Catch-22: DNS <=> Comcast registration

My saga with Comcast continues. I learned from the Comcast TS
folks that my account won't be active until I register, something
that Windows users do effortlessly by inserting the CD and following
instructions. (I was surprised to learn about registration
requirement only now, given that I have sent in many posts about
my inability to get Comcast to work, and no responder ever mentioned
the issue of registration; I have to assume that either registration
is not always required, or else this requirement was put in place
only very recently).

According to the TS guy, the registration can be done only through
a web browser. He told me that I would have access to "only one
website", namely the entrypoint to the registration process, which
in my case is http://sas.ne1.attbb.net. When I tried that address
it did not work, because my DNS connection was blocked, but I
succeeded in connecting to the site when I entered the corresponding
numeric address in my browser's URL field. This was a minor victory:
the first external connection I've managed to make with this modem,
but it got me only so far, because subsequent registration steps
invoke server-side scripts that all use non-numeric URLs; when my
browser attempted to respond to these directives it failed for lack
of DNS access... Catch-22: no DNS without registration, no
registration without DNS.

At this point the TS guy cowered behind the "Linux is not supported"
mantra. I tried to explain to him that this situation was not
Linux specific: a Windows machine would also need to have DNS access
to complete the registration procedure. I tried to get him to
explain to me how DNS access worked in the case of a Windows machine,
but the guy only knew about the exact sequence of steps to perform
on a Windows machine, without understanding the meaning of these
steps, and couldn't answer any question outside this narrow scope.

My dhcpcd-eth0.info file has the entry

DNS=204.127.202.19,216.148.227.79

I don't know where these came from, but I assume they are Comcast's
DNS addresses.

Is there anyway out of this mess?

Thanks!

-Jill

All of this sounds extremely annoying. When I call Comcast now, I don't
even say the word Linux. I just fire up my vestigial copy of Win2K, and
work there for the duration of the call.

Anyway, try putting the following into /etc/resolv.conf:

nameserver 204.127.202.19
nameserver 216.148.227.79

That should be enough to get your DNS working until you complete the
registration. The registration is new, as far as I'm aware. I don't think
it has any technical basis-- all you should need is your DHCP client to get
up and running. When I signed up with them I threw out the Windows setup
disk and got my Linux network up using just DHCP.

Good luck,
Andrew.

On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 13:59:03 -0400, Andrew Schulman <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>registration. The registration is new, as far as I'm aware. I don't think
>it has any technical basis-- all you should need is your DHCP client to get
>up and running. When I signed up with them I threw out the Windows setup
>disk and got my Linux network up using just DHCP.

I think it depends upon where you live. Comcast is a mis-mash of different
cable systems they have bought.

I think that, in my area, access is granted to specific cable modems and the
setup process associates your cable modem with your account. However, I have no
proof of that.

J Krugman wrote:

<snip>
>
> My dhcpcd-eth0.info file has the entry
>
> DNS=204.127.202.19,216.148.227.79
>
> I don't know where these came from, but I assume they are Comcast's
> DNS addresses.
>
> Is there anyway out of this mess?
Quite possibly. Check your /etc/resolv.conf for nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
entries. If none exist, substitute those values above with one per line
nameserver xxx
nameserver xxx
and you should be alright.
> Thanks!

> -Jill