The

User's Manual

Release 0.8.0, (C) 1999

Problems and solutions

8. Problems

We compiled a list of the most common problems and their solutions.
If dialing up a provider with kISDN fails, check the following points:
  • Does kisdn really run suid root ?
  • Are the used network protocols correct? syncPPP and HDLC should be fine in most cases, hence their being the default setting.
  • In case that kISDN automatically loads the HiSax module, are the parameters correct? Was isapnp configured correctly on your system (applies solely to ISA cards!) ?
  • Is the right authentication protocol used?
  • Are username and password correct?
  • A very strange problem concerning the voice phone was reported by very few users: The phone only produces loud noise on both sides of the link.
The solutions:
  • Set kisdn SUID as root using
    chown root.root kisdn
    chmod u+s kisdn
    This assures that kISDN runs with root permissions (that is the only way that kISDN can configure network devices and/or load kernel modules, also see chapter 2, Requirements).
  • If the network protocols syncPPP and HDLC don't work, you can either try every available one or ask your ISP for the correct protocol.
  • If you wish to configure isapnp please read Appendix C (Configuration of ISA Plug&Play cards).
  • Most ISPs use either PAP or CHAP as their authentication protocal; you should experiment to find the right setting (there are only three anyway); to be absolutely positive, you had best ask your provider.
  • A password is easily entered incorretly, because there is no way of checking it directly (every enterd character is displayed as '*')
  • The 'loid noise' effect appears on kernels that were compiled for Processors different from 386, 486 and 586 (e.g. PentiumPro); it can be solved by recompiling the kernel with a different CPU setting (but you may as well make a little change in the kernel code to get it to work; please contact us in this case).

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T. Westheider, Ch. Demmer, Ch. Zander / January 8 1999 - kISDN Release 0.8.0