[KLUG Members] chartermi cable

[Adam Tauno Williams]

>>>>>>So what is the advantage of dhcpcd over pump?
>>>>>1)  dhcpcd doesn't crash my laptop, pump does about half the
>>>>>time.
>>>>Now that's a feature!
>>>I have a very flaky PCMCIA NIC.  I can also crash my system
>>>if I start paying around with manual commands like ifconfig.
>>>It also doesn't work with the new kernel PCMCIA support, I
>>>had to compile the old pcmcia drivers.
>>>I don't have these problems with other PCMCIA NIC's.  I only
>>>keep this flaky one because it's really fast (when it works :)
>>>and it connects on a long TP cable I have that's over specs,
>>>where other PCMCIA NIC's won't.  And when using dhcpcd, the NIC
>>>is usually not a problem.
>>Fast is good.  I have Dlink, Linksys, and Xircom PCMCIA NICS,  and
>>while the Xircom is faster than either the Dlink and Linksys they all tempt 
>>me to glance behind the laptop to see if I'm plugged into the network via a
>>NULL modem cable.  The Dlink is the worst,  a 10/100Mb card that can barely
>>manage 2-3Mb/s,  on a fast brand new laptop and plugged into the same switch
>>as the server.  It is like swimming in a huge vat of honey,  only not as
>>sweet.
>Do your slow ones use the "ne" driver?

Don't recall exactly,  they have all "just worked",  so I never paid much
attention to the driver modules.  The system detected the card, tossed it in
/etc/modules.conf, and away I went.

I know the Xircom (the fastest) mumbles something about 16 bit in dmesg and the
Dlink (the slowest) spits out a message about how it is going into 32 bit mode.

>My flaky one is a 3com 32 bit.  (the 16 bit ones work without crashes)
>I should try a new kernel to see if mine works with those drivers now.
>(I'm running 2.4.3)

All these are BS-Ware Pro,  I except no substitutues.

>>On the Dlink and the Linksys,  if you have "start at boot" enabled, 
>>any attempt to shutdown the interface hangs.  If you disable "start at 
>>boot" and manually turn it on via the applett, you can turn it on/off 
>>all day long without incident.  Very strange,  but at least I'm not alone.
>Which applet are you talking about?  (it's been a long time since I used
>it)

The GNOME/Ximian/Redhat dialer applett.  While called dialer it can control any
interface.  This lets one plug in/out of a network without having to restart the
computer.

>>Maybe I should just buy a wireless NIC?! :)  Would probably be about
>>the same speed.....
>If someone would come up with a wireless recharger, we'd have it made! 
>;-)

At a FIRST gathering a tech guru told be that remote charge can be accomplished
with microwave energy or lasers.  I'm all for letting them try with someone
else's lap.  It is worth noting that both Dan Goldman (NASA Administrator) and
Dean Kamen (all around awesome and fabulously wealthy dude) were using
"conventional" methods. :)

But that would probably make for a good Saturday Night Live episode.

>>>>>2)  Hostname changes as sent from DHCP server on dhcpcd, not
>>>>>pump.  (at least with the default Redhat parameters on each)
>>>>>This is for DNS update I presume?  Does anyone use the DHCP-DNS
>>>>>update hook?  I haven't since Samba does that too and we had Samba 
>>>>>before we installed DHCP.
>>>All I know is the hostname (as displayed by the console getty's)
>>>change to the name dhcpd dishes out when using dhcpcd, and it
>>>doesn't change when I use pump.
>>Ah, the name comes down to the client from the DHCP server,  not
>>vice-versa. I've never used that either.
>It helps me remember where I'm at.   :-)

For us only hosts have real names.  The host name of every PC, laptop,
workstation, etc... is it's asset number.  Makes asset management a breeze,
since the system "just knows" where everything is (or was last),  but doesn't
help the operator much.

Systems and Network Administrator
Morrison Industries
1825 Monroe Ave NW
Grand Rapids, MI. 49505