her, or 
> >>>>wait and see if someone else can help her today?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>If you do help her on behalf of LUGOD, please be sure to use the LERT
> >>>Release form. Thanks.
> >>>
> >>>http://www.lugod.org/documents/releases/lert_release.txt
> >>>
> >>
> >>well I gave her a call just to see if i could point her in the right 
> >>direction.  she's using some kind of mini-distribution that runs off a 
> >>floppy disk (i don't recall the name).  the nature of her problem is a 
> >>little beyond me as she's trying to run ppp via manually configured chat 
> >>scripts.
> >>
> >>i asked her if she could use wvdial (and also mentioned that kppp is 
> >>really easy), but she doesn't have the ability to run those types of 
> >>programs as long as she's using the floppy distro, which she plans on 
> >>using until she's ready to do a regular linux install.  "ready" means 
> >>making a successful backup of her dos partition.
> >>
> >>she had the ppp howto in front of her and i reminded her to check file 
> >>permissions/ownership in /etc/ppp which she had already done.
> >>
> >>i defer this one to anybody who's more familiar with "manual" ppp.
> >>
> >>dave
> >
> >
> >that's how i used to use ppp -- using chat scripts.  way before KDE ever
> >came out.  ;)  but i'm a little far away...
> >
> >dave, when you say floppy distribution, are you being literal about the
> >word "floppy"?  i haven't played with a modem for years, but wouldn't be
> >the least surprised if knoppix did a good job in making modem
> >connections.  they've done a good job in all other areas!
> >
> >i'm picturing her using tom's rescue floppy.  if she's unwilling to
> >"upgrade" to a CD based distro, then, well...
> >
> >even better, she can turn her system into a real debian based system
> >using knoppix as well; no muss, no fuss!
> >
> >pete
> >
> 
> I did advise her that there are more modern ways to "try" Linux without 
> effecting one's hard-drive.  She seemed very commited to the floppy distro 
> (and yes from what I could tell she was running it from a floppy).

If you want to light a fire and someone offers you a match, but you
insist on using flintrock, you better be prepared to sit there for a few
hours and figure it out yourself.

Using a floppy based distro to check out what Linux can do is like
checking out a rickshaw to see what features a sports car has to offer.

> She says her eventual plan is to install Gentoo, and she seems to have her 
> various howto documents and plan of attack in order.
 
I'm confused about something.  Bill said she couldn't post a request for
help because she doesn't have net connectivity.  But if she has Windows
on her hard drive, doesn't she have net connectivity?

Pete

-- 
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