asked on

Sorry, but can you clarify what is your problem and your confioguration?

I don't understand the first column (YES, YES, NO) what that info means?

Regards

jcwinnie

ASKER

Sorry, the columns are screwy in the post. What I am trying to show are the task I want to accomplish with a home network and whether I have had any success todate. The answers (e.g., yes, no, unknown) appear before the task.

Since first trying to establish a home network, all machines have been able to ping 127.0.0.1 successfully. Sometimes I have been able to ping the other machines. At present, no.

I hope this makes better sense. Essentially, I want a homw network that is mixed Windows and Linux to share files, a dial-up Internet connection and printer on the Win98 tower.

Gabriel Orozco

Ok. this is what I understand:
1.- you have a lot of protocols. delete all of them and
keep only tcp/ip. it will make your network faster
and with less errors once everything works with this
setup.

2.- tower will stand for the win98se tower
laptop will stand for the win98 laptop
linux for the linux box.

this is the diagram as I understend.

internet --- tower +- laptop (192.168.0.2/24)
|
+- linux (192.168.0.3/24)

tower being (192.168.0.1/24) in the internal side.

------------------
ok. please add a default route to your linux box, as follows
route add -net default gw 192.168.0.1
and if this works, then either run setup or configure the files yourself in /etc/configuration/if-eth0 i believe.

also add your DNS to the file /etc/resolv.conf like this
nameserver 148.201.1.1

(use yours)

------------------
in laptop, add the default route to be 192.168.0.1, and also the dns of your ISP whichever it is. I use in Mexico 148.201.1.1 but that of your ISP is nearer and faster.
------------------
in the linux box, you use smbclient and smbmount to connect to your win98 files. this is very easy and running those commands without parameters will show you what to do.

tip: you need an empty subdirectory where to mount the windows shares, and that's all.
I use /mnt and I always create with the same name of the share, a subdir, like
mkdir /mnt/myshare
then
smbmount //tower/myshare /mnt/myshare -o username=me,password=mypassword

and that's all.

hope this helps

jcwinnie

ASKER

Yes, your diagram reflects the simple home network that I am trying to establish.

I do not understand in your comment the statement: "in laptop, add the default route to be 192.168.0.1." The laptop is Win98SE.

Gabriel Orozco

I was meaning the "gateway" to be 192.168.0.1

te gateway it's always your "deafult route" :)

right click in "network neighborhood" and then in configure, and then in tcp/ip in the network card item, and then check your gateway. Even while it accept you to enter more than one gateway, it only uses one. so let only 192.168.0.1 and you'll be fine.

jcwinnie

ASKER

I followed the first part of the suggestion, to delete extraneous protocols. After deleting NetBEUI and IPX/SPX-compatible, the computer disappeared from Network Neighborhood. This seemed to be a step backward, rather than forward.

jcwinnie

ASKER

I followed the instruction, "ok. please add a default route to your linux box, as follows route add -net default gw 192.168.0.1" I received a message that file exists.

On the RH Linux 8.0 tower I went to Network Setting and added a route:

Network: 192.168.0.0
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.0.1

This did not seem to help anything.

jcwinnie

ASKER

I re-established the other protocols and the tower reappeared in Network Neighborhood. So back to where I was; each machine can ping itself (loopback test) but none will talk to the another PC on the network.

On the two Win98SE machines, only the host machine appears in Network Neighborohood. I have never been able to get the Linux machine to appear in Network Neighborhood.

Gabriel Orozco

ho... I was in the understanding that you wanted every computer connected to the Win98SE host, but now it seems to be that every computer should appear.

sometimes in windows, if you do not enable the "sharing file and printer for microsoft networks" your computer will not appear in the network neighbourhood.

the other problem I can see is that the linux box will not appear if you do not setup samba and make it run.

for now concentrate on the win98SE Notebook:
make sure your gateway is the ip of the Win98SE host, that they are on the same subnet, and have, say, if host is 192.168.0.1, make the notebook to be 192.168.0.2

the fact that without the other protocols you weren't able to see the other computers is an advance. we know now that the whole problem is on the tcp/ip part.

afther this, enable internet connection sharing in your win98SE host, and the notebook should be able to access the internet (well, you must add your isp's dns to all computers in order for them to access internet by names, ok?)

please try this and then we can follow with the linux box.

jcwinnie

ASKER

I am not understanding your comment, "ho... I was in the understanding that you wanted every computer connected to the Win98SE host, but now it seems to be that every computer should appear."

I want, and was able previously to have, the laptop and Linux machine use the dial-up Internet connection established by the Win98SE tower. This is consistent with the diagram that you posted. I also want all machines to appear on the network. At present, loopback tests are suceesful on all machines; I am unable to ping another machine.

