You start it by typing "pppd" (as root) at the command line.
But it probably won't work very well if you do just that; you need to
provide some information to it via command-line switches. All the available
switches are described in the man page for pppd, and here is an example
startup line with the key ones:
pppd debug lock modem crtscts /dev/modem 38400 asyncmap 20A0000
escape FF kdebug 0 0.0.0.0:0.0.0.0 noipdefault
netmask 255.255.255.0 defaultroute connect chatscript
(I've broken it into several lines for readability in e-mail, but the above
would be all on one line, either entered at the command prompt or in a shell
script.) The IP addresses and netmask above assume that the ISP will assign
addresses dynamically when the connection starts; if your setup is
different, you'll need to replace those with the right information.
"chatscript" needs to be replaced with the name of a file that tells the
"chat" dialer how to make a connection. An example can probably be found on
your system in /etc/ppp/ppp-on-dialer (at least my Slackware system has one
there).
The PPP HowTo (and the Slackware standard install for ppp) has an example of
a "ppp-on" shell script that initiates a ppp connection from the command
line. You customize it by providing about 8 values -- all things you'd
expect to have to provide, like userid, password, telephone number, and, if
appropriate, IP addresses.
There are nicer ways to run pppd, using X-based controls or dialers that
work in the background and set up connections on demand. If you're just
starting, though, this is a good approach, because it leads you to
understand what is going on, increasing your ability to debug the fancier
methods.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
At 06:05 AM 4/27/99 EDT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>ok, an even stupider question, how do you start pppd (i obviously must be
>doing something wrong)...
>thanks for all the responses so far...
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
762 Garland Drive
Palo Alto, CA 94303-3603
650.328.4219 voice [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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