"Just Works" Configuration of Ethernet at bootup

[drongo]

@tlchost,

tubby has told you how to do it. Nobody has told you you can't do it. There aren't any rules, obscure or otherwise, as far as I know that prevent you from doing whatever you want with your version of Puppy. You might have to make sources available - but even that is moot as most of what makes Puppy unique is uncompiled bash scripts so no sources are required.

I was merely trying to explain to ecomoney why things were originally done that way (i.e. no autoconnect to networks) and why I think it would be a good idea to stay that way.

Nobody else manages to stay on topic, don't see why that rule should only apply to me. I was using an example to try and illustrate a point, Changing the default network behaviour of Puppy changes the way Puppy works and may then make it unsuitable for some types of work for which it is currently eminently suitable. If I'm trying to recover data files or remove viruses from a machine maybe I don't want to connect to a network. Perhaps I don't want to disconnect the ethernet connections from the rear of the machine either.

With all due respect, and no matter how laudable the intent, specialist Puppies for internet cafes and non-technical Silver Surfers are special interest projects.

The deafening silence from others shows me that there is no support for my position or that no-one cares either way. So I shall withdraw and sulk.

Bye.

[runtt21]

drongo ,you are correct.The official puppy should stay just like it is.It great!!

If someone wants an autoconnect pup ,THEY, should build it. Even if its just a prof of concept project.

[WhoDo]

Puppy is great at detecting hardware and "Just Working", but for one subtle point. ... [snip] ... Could this be an oversight?

At the risk of reigniting heated debates of days gone by, it is important to note that neither Puppy nor any other distribution will "just work" for everyone! There will always be "one subtle point" that grates on someone's nerves, as this does on yours.

The great thing about Puppy is the ease with which people can remaster the original to their own taste. I'm with drongo and runtt21 on this - that Puppy is fine as it is. Even newbies can use a "Connect" icon to get their network running if they wish. Although the Internet has become ubiquitous, not everyone wants to go there from the first boot.

You asked for a reason and the answer is "freedom of choice", which is at the heart not only of Puppy but of all FOSS.

@tclhost - Thom, I agree your request was a reasonable one. I hope you now have your answer

@drongo - some people just rub other people the wrong way without even trying. Heck, I may even be guilty of that myself at times, but the OP is a past master! I don't see any "groundswell" of opinion driving Puppy away from its original philosophy of being a LiveCD. If you are concerned about changes to that philosophy, the project leader for the next base Puppy release and current guardian of that philosophy is Technosaurus.

[MinHundHettePerro]

As it is, Puppy Just Works!

For any new flavour of Puppy I try out (mostly, manually installed frugals), upon first boot, i.e. when the OP's requested auto-connection to the internet fails, I can happily forget to pull out the cable between my computer and my router. I can then, at my own pace, set up a firewall, disable the various auto-update features of any given browser etc., before I click the connect to i-net icon, and then go on-line within seconds, "and It Just Works!" (reassured that I set up my new installation as I require, before any auto-connection unadvertantly goes onto the internet and connects to who-knows-where, "google", even ).
I'm quite happy, with not having to care, whether my i-net cable is disconnected or not for my first boots .

fwiw /
MHHP

[T_B]

I think a "just works" configuration is a very good idea. You could make it the default choice when you boot a cd and are only presented with something like "you want to Puppy to set-up your internet connection automatically? Y/n"
Puppy is already one of the easiest Linux distro's to install for new to Linux users, and this will make it even easier.

Of course you can create your own Puppy, but that is not the one newbies will download. They will download the official version and will complain internet doesn't work with Linux.
To make as much as possible work 'out of the box' is a big selling point.

Most posters on this forum are already into Linux, but how many people have tried one Linux distro failed and never tried again? Might be because of things like this.

[ecomoney]

Ive got a guy here who worked in his last job was a manager in a call centre where they sent out cable modems. The story from him is that the majority of people do not know how to set up their own internet connection.

Puppy linux could be both a LiveCD, and a installable distro... and a learning tool.

A "best fit" solution for all puppy internet connection policy to this process.

When an application requiring an internet/network connection is launched, check to see if there is an active ethernet connection, and if so off to connect with it. This option dialog should also have a "connect another way...", and "help.." buttons, which opens the current internet connection wizard, or displays a tutorial on internet connections. (Do I need to start quoting the mission statement again?)

Thinking positively gets things done

[WhoDo]

When an application requiring an internet/network connection is launched, check to see if there is an active ethernet connection, and if so off to connect with it. This option dialog should also have a "connect another way...", and "help.." buttons, which opens the current internet connection wizard, or displays a tutorial on internet connections.

Now THIS I can agree would be an excellent feature. Are you volunteering to develop it?

(Do I need to start quoting the mission statement again?)

Oh please! Ask 20 people to interpret the same "mission statement" and you'll get 20 different versions! It's a statement of aims, not a manifesto!