In response to your comment, "if you do not enable the 'sharing file and printer for microsoft networks' your computer will not appear in the Network Neighbourhood," as indicated in the diagnostic info provided, File and printer sharing are enabled for both Win98SE machines.

The printer is connected to the Win98SE tower, so file and printer sharing are enabled on that machine, whereas only file sharing is enabled on the laptop.

One of the goals stated in intial prospectus is to have the Linux machine be able to use the printer. Since this is a home network, I believe I can get away with using the Windows tower as the print server.

In response to your comment, "the other problem I can see is that the linux box will not appear if you do not setup samba and make it run," please know that the most current version of Samba is installed on the Linux machine.

"Making it run" is another story. I have used SWAT and Webmin to configure Samba. It is quite possible that I have not done this correctly as it is my first attempt. If necessary, I will provide info about existing Samba parameters, e.g., /etc/samba/smb.conf

"For now, concentrate on the win98SE Notebook:" Okay! First things first.

"Make sure that your gateway is the ip of the Win98SE host, that they are on the same subnet, and have, say, if host is 192.168.0.1, make the notebook to be 192.168.0.2"

Yes, I believe that most of this was provided in previous diagnostic info. Tower is 192.168.0.1; laptop is 192.168.0.2. After your previous note, I re-establised a Gateway on the laptop pointing to the tower (192.168.0.1), i.e. I clicked on Network Neighborhood and right-clicked Properties; selected TCP/IP Protocol and Gateway tab; and, added 192.168.0.1. This is the only gateway.

I am hesitant about your parethetical comment, "(well, you must add your isp's dns to all computers in order for them to access internet by names, ok?)" All instructions that I have read for establishing a Win98SE network advise leaving the DNS Configuration as is, i.e., with the "Disable DNS" radio button checked. Neither the tower nr the laptop have DNS activated.

jcwinnie

ASKER

Okay, at present, (this is after adding the Gateway to the laptop), I can browse Network Neighborhood on the tower. Icons for both the tower and laptop appear (but not for Linux machine); and, I can access laptop files from the tower.

From the laptop, I am unable to browse Network Neighborhood. The entire network icon appears, but no icons for any machine appear on the network.

In the past, it has been suggested that a firewall may be causing this problem. Nothing changes when I disable Zone Alarm Pro, which is the firewall I use on the Win98SE tower.

Zone Alarm is configured to trust the private network -- 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 and private IP addresses 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.3

I have made no changes to DNS on either Win98SE machine.

jcwinnie

ASKER

Here is an example of the transience:

I just did two other tasks on the tower: 1) I deactivated a startup task, tppadlr, to save favluable resources (everything wants to run in background and or the system tray); and 2) re-started my Internet connection using Windows 98DUN rather than the DUN provided by ATT Worldnet, my ISP, again to try and save resources. Then I rebooted.

On the tower, when I right-click Network Neigborhood - Explore, the icon for the tower appears. The icon for the laptop is no longer there. It was there five minutes ago!

This is an example; that is why in my initial post I stated if I previously had something working or not, and whether I did now.

Gabriel Orozco

recheck the tcp/ip parameters in the tower.

put the dns in all machines. simply don't take in accout that thing about not to setup dns.

check first that tcp/ip is working between computers.

notebook and linux should have 192.168.0.1 as gateway

check that notebook has the netmask in 255.255.255.0 (in fact, all computers should have that netmask in the internal interfaces)

then linux and notebook should appear again.

remember that the network neighborhood fills itself wit the broadcasts from all other computers, so wait a minute or so.

jcwinnie

ASKER

1. "Recheck the tcp/ip parameters in the tower." Done.

2. "Put the dns in all machines. simply don't take in account that thing about not to setup DNS." For both machines -- Host: localhost Domain: localdomain. Added 12.102.240.1 and 204.127.160.1.

3. "Check first that tcp/ip is working between computers." How? net diag works for IPX or NetBEUI.

4. "Notebook and linux should have 192.168.0.1 as gateway." They already did.

5. "Check that notebook has the netmask in 255.255.255.0 (in fact, all computers should have that netmask in the internal interfaces)." Yes.

"Then linux and notebook should appear again." No. On the tower and notebook, only the "Entire Network" globe icon appears after about a three minute search.

This would seem a step backward since when I first started both the tower and notebook icons appeared in tower's Network Neighborhood.

"Remember that the network neighborhood fills itself with the broadcasts from all other computers, so wait a minute or so." Or, press F5, or select refresh.

jcwinnie

ASKER

Ah hah! Perhaps, this is a clue. I read on a help site (www.pctechnicians.ca) the following advice:

1.Check to make sure the following network components are installed and enabled.

* Client for MS network. ("Yes.")
* File & printer sharing. ("Yes.")
* Tcp/Ip ("Yes")
* From Tcp\ip>> properties>> Advance>> Wins tab enable "netbios over Tcp/ip". ("No.")

