> 
> I'm unclear as to precisely what pppd is supposed to handle.
> What i have so far is the ppp-setup with my stuff put in (modem init 
> string, phone #, username, etc...)
> and the send/receive pairs for my dialup in the chat script
> (ie.  "sername:" $LOGIN "assword:" $PASSWD ">" "ppp default")
> 
> i *appear* to be getting a valid connection with the modem.  i hear 
> CARRIER, and watch as the CD LED lights up, followed by very minimal 
> TX/RX activity.  standard.  i'm almost positive the connection goes all 
> the way throught the chat script, because the termserver i dial into will 
> auto-disconnect any dialup with no successful login.  this has not been 
> the case.

Good.

> however, i still cannot send/receive packets.  ping 128.174.5.62 returns 
> 0%, with "no route to host"
> i cannot permanantly set a defaultroute, because there are multiple dialup 
> termservers on one line.

Do you have the "defaultroute" option set in your /etc/ppp/options? It will
tell pppd to make the connection be the default route each time it starts.

Don't worry about multiple servers. I dial in to a modem pool with about
12 modem servers. I can dial in, disconnect, and dial in again, and it
resets the default route. Actually, it also deletes the default route
when you disconnect.

To see if you have a connection, try ifconfig -a. If ppp0 has an IP address,
you're set. You just need to mess with default routing, and resolv.conf.

> additionally, (foolish question) how is pppd supposed to respond to a 
> downed connection?
> if the modem is disconnected (manually powercycled, as that is the only 
> way i can get it to disconnect), it will jump right in and reconnect, ad 
> infinitum, even if i've ppp-down'ed.

Are you using the dial-on-demand ppp stuff? If so, that sounds like the
correct behavior. Though if you're ppp-down'ing, it should stop. You are
root when you ppp-down, no?

Take care,

Bill