IPCop.org FAQs (frequently-asked questions)

It is often easier to use an Ethernet device than a USB device. A number of manufacturers have SOHO "routers" that are really designed as a shared access device using NAT. Rather than going to the trouble and expense of a routed subnet of Public IP numbers, you can often use these devices in PPTP Relay mode. The information here is specific to the Speedtouch Pro and Home, but should work with all similar products.

Configuring IPCop
Build your IPCop box with a Red Ethernet Interface. Set the Red IP type, number and subnet to PPTP.

The default IP Address for a Alcatel Speedtouch router is 10.0.0.138 (netmask 255.255.255.0), so select an appropriate address for your RED network (e.g.. 10.0.0.1/255.255.255.0) if this is still the case. If your Alcatel Speedtouch router has a different IP Address, make sure that you set a valid Red IP Address for the network that is going to connect to it.

Normally, the DNS server, and default gateway addresses will be negotiated by ppp directly with the ISP, so you shouldn't need to specify any values for DNS server, or default gateway.

Use a web browser to connect to IPCop from the green network. Set up a profile for your ISP, and enter information into the following: Interface (PPTP), Persistent (YES), Connect on Restart (YES), Max Retries (10 or 0 for continuous), Idle Timeout (0), username (eg 0123456789@adsl.isp.net), password, PAP & CHAP, DNS set to Manual and enter ISP IP numbers.

If you are not using the default Alcatel Speedtouch values, you need to configure the IP Address of the ADSL router. This is done on the PPTP page which can be accessed by selecting "Dialup" from the main menu on the left, and then "ppp settings". There is a section there called "Additional PPTP settings:". Here, enter your Speedtouch IP Address in the "Router IP Address".

Also in this section, enter "pc1" in the phonebook entry.

There are many settings here that aren't relevant for this type of connection.

Configuring the Alcatel Speedtouch ADSL Router.
Once your IPCop box is up and running, any client on the Green network should be able to access the Alcatel Speedtouch web interface.

Point a web browser to http://10.0.0.138/ (or whatever IP Address your Alcatel Speedtouch actually has) and you will see the web interface for the device.

Delete every single entry in the Router's phone-book, including the pre-configured ones. Also disable DNS and DHCP in the router - it's an overhead that does nothing for you in this configuration, and SET A PASSWORD.

Once the phonebook is clear, add a new entry called pc1. You will need to know the VPI and VCI numbers from your ISP ( 0,38 in the UK, 0,100 for Telecom New Zealand) and the connection type is PPTP. Add this and go to the PPTP config page.

On the PPTP page, select the encapsulation and HLDC framing ("vcmux" and "never" in the UK, and for Telecom New Zealand), and add it. You will note that there is a "state" column. When the link is up, you will see an entry here that says "In Use (10.0.0.1)". Keep this page up in the browser so that you can check later.

Click save, then go to the home page and try connecting.

If all goes according to plan, when the pptp link comes up, it will write the default route into the routing table, so double check on the info page, in the ppp0 entry, that the IP number after p-t-p is the same you enter during setup. If it isn't, use the shell interface and the setup username & password to change it.

As soon as the pptp link comes up, your router bridges all the traffic over the "tunnel" to your IPCop box, so you are now live and closed for business!!

[ ]1.1 [X]1.2 [X]1.3 [X]1.4 Versions 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4

This is supported using the ECI USB driver - see http://eciadsl.flashtux.org/?lang=en for details.

[ ]1.1 [X]1.2 [X]1.3 [X]1.4 Versions 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4

For the latest list see: http://eciadsl.flashtux.org/modems.php?lang=en&supported=yes

[ ]1.1 [ ]1.2 [X]1.3 [X]1.4 Versions 1.3 and 1.4

When you do the install, use the "SELECT" option rather than autoprobe, and when it gives you a list of cards, look at the top of the list and select MANUAL (some people mistake it as the header rather than an option.

When you use this option, it prompts you with a text box. You enter the driver name followed by the options. So for example, for a NE2000 card would see the following line:
ne io=0x300 irq=10

If you had two cards the same, you would enter
ne io=0x300,0x220 irq=10,5 or if that doesn't work, swap the settings and try:
ne irq=10,5 io=0x300,0x220

IPCop should then detect the card and allow you to assign it.
NB The values I have used in this example may not match your card. You may need to download a DOS utility from the manufacturer's website to find out what the card is set to, and to change it if it conflicts with another card in the same box.

Lots of people using old ISA cards (like the 3Com 3C509) have lots of problems until they realise that the the ISA cards must have a diffrent interupt AND memory address BEFORE the installation will detect them.) 3Com have bootable disk images to configure these cards.

[X] 1.1 [X]1.2 [X]1.3 [X]1.4 All versions

When asked to identify the cards, select SELECT and then MANUAL, and type the following:
ne io=0x300,0x320 irq=11,5

You will need to change the values to match your own cards.

[X]1.1 [X]1.2 [X]1.3 [X]1.4 All versions

Happened to me when installing from one machine with cdrom and pci slots and I moved the HD to a machine with only ISA slots (and no cdrom drive) and the setup script had no way for me to change this.

Log in at the console as root with the password you created in the setup/install process and type "vi /var/ipcop/ethernet/settings", change the settings (hit the insert key), save the file (:xit) and reboot ("shutdown -r now").