On the tower AND the laptop, when I go to TCP/IP - Properties - NetBIOS, the checkbox to enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP is grayed out.

How do I enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP

jcwinnie

ASKER

Nope, not a clue! I had hoped it would lead to resolving the problem. I looked into Microsoft Support pages. As I understand it, with Win98 "enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" is default. It is not supposed to be changed. Shucks!

Gabriel Orozco

3. "Check first that tcp/ip is working between computers." How? net diag works for IPX or NetBEUI.

ping from one machine to the other. that is the basic tool to check conectivity in tcp/ip.

pls. check every host can ping each other.
ping 192.168.0.1
ping 192.168.0.2
ping 192.168.0.3

jcwinnie

ASKER

"pls. check every host can ping each other.
ping 192.168.0.1
ping 192.168.0.2
ping 192.168.0.3 "

As previously indicated, loopback (ping 127.0.0.1) works on all machines. pinging between machines fails.

jcwinnie

ASKER

I got outside help and a major part of this problem seems to have been resolved. The wonderful people at ATT Worldnet Customer Service got involved. After a very lengthy process, network functionality seems to be established.

An initial objective was to establish a home network and share an Internet Connection. When I installed ICS, I was unable to load a web page, so I looked for a workaround.

The workaround that I tried was using Zone Alarm Pro and AnalogX. At the same time I installed Hummingbird Socks v.7, because for a while I could load a web page on the client, but was unable to read mail.

In addressing the problem of transience, or intermittency, the ATT staff had me remove these other products. When I finally removed Hummingbird Socks, consistent network functionality seems to have been restored.

During this process, I learned that I was telling a falsehood, based upon a misperception. The laptop is a Win98 machine, rather than Win98SE as I previously indicated.

When network functionality was restored, the RH Linux 8.0 tower appeared in the Win98SE tower's Network Neighborhood for the very first time. So I believe I am well on the way to establishing file sharing using SAMBA.

First I want to be able to share an Internet connection.

jcwinnie

ASKER

BTW: Network functionality exists with only TCP/IP. I no longer have NetBEUI or IPX/SPX installed, so the original comments were "right on" even though they did not solve the problem.

Gabriel Orozco

Congratulations

we were no able to know you didn't have standard tcp/ip and the issue with the firewall. zonealarm blocks too much tings sometimes.

--
as for the linux box:
just assume you have your linux box connected to the internet using your eth0, and eth1 is your LAN:

rmmod ipchains (just in case it's loaded)
modprobe iptables (just in case it's not loaded)
iptables -P INPUT DROP
iptables -A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -i eth1 -j ACCEPT
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

then test and come back with the rest of what you want to do.

jcwinnie

ASKER

Hmm, the test was bad. I wanted to be able to share the Internet connection on the host -- 192.168.0.1.

After changing my firewall from ipchains to iptables and establishing a configuration file -- /etc/sysconfig/iptables, I am unable to ping the host, nor am I able to connect to the Internet through the host.

The other concern about your instructions is whether the lack of OUTPUT Chain rules will allow sppofing.

jcwinnie

ASKER

Not only was I unable to share an Internet connection, but also when I connected directly, the browser was unable to resolve the address.

I stopped iptables and restored ipchains and was able to get here.

Obviously, I did something wrong. The following is the script that I ran:

# firescript.sh created 20021207 -- Jonathan Smith
# Establish firewall rules for iptables per
# Chris Negus -- Red Hat Linux 7.3 Bible, pp. 549-550
# Amended by REMINDO

rmmod ipchains
modprobe iptables

# (1) Policies
iptables -P INPUT DROP
iptables -P OUTPUT DROP
iptables -P FORWARD DROP

# (2) INPUT Chain rules

#Rules for incoming packets from LAN
iptables -A INPUT -i lo -s 127.0.0.1 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -i lo -s 192.168.0.3 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -i eth1 -s 192.168.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -i eth1 -d 192.168.0.255 -j ACCEPT

#Packets for established connection

#UDP rules

# (3) FORWARD Chain rules
iptables -A FORWARD -i eth1 -j ACCEPT

# (4) OUTPUT Chain rules
iptables -A OUTPUT -p ALL -s 127.0.0.1 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A OUTPUT -p ALL -s 192.168.0.3 -j ACCEPT

# (5) POSTROUTING Chain rules
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

jcwinnie

ASKER

This morning, with the Linux machine shutdown but connected to the network, the Windows machines are talking AND, besides being able to share files and printer, I am able to use the Internet on the laptop through the tower host. Everything that I have asked for from the two Windows 98 machines!

This makes me suspect that the Linux firewall may have something to do with the whole problem. (The other possibility is an intermittent problem with the brand new, Netgear USB External adpater that I have on the laptop.) I still want to be able to use the Internet on the Linux machine through the Windows host. So, if the two Windows peers continue to talk with one another through several restart cycles, I will bring up the Linux machine, shut off the firewall, and see if I can use the Internet on the
Linux machine through the Windows host.

