Neonchameleon's adventures with ADSL or "The problem with foolproof devices"
To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.
Paul Ehrlich
So. I ordered broadband and bought an ADSL modem and tried to set it up. Shouldn't be too hard, so I thought. I read the manual while bringing the thing home - it looked small and simple. I should have realised that this was a bad sign.
I plugged the modem in to the socket and put the ethernet card back into my computer so I could use the reliable connection method (as recommended by the manual). This took plugging the ethernet card back in end rebooting windows. Putting the ethernet card into the spare PCI slot meant that the computer crashed on boot. I therefore switched the ethernet card and the wireless ethernet card. Computer now booted - but wireless ethernet card didn't work. Ho, hum.
Next was to configure the router. Easy enough according to the instructions: when connected to the router, point web browser at the router's IP address. Mozilla couldn't find the address. AIEE did no better. Opera had been deleted. Firefox to the rescue.
Then I remembered I hadn't brought my printout of the configuration details. A quick text to midnightmelody sorted that. Until I remembered I'd forgotten my password (it's a bit late to remember it now). That was soluble - connect to blackcatnetworks by modem and reset it. Then put in new password.
It still didn't work. So I e-mailed blackcat to ask if the adsl was working. They said yes and reminded me that the password had to be 8 letters or less. Oops. Also they sent me a link to the password reset and I found that I'd reset the account password rather than the ADSL password. Double Oops.
So Firefox told me the router was now connecting to the internet. Didn't load any web pages. So I rebooted my computer. (First law of Windows troubleshooting).
Rebooting didn't work. I could connect to the internet but none of my web browsers would load google, bbc or blackcat networks. Ho, hum. I investigated further with telnet, ping and tracert. I discovered all of the above worked if I typed in IP addresses - but that none of them worked if I typed in domain names. I therefore blamed (and blame) the DNS servers (or the router's connection to them).
By now, percussive maintainance was getting very tempting.
Instead, I tried setting the DNS servers manually rather than letting the router and blackcat do it automatically. First to OpenNic's London server. No effect. Then by e-mailing blackcatnetworks and asking for their DNS servers. Again, no effect.
I then wondered if it was down to Windows playing silly games - so I tried installing Linux. Unfortunately, the only Linux CD I had handy was Ubuntu.
Not only did Ubuntu not solve this problem, it had every single problem I remember it having. And it didn't recognise my graphics card (Voodoo 3 isn't that obscure, surely?) and therefore was stuck in 640*480 graphics mode. Right, I thought, back to Windows 98. It might not work well, but at least it works.
Unfortunately, Win98 therefore needed a reinstall as the Grub once again wouldn't let me load windows. When I tried, Win98 then told me there wasn't enough space on one of the partitions to install. (To be precise, it told me that there was 0MB free on that partition - so I want to know why it called it a disk).
I therefore nuked the partition table with the Ubuntu installer. I also suspect I've taken out my MP3 and book collection (which was on the second hard disk) by re-tagging that disk the linux swap disk but not formatting it. (Will just telling the Linux installer to retag it a Fat32 partition get this back as I haven't formatted?)
Realising this possible mistake, I pulled out the second hard disk before again trying to reinstall Windows as I was about to format the first disk. The disk formating worked perfectly - I then started to reinstall Windows (as frustrating a procedure than ever). It then asked for me to input my Windows Key. Fair enough - it's on the manual. The next problem should be obvious - where's the manual. Not with the computer bits - which means that it is either on the bookshelf in the attic or was left behind with the move. Unfortunately the attic light is rather tempramental and decided not to work today. And I don't have a torch.
At that point I decided that I was already going to be later than expected arriving at midnightmelody's.
So now I have a router that appears not to find DNS servers and a computer with no operating system installed.
Um... Help?
Paul Ehrlich
So. I ordered broadband and bought an ADSL modem and tried to set it up. Shouldn't be too hard, so I thought. I read the manual while bringing the thing home - it looked small and simple. I should have realised that this was a bad sign.
I plugged the modem in to the socket and put the ethernet card back into my computer so I could use the reliable connection method (as recommended by the manual). This took plugging the ethernet card back in end rebooting windows. Putting the ethernet card into the spare PCI slot meant that the computer crashed on boot. I therefore switched the ethernet card and the wireless ethernet card. Computer now booted - but wireless ethernet card didn't work. Ho, hum.
Next was to configure the router. Easy enough according to the instructions: when connected to the router, point web browser at the router's IP address. Mozilla couldn't find the address. AIEE did no better. Opera had been deleted. Firefox to the rescue.
Then I remembered I hadn't brought my printout of the configuration details. A quick text to midnightmelody sorted that. Until I remembered I'd forgotten my password (it's a bit late to remember it now). That was soluble - connect to blackcatnetworks by modem and reset it. Then put in new password.
It still didn't work. So I e-mailed blackcat to ask if the adsl was working. They said yes and reminded me that the password had to be 8 letters or less. Oops. Also they sent me a link to the password reset and I found that I'd reset the account password rather than the ADSL password. Double Oops.
So Firefox told me the router was now connecting to the internet. Didn't load any web pages. So I rebooted my computer. (First law of Windows troubleshooting).
Rebooting didn't work. I could connect to the internet but none of my web browsers would load google, bbc or blackcat networks. Ho, hum. I investigated further with telnet, ping and tracert. I discovered all of the above worked if I typed in IP addresses - but that none of them worked if I typed in domain names. I therefore blamed (and blame) the DNS servers (or the router's connection to them).
By now, percussive maintainance was getting very tempting.
Instead, I tried setting the DNS servers manually rather than letting the router and blackcat do it automatically. First to OpenNic's London server. No effect. Then by e-mailing blackcatnetworks and asking for their DNS servers. Again, no effect.
I then wondered if it was down to Windows playing silly games - so I tried installing Linux. Unfortunately, the only Linux CD I had handy was Ubuntu.
Not only did Ubuntu not solve this problem, it had every single problem I remember it having. And it didn't recognise my graphics card (Voodoo 3 isn't that obscure, surely?) and therefore was stuck in 640*480 graphics mode. Right, I thought, back to Windows 98. It might not work well, but at least it works.
Unfortunately, Win98 therefore needed a reinstall as the Grub once again wouldn't let me load windows. When I tried, Win98 then told me there wasn't enough space on one of the partitions to install. (To be precise, it told me that there was 0MB free on that partition - so I want to know why it called it a disk).
I therefore nuked the partition table with the Ubuntu installer. I also suspect I've taken out my MP3 and book collection (which was on the second hard disk) by re-tagging that disk the linux swap disk but not formatting it. (Will just telling the Linux installer to retag it a Fat32 partition get this back as I haven't formatted?)
Realising this possible mistake, I pulled out the second hard disk before again trying to reinstall Windows as I was about to format the first disk. The disk formating worked perfectly - I then started to reinstall Windows (as frustrating a procedure than ever). It then asked for me to input my Windows Key. Fair enough - it's on the manual. The next problem should be obvious - where's the manual. Not with the computer bits - which means that it is either on the bookshelf in the attic or was left behind with the move. Unfortunately the attic light is rather tempramental and decided not to work today. And I don't have a torch.
At that point I decided that I was already going to be later than expected arriving at midnightmelody's.
So now I have a router that appears not to find DNS servers and a computer with no operating system installed.
Um... Help?