SBC with Linux: Do I need Windows?

I signed up with SBC Yahoo DSL the other day. Today my modem arrived. It came
with a yellow CD that runs only on Windows, not Linux (obviously). There were
no other instructions in the package..... like username, passwords etc.

I bought a Linksys 4-port router.

I believe I know how to set up Slackware 9.1 for DSL (have done research) and
will do so when they activate the line (next week).

Question: Will I need to install this on Windows, use the CD, in order to
activate the account? I sure as hell hope not. But I've read older posts
saying this is necessary!

Will I get more stuff in the (snail) mail?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Al

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
"A-B C." <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:
>
> I signed up with SBC Yahoo DSL the other day. Today my modem arrived. It came
> with a yellow CD that runs only on Windows, not Linux (obviously). There were
> no other instructions in the package..... like username, passwords etc.
>
> I bought a Linksys 4-port router.

Your router removes the details of DSL configuration from your computer's
configuration. With the router in play, you configure your computer as for
a LAN. Tell the computer to use DHCP for IP address assignment and stick
the CD you got in the microwave for a pretty light show (if you like).

The trick then becomes configuring the router for DSL. I'm unfamiliar
with the specific variety you're getting, but most home DSL providers
today use PPPoE. Chances are your installer (if they're sending one in
person) will have a username and password, or perhaps they're sending
that to you in another package. If not, you'll need to call and ask about
that. OTOH, it's possible that your provider is using DHCP to assign IP
addresses, in which case you'd configure the router to use DHCP on the
WAN side. Many business and some high-end residential DSL accounts use
static IP addresses, in which case you'll need to know what IP address to
use, along with associated information like the netmask and the router
that's upstream from yours.

> Question: Will I need to install this on Windows, use the CD, in order to
> activate the account? I sure as hell hope not. But I've read older posts
> saying this is necessary!

It's conceivable that your ISP is using some funky Windows-only
activation software. That certainly was not common 2-3 years ago, but it
may have become more common now. If that's what they're doing, you'll
need to install it in Windows, bypass your Linksys router, activate the
account, then stick the router back into the configuration and somehow
extract your information from the Windows system and put it into the
router's configuration screens.

In the end, this is an ISP-specific issue. If you were dealing with a
company that has decent customer support, I'd say to call them and ask.
Unfortunately, customer support in such issues these days all too often
consists of a clueless person in India reading from a troubleshooting
script that makes far too many assumptions.

You might try posting your query to comp.dcom.xdsl; the people over there
may be more likely to know the details of SBC/Yahoo's account activation
requirements.

--
Rod Smith, (E-Mail Removed)
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux, FreeBSD, and networking

A-B C. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I signed up with SBC Yahoo DSL the other day. Today my modem arrived.
> It came with a yellow CD that runs only on Windows, not Linux
> (obviously). There were no other instructions in the package..... like
> username, passwords etc.
>
> I bought a Linksys 4-port router.
>
> I believe I know how to set up Slackware 9.1 for DSL (have done
> research) and will do so when they activate the line (next week).
>
> Question: Will I need to install this on Windows, use the CD, in order
> to activate the account? I sure as hell hope not. But I've read older
> posts saying this is necessary!

I used sbc yahoo dsl for a year on slackware. When I did my activation
and configuration, I used the instructions for MacOS. Maybe you can
find those on the support site. The activation was done by form on the
web, where I created a username/password and received a set of IP
addresses. The modem shouldn't need any special kernel modules to
support the hardware, so the windows cd is basically a frisbee.

jag
--
Jeremy A. Gray
(E-Mail Removed)

"Remember the Pueblo." -- the Fourth Law of Marvin

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004, A-B C. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I signed up with SBC Yahoo DSL the other day. Today my modem arrived. It came
> with a yellow CD that runs only on Windows, not Linux (obviously). There were
> no other instructions in the package..... like username, passwords etc.

You set your desired username and password when you register. Either use
MAC instructions or look for something in FAQs of one of the SBC related
forums on http://www.dslreports.com/ alias
http://www.broadbandreports.com/

> I bought a Linksys 4-port router.

Once you register, you can set the PPPoE login up on the Linksys, using
full e-mail address for login name.

> I believe I know how to set up Slackware 9.1 for DSL (have done research) and
> will do so when they activate the line (next week).

If you use the Linksys, all you will need to do for Linux is configure
dhcp, or private static IP, gateway, nameservers. Although, I am using
SuSE for my pppoe connection and doing my own DNS (bind9) with
forward/reverse zones added for my LAN.

> Question: Will I need to install this on Windows, use the CD, in order to
> activate the account? I sure as hell hope not. But I've read older posts
> saying this is necessary!

They were clueless. If you cannot figure it out, you can call them to
register. Then you can use any standard PPPoE, browser, or e-mail program
(one that can do standard SMTP AUTH for outgoing mail). I have been using
either web mail or knode for SBC related mail (either directly, or also
figured how to have sendmail or postfix relay through their authenticated
outgoing smtp).

--
David Efflandt - All spam ignored http://www.de-srv.com/