To have the network providing the service for which I started the project, I still want to be able to use the
printer on the Windows tower from the Linux machine, and share and back-up files across all three machines.

File and printer sharing between Windows and Linux calls for SAMBA, which I have installed and configured on the Linux machine. I have postponed testing / tweaking SAMBA since there was an absence of network functionality.

Lastly, the removal of Zone Alarm from the Windows tower, and, if necessary, deactivation of the Linux firewall, means leaving my home network vulnerable to Internet crackers, so I would appreciate recommendations on how I could maintain network functionality, assuming the problem of intermittency is resolved, yet improve network security.

jcwinnie

ASKER

Without starting the Linux machine or touching / tweaking the network at all, I lost it. The laptop went missing.

I am beginning to suspect highly the Netgear FA101 External USB adapter that connects the laptop to my home network. It is brand new, so I have not thought previously that it could be the source of the intermittency.

Gabriel Orozco

me to.

for the firewall: delete "iptables" from every row, and try again.

jcwinnie

ASKER

Well, for the file iptables, yes; but, for a script to create the rules, no.

jcwinnie

ASKER

I appreciate all of the effort to remedy the problem(s) that I had. It took perseverance plus expertise on the part of AT&T Electronic Customer Care.

I seem to have a functional network. To recap, the essential problem was with the Netgear FA101 USB External adapter attached to the laptop. (I am going to switch to a Linksys PCM200 PCMCIA Fast Ethernet Cardbus.)

Most likely, I had complicated unnecessarily this problem with my ICS workaround, i.e. Zone Alarm Pro, AnalogX and Hummingbird Socks. It took completely uninstalling these and getting Microsoft ICS to work before the adapter problem became apparent.

Now I am only running the TCP/IP protocol on the Win98SE host, Windows 98 laptop client and Redhat Linux 8.0 client. On the Windows machines, TCP/IP->NIC is set as the default protocol. The clients have the host set as a gateway and DNS configured, to include the host IP address.

I'm now ready to tackle the intricacies of Samba. I want to be able to:

- Browse/access files on the Windows machines from the Linux machine

- Browse/access files on the Linux machine from the Windows machine

- Enable programs on the Linux machine to print to the Epson 740 Color printer attached to the Windows tower

- Backup files on all three machines using the tape drive on the Windows tower

The current version of Samba is installed on the Linux machine and I am able to configure it, either using Webmin and/or SWAT web administration tools.

The following is my current smb.conf:

# Samba config file created using SWAT
# from 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
# Date: 2002/12/10 08:12:22

# Global parameters
[global]
log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log
passwd chat = *New*password* %n\n *Retype*new*password* %n\n *passwd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*successfully*
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_SNDBUF=8192 SO_RCVBUF=8192
obey pam restrictions = Yes
encrypt passwords = Yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
dns proxy = No
netbios name = XXXXXXX
printing = cups
server string = Samba Server
path = /usr/share/doc
unix password sync = Yes
remote announce = 192.168.0.1/SAM 192.168.0.2/SAM
workgroup = XXX
default service = global
max log size = 0
pam password change = Yes

[homes]
comment = Home Directories
valid users = %S
read only = No
create mask = 0664
directory mask = 0775
browseable = No

[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
printable = Yes
browseable = No

[Amalaki]
comment = Samba File Server on Linux Machine
path = /smb/shared
read only = No
hosts allow = 127.0.0.1, 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2, 192.168.0.3

[tmp]
comment = Established to diagnose
path = /tmp

[//192.168.0.2/C]
comment = Win documents on SecondPC
path = /My Documents

[//192.168.0.1/C]
comment = Win documents on FirstPC
path = /My Documents

[Epson]
printable = Yes

jcwinnie

ASKER

UPS delivered the Linksys PCM200. It was simple to install in an empty PCMCIA slot on the laptop. I now have a consistent network connection.

I also have achieve Samba-ness, thanks to AT&T Electronic Customer Care. A rep showed me how to rename the shares on the Windows clients. With that change, the existing Samba configuration kicked in and I was good to go!

I may revisit firewall intricacies (ipchains versus iptables) at a later date in a new thread.

Gabriel Orozco

What I want to tell you is that we would be better support if we had known about your non-estandard socks modules, and that you were blocking tcp/ip traffic with zone alarm.

I hope you already solved your problems, and I will be ready to help you if it is on my hands, but please give us some info with we can understand your situation and then help you better.

Regards.

Computer101

A request has been made to close this question.

If no objections, I will refund points and PAQ the question

Computer101
E-E Admin

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

DigitalXtreme

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

Mixed Home Network Transience