We assume here that you want to make a connection to the internet using synchroneous ppp and that you use an internal passive ISDN card. The isdn4linux driver is documented for Euro ISDN

The setup is tested with different providers ( T-online, MSN, and my own ppp Server) on 486er and Pentium machines using the AVM Fritz and an Elsa Microlink card.

Specific questions conserning the Hisax driver can be looked up at the i4l faq and the Readme for Hisax

Special cases like canal bundeling, callback etc are not yet tested but should be possible. Refer to the hisax guide. Although the use of active cards, like the avm b1, is possible,it is not tested, and should require some extra work.

Users with external ISDN modems should look at the ppp dial up page..

Comments on this section should be addressed to its maintainer: Eric Wolzak <leaf at wolzak.de>.

Download the isdn.lrp package from Eric's site and store it on your Bering disquette. If you need space to do that, refer to the installation guide to learn how to do that.

Boot your Bering floppy image. Once the LEAF menu appears get access to the linux shell by (q)uitting the menu. Edit the syslinux.cfg file and REPLACE the pump entry by isdn in the LRP= list of packages to be loaded at boot. Check the Bering installation guide to learn how to do that.

Your syslinux.cfg file will then look like (adjust to your tastes):

display syslinux.dpy
timeout 0
default linux initrd=initrd.lrp init=/linuxrc rw root=/dev/ram0 boot=/dev/fd0u1680:msdos
	PKGPATH=/dev/fd0u1680 LRP=root,etc,local,modules,iptables,keyboard,isdn,shorwall,ulogd,dnscache,weblet

It's now time to download ISDN modules. You need both the isdn.o module and the hisax.o modules.

You can use the "normal" hisax.o module, with built-in support for every cards. But this module has a size of about 600K, so you will have a problem getting everything on a single disk. This is why I compiled "partial" hisax modules, each supporting a small group of cards. It will be a little be more work to select the correct one if you have an exotic card, but the size of less than 250 K will be worth the trouble. To see what Hisax module you need check the following table

Once you have downloaded the appropriate module rename it to hisax.o and copy it to the /lib/modules directory.

In order to have an ISDN connection working, you need to have ISDN support enabled through the appropriate kernel modules. You also need to declare the driver(s) module(s) of your internal network card(s). In the following example, we assume that your internal network card is a NE2000 PCI.

To declare your modules, go to the LEAF Packages configuration menu and choose modules. Enter 1) to edit the /etc/modules file and enter the following information:

# 8390 based ethernet cards
8390
ne2k-pci

# Modules needed for ISDN
# Look for type, io and irq settings at help page of isdn.lrp documentation
slhc
isdn
hisax type=   io= irq=

# Masquerading 'helper' modules
ip_conntrack_ftp
ip_conntrack_irc
ip_nat_ftp
ip_nat_irc

the paramater you have to give for a certain card are listed in the table above

as an example: to use Fritz card from AVM(A1) download the module hisax_AVM_A1. rename it to hisax.o. if you fritzcard is configured with irq 7 and ioport 330 you enter hisax type=5 irq=7 io=0x330

Backup the modules.lrp package.

Most options are already defined with reasonable default values. But some settings must be defined in every case. If you have a static ip number you should also change the according parameter.

Through the LEAF Package configuration menu choose isdn. The following menu will appear:

                       isdn configuration files

        1) ipppd options
        2) password und userid
        3) ipppd scipts to startup the ipppd interfaces

select 1 now you edit the User setting and enter here the name or number that you need to identify yourself

(---)
#  USER Dependent options
#
USER="[email protected]"
#
# your MSN depending on your country without areaprefix
#
MYMSN=
#
# Provider MSN
#
REMMSN=
#
# Hangup after idletime in seconds 0 for no hangup
#
TIMEOUT=60
#
(---)

What your MSN is, is depending on the country you live in.If you are in doubt, ask your local telco.For a few countries you can find the answer here. The remote MSN (REMMSN) is the nummer you have to dial from the connection the router is attached to, including extra digits exactly as you would dial it.

You might want to change the time set to keep the line up if there is no activity. As a default it is set to 60 (sec),which is relatively short. You change this with the parameter TIMEOUT

now use the password and userid from the isdn configuration menu set your login name (eric@foobar).I can login with this name on any computer (*). I have to identify me with the password ("this_is_a_secret")

# This is a pap-secrets file
#
#papname * papsecret
[email protected] *  "this_is_a_secret"

backup the isdn package

Through the LEAF configuration menu type 1 to access to the network configuration menu and 1 again to edit your /etc/network/interfaces file. Enter the following information:

auto lo eth0

iface lo inet loopback

iface eth0 inet static
	address 192.168.1.254
	masklen 24
	broadcast 192.168.1.255

your external interface is now ippp0, but this interface is not setup in the interfaces file

Through the LEAF packages configuration menu, choose shorwall and check the two following files:

A/ The interfaces file (entry 3) defines your interfaces. Here connection to the net goes through ippp0 and the connection to the internal network through eth0. So we must set:

(...)
#ZONE   INTERFACE       BROADCAST       OPTIONS
net     ippp0           -	        dhcp,routefilter,norfc1918
loc     eth0            detect          routestopped
#LAST LINE -- ADD YOUR ENTRIES BEFORE THIS ONE -- DO NOT REMOVE

B/ The masq file (entry 7). In this type of setting it should look like:

(...)
#INTERFACE              SUBNET
ippp0                   eth0
#LAST LINE -- ADD YOUR ENTRIES ABOVE THIS LINE -- DO NOT REMOVE

Backup the shorwall.lrp package.