An easy way to get the new settings is to use the setup scripts to assign the nic you want to be GREEN to RED or ORANGE and then when you edit the file above, the info you want will be set up for the other color (don't forget to erase it from those lines in the file)

It gets a little complicated if you also have two NE isa nics so here are a few lines from my file (this is for a GREEN and RED system and doesn't show all the IP lines you'll find in the file but are needed).

CONFIG_TYPE=2

GREEN_DRIVER=ne

GREEN_DRIVER_OPTIONS='io=0x340,0x300 irq=12,9'

GREEN_DEV=eth0

GREEN_DISPLAYDRIVER=ne

ORANGE_DEV=

RED_DEV=eth

RED_DRIVER=

RED_DRIVER_OPTIONS=

RED_DISPLAYDRIVER=ne

1. Set cards to use address of 0x200, 0x240, 0x280, 0x2c0, 0x300, 0x340, 0x380, 0x3c0. This is for any type of ISA NIC - some drivers allow the ones between, but this is a safe method.


2. Do not use PROBE, choose SELECT - you can try using the 3c509 and normally it will work...


3. If not use MANUAL and use 3c509.o irq=A,B,C io=0xAAA,0xBBB,0xCCC where A AAA are for the first card...
   If it did not take... turn off the computer and try again.


4. Once it takes - complete the setup and reboot. Be sure to turn off and on the power (do it during the POST).

Yes. Check out http://lcdproc.omnipotent.net/. You might also want to check the netlcd screen which is available from the addons page, it will display data transfer rates on whatever interface it is given as an argument, i.e. ppp0 eth0, etc.

Robert Wood has prepared a tarball with the code you need to get started. It contains a small HOWTO, a circuit diagram and three binaries. Get it from here.

To install it, scp the file to the root directory (/) and untar it with tar -zxvf lcdproc.tar.gz and it'll be in the right place. Then just read /root/HOWTO.

Update lcdproc 0.4.5
Mario Minati has prepared a new tarball using LCDproc v0.4.5 for IPCop v1.3.0 which can be downloaded from http://www.minati.de/personal/mm/ipcop/lcd.html.

[X]1.1 [X]1.2 [X]1.3 [X]1.4 All versions

All Compaq 386 and 486 based machines have the ability to run without a keyboard attached. Some Compaq machines allow the user to select this mode of operation by selecting "Network Server" mode in their setup program. For those that do not have this option, NO_F1.COM is a DOS based program that is run one time which sets a bit in CMOS that instructs the BIOS not to wait for a keystroke after displaying the "Press [F1] to continue" message.

You might find it difficult to alter the boot device order once you've installed IPCop, so I suggest you run the program NO_F1.COM before you install IPCop, as it needs a Windows Operating System to work.

Download this zipped archive from Compaq's FTP site, and unzip and move the NO_F1.COM onto a bootable DOS disk and boot your IPCop box from it, and run NO_F1.COM. After that it will report the missing keyboard when starting up, but will continue booting.

If you have already installed IPCop, and can't boot from a floppy because the operating system on the harddrive boots first, you could try this: Backup the IPCop's system settings onto a floppy, then login to a console on IPCop, and execute the command:
/sbin/lilo -u

which will uninstall lilo, and allow you to boot from a floppy disk. At a DOS prompt type:
NO_F1.COM

Then you have to reinstall IPCop, restoring your settings from the backup floppy you made earlier.

[X]1.1 [X]1.2 [X]1.3 [X]1.4 All versions

Normally in BIOS there is an option to "halt on errors" when a motherboard does its checks. Modern BIOS usually have a way of disabling this, but some older BIOS don't.

A useful trick is to buy a really cheap membrane keyboard which has a small circuit board about 7cm x 3 cm inside. You can remove this, resolder the cable so that it is really short, and put it inside a small matchbox sized case. Top marks to Mike Rigby for this tip.

Edit /var/ipcop/ethernet/settings. Add this line after the other lines starting RED.
RED_HWADDR=hh:hh:hh:hh:hh:hh
Replace the hh with the required hex MAC address.

Edit /etc/rc.d/rc.netaddress.up. Add the ifconfig $RED_DEV hw ether $RED_HWADDR lines:

if [ "$CONFIG_TYPE" = "2" -o "$CONFIG_TYPE" = "3" ]; then

   if [ "$RED_DEV" != "" ]; then

      if [ "$RED_TYPE" = "DHCP" ]; then

         rm /etc/dhcpc/*.info -f

         ifconfig $RED_DEV hw ether $RED_HWADDR

         /sbin/dhcpcd -h $RED_DHCP_HOSTNAME -R $RED_DEV

      elif [ "$RED_TYPE" = "STATIC" -o "$RED_TYPE" = "PPTP" ]; then

         ifconfig $RED_DEV hw ether $RED_HWADDR

         ifconfig $RED_DEV $RED_ADDRESS netmask $RED_NETMASK broadcast $RED_BROADCAST up

         if [ "$RED_TYPE" = "STATIC" ]; then

            /usr/local/bin/setaliases

         fi

         if [ "$DEFAULT_GATEWAY" != "" ]; then

            route add default gw $DEFAULT_GATEWAY

         fi

      else

         ifconfig $RED_DEV 1.1.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 1.1.1.255 up

      fi

   else

      echo "WARNING: No driver set for RED"

   fi

else

   if [ ! -e /var/ipcop/red/active ]; then

      if [ "$DOMAIN_NAME" == "" ]; then

         /usr/local/bin/dnsmasq -l /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases

      else 

         /usr/local/bin/dnsmasq -l /var/lib/dhcp/dhcpd.leases -s "$DOMAIN_NAME"

      fi

   fi

fi