GtkDial
GtkDial | |
To use Gtkdial you will need to have installed Gtkdial from an RPM package or compiled it from a source tarball. You will also need to have installed wvdial (the RPM package depends on this being installed). wvdial comes with most current Linux distributions, or is available from Worldvisions.
The wvdial.conf fileGtkdial reads your configured ISPs from the /etc/wvdial.conf file. A GUI editor for this file is available in a beta version, known as gwvedit.
Thankfully, the file has a simple format which is described in detail on the wvdial(1) and wvdialconf(1) man pages. Here for example is a section of the authors config file:
[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyS0
Baud = 115200
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 S11=55 +FCLASS=0
[Dialer myispname]
Username = myusername
Password = mypassword
Phone = 5551234
Area Code = 0845
Inherits = Dialer Defaults
Stupid mode = 0
If you desperately don't want to mess with this file you have a couple of options: first, wvdial ships with a helper script called wvdialconf which will detect your modem etc. and create a skeleton file.
We'd recommend you try out gwvedit too - because we want to improve and extend this tool. gwvedit will use wvdialconf to generate the skeleton if you don't have an existing config file, and will then allow you to add, duplicate, reorder and delete your ISP connections easily. The latest version of gwvedit is always available from:
http://www.gtnorthern.demon.co.uk/packages/gwvedit
Right clicking the main gtkdial window will allow you to open the Connection Monitor window, which may give useful debugging information. If you want this window to remain open each time you start, check the preferences page. Gtkdial will usually warn you if there are any problems with your /etc/wvdial.conf file which will prevent it from functioning correctly.
Possible Permission ProblemsWorldvisions note that there are currently problems running wvdial as a non-priviledged user as it requires write access to some PPP config files (notably pap and chap-secrets). This may explain some of the difficulties you experience using Gtkdial/wvdial. As of version 0.2.23 a shell script called unsafe.sh ships with the tarball of Gtkdial, which will set correct permissions for regular users to dial up. Its use is not recommended by anyone!