ISDN For Users

So far, only 'root' can open and close connections. This may be a bit awkward, so let's change this.
As 'root' create a new user group, called 'net' (or any other name). Use Linuxconf via DrakConf ('User accounts' - 'Group definitions' - 'Add'. Enter the new group name and the accounts which should be able to dial-out). Or simply edit '/etc/group':

old:
radio:x:83:
nobody:x:99:
new:
radio:x:83:
net:x:84:tom
nobody:x:99:

Now you need to change some permissions:

chgrp net /dev/isdninfo /dev/isdnctrl* /sbin/isdnctrl
chmod g=rw /dev/isdninfo /dev/isdnctrl*

/sbin/isdnctrl dial ippp0

(Note the prefixed path. The '/sbin' directory is not part of a users $PATH.). If everything's working fine, you may place a 'connect' and 'disconnect' icon on your desktop. In KDE, you would do it like this:

1. Right-click on desktop. Choose 'New' - 'Application'
2. Enter a name for the kdelnk-file (e.g. dial.kdelnk)
3. In the new box, labeled 'kfm', go to the 'Execute' tab and enter the complete command line.
4. (Optionally) Klick on the icon and choose an icon.
5. Repeat for hangup.

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Dial On Demand

You will note that setting the dial mode to 'auto' in '/etc/isdn/profile/link/myisp' alone doesn't turn 'dial on demand' on.
This is because there is no default route yet via which network packages are sent. They can't find the ippp0 interface and therefore don't trigger a dial.
You can change this by setting the default route with

route add default ippp0

Attention! There is always a certain amount of networking going on in GNU/Linux. Watch the line very closely for unwanted dial-ups (you can do this with the supplied program 'xisdnload' or its K-clone 'kisdnload')! Read section 22 of the isdn4linux FAQ on how to hunt these down.

If your provider allocates IP dynamically, the default route will be deleted upon closing the uplink. To prevent this, create a new file called 'ip-down.local' in '/etc/ppp':

#!/bin/bash
/sbin/route add default ippp0

and make it executable (chmod +x).

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Troubleshooting

Scan '/var/log/messages' for ipppd entries.

Generate more verbose logs:

• Run isdnctrl verbose 3. The output goes to '/var/log/messages'.
• Edit '/etc/syslog.conf' and add:

  daemon.* /var/log/ippp-log
  

  This will write all ippp-messages to the file /var/log/ippp-log.

Read the page on PPP-troubleshooting, some items are applicable to ippp, too.

Read the isdn4linux FAQ! It is very exhaustive and detailed. You will find a local copy in '/usr/share/doc/isdn4k-utils-[...]/'

Send your question to the isdn4linux mailing list. You can subscribe to it by sending an email to majordomo@listserv.isdn4linux.de with this line in the body of the message:
subscribe isdn4linux [your email address]
List languages are English and German.

Visit the 'Links' page on the isdn4linux home page. It lists further international resources.

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An ISDN-Dialer

Apart from making your own 'Connect/Disconnect' icons or menu entries, there is at least one dedicated dialer, wmisdn. 'wmisdn' can be run as a 'dockapp' in Window Maker or Afterstep, or as a standalone program. It dials and hangs up with a simple mouse click and shows the current connection status. Despite its low version number it compiles and runs flawlessly.

The programmer suggests to run it 'setuid root' (read the pages on permissions, if you don't know what that is). But if you've set up the permissions like I've explained, you don't need to do that.

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