Thinking positively gets things done

No, actually DOING things gets things done! Thinking positively is at best wishful thinking and at worst a bone lazy approach to life. (Do I need to keep pointing out my signature?)

[mikeb]

Well since auto connection to a ethernet based network is the default for every other live distro I've tried i can assume the only reason it is not is because dhcpcd in puppy is buggy and fails for many people....about 4 posts per week and the many more who do not bother to go that far.

mike

ps most new broadband users here now get an auto connecting router/modem and auto connection would get them online without pressing a button....why should only windows get the user friendly label?

[tlchost]

Try adding to your /startup dir

snip

Worked ok for me on a frugal install, found and connected to ETH0.
You may not need all of the above but i went for belt and braces.

Before I confuse myself further....if the items you cited are in startup, then they run at every boot of Puppy?

I was hoping to do something that only ran at the first boot of Puppy, as happens with the video and sound setups.

Thanks
Thom

[James C]

Just to throw in my recent experience with distros that auto connect to wired ethernet, there are a lot that don't.

The latest Mandriva release does not connect on any of the three machines I tried with the live cd, even though the "blinky" showed an active connection.To connect(according to their forum and wiki) its necessary to setup the firewall and disable IPV6, save the changes and reboot. Kind of hard to save and reboot running live. I installed Mandriva anyway and after I was able to save the changes everything works but I'd really preferred to just have Puppy's trusty Network Wizard.

I try most of the "big name" releases and a lot of them are having the same problems and have forum threads about " my computer won't connect".Some users have problems while others don't, but if it doesn't work on all equipment it still need further development.

Anyone is free to make a puplet to autoconnect to the internet, it might be a good idea.....just not for the default Puppy release.

[ttuuxxx]

I can see why it couldn't autoconnect at startup to lan internet, there always be the default network wizard on the desktop, for dialup, lan.wireless etc. Like my tv pc that has 2 nic cards in it, If it was to auto connect it would probably go with the first eth0 where as my actual net is eth1, but most users would be eth0, really if the default script was hacked and it just selected the first etho and then selected Auto dhcp and didn't save the settings, it would work. but first it should check and make sure no previous setting are saved, you wouldn't want it to delete wireless settings etc.
ttuuxxx

[tubby]

@tlchost, the original poster asked for a way to connect automatically i tried it and it seemed to work. as i am still learning about puppy and linux in general my ways of doing things are probably the worst way but as i said i am still learning.
I was hoping that someone more knowledgeable would be able to use the method and write a wrapper with a firewall loading script.

[nooby]

Firewall and ipv6 involved. Very advanced stuff for us newbies indeed.

Puppeee 4.3.1 just worked for me on both machines. Why did that one work when the others don't or ???

have to run.

[mikeb]

its necessary to setup the firewall and disable IPV6,

its this sort of high brow crap that puts people off linux and thankfully distros like puppy don't try to make life a geek paradise hence my desire for this ability....other distros that want to be used do it.
If it does not connect then nothing lost really, or can these major releases not cope with that?

mike

[ecomoney]

I could code an ethernet connection script, and someone better than me at bash coding could put together a far better script than me a lot faster. This is the benefit of working collectively.

Patriot has already written a routine (which still needs testing) here on this thread...which contains an example of a badly coded connection script written by me.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=45629

This could be used as the "guts" of the proposed "easy connect" routine. as could code from the /usr/sbin/net-setup script which has already been extensively tested. I say "easy-connect" because of the dangers the developers on this thread have explained. Its also important to listen to pensioners (one of the largest internet groups) and cybercafe owners (Linux "showroom") as well as developers.

[tubby]

Well this pensioner has done some digging and there is an autoconnect.pet already in the ibiblio reps.
Surely this could be your starting point.

[mikeb]

Well this pensioner has done some digging and there is an autoconnect.pet already in the ibiblio reps.

yes someone did do this recently but my dodgy memory could not remember who or where...from what I remember he made a remaster with it included it it was working just fine.

mike

[Puppyt]

Try adding to your /startup dir
dhclient
dhclient-script
dhcpcd (symlink to dhclient)
dhcpd
All downloadable from the ibiblio packages.
Worked ok for me on a frugal install, found and connected to ETH0.
You may not need all of the above but i went for belt and braces.

Great stuff, tubby! I'll test it soon.

I want to make an idiot-proof Puppy (spot the Catch-22). Something that works out of the box for new computer users - "age" be damned - with no interest or inclination to command-line or scripting (or wizards), will resume intact after improper shutdowns (yay Silver Puppy's thread and pet - sorry off-topic) etc etc.
Regarding nooby's request for a compromise in automatic ethernet at bootup - just how hard would it be to include the option in the typical live-cd startup options of keyboard, locale, Xorg and mouse?

[ecomoney]

Is this for ethernet, I believe its a program for automatically connecting to wireless

[sunburnt]

Hi ecomoney; How`s it going?
LanPuppy did exactly this, it got the gateway config from the router
wrote it to /etc/resolv.conf , and did auto-setup of networking at boot.