[HELP] Sound card as TNC, Kernel 2.4.22, Intel board

[HELP] Sound card as TNC, Kernel 2.4.22, Intel board

[Scott Ehrlich]

I have an Intel Pentium 3 board with Debian Woody, Kernel 2.4.22, and am
trying to get the motherboard sound to act as my TNC.   I want to
experiment with packet and APRS using the sound card.

I've compiled a static kernel with AX.25 support, /sbin/ifconfig -a shows
AX.25 ports exist.   I run Xastir, Configure > Interfaces > Add > AX25 TNC
> OK and get an error window popping up:

"Interface error! Error opening interface 0 Hard Fail"

and the xterm from which I typed xastir offers:

axconfig: port 1 not active
axconfig: port 2 not active
ERROR: problem with axports file



What am I missing?

Thanks in advance.

Scott, WY1Z

Re: [HELP] Sound card as TNC, Kernel 2.4.22, Intel board

[Curt Mills, WE7U]

On Wed, 29 Oct 2003, Scott Ehrlich wrote:

> I have an Intel Pentium 3 board with Debian Woody, Kernel 2.4.22, and am
> trying to get the motherboard sound to act as my TNC.   I want to
> experiment with packet and APRS using the sound card.
>
> I've compiled a static kernel with AX.25 support, /sbin/ifconfig -a shows
> AX.25 ports exist.   I run Xastir, Configure > Interfaces > Add > AX25 TNC
> > OK and get an error window popping up:
>
> "Interface error! Error opening interface 0 Hard Fail"
>
> and the xterm from which I typed xastir offers:
>
> axconfig: port 1 not active
> axconfig: port 2 not active
> ERROR: problem with axports file

Did you do the "chmod 4555 /usr/local/bin/xastir" command?  Xastir
has to have "root" priviledges in order to talk to the kernel AX.25
interfaces.  We drop priviledges for all activities where we don't
need them, so Xastir is still relatively safe to run SUID root like
that.

--Curt, one of the Xastir guys.

-- 
Curt Mills, WE7U                    hacker_NO_SPAM_@tc.fluke.com
Senior Methods Engineer/SysAdmin
"Lotto:    A tax on people who are bad at math!"
"Windows:  Microsoft's tax on computer illiterates!" -- WE7U
"The world DOES revolve around me:  I picked the coordinate system!"

Re: [HELP] Sound card as TNC, Kernel 2.4.22, Intel board

[Wilbert Knol]

> > <snip> /sbin/ifconfig -a shows
> > AX.25 ports exist.

That tells you the driver is loaded, and that the network interface
exists.

Now check that the interface is 'up' with:

  /sbin/ifconfig <interface_name>

If not, start it with:

  /sbin/ifconfig <interface_name> up

Suggest you verify it works by using another application, like 'call'.
Hope this helps.



Wilbert, ZL2BSJ

Re: [HELP] Sound card as TNC, Kernel 2.4.22, Intel board

[Scott Ehrlich]

It actually does not exist:

sudo /sbin/ifconfig ax25 up
ax25: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device

sudo /sbin/ifconfig ax.25 up
ax.25: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device

This is why I seek help in trying to make it appear.

Scott

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003, Wilbert Knol wrote:

>
> > > <snip> /sbin/ifconfig -a shows
> > > AX.25 ports exist.
>
> That tells you the driver is loaded, and that the network interface
> exists.
>
> Now check that the interface is 'up' with:
>
>   /sbin/ifconfig <interface_name>
>
> If not, start it with:
>
>   /sbin/ifconfig <interface_name> up
>
> Suggest you verify it works by using another application, like 'call'.
> Hope this helps.
>
>
>
> Wilbert, ZL2BSJ
>
>
>
>

Re: [HELP] Sound card as TNC, Kernel 2.4.22, Intel board

[pa3gcu]

On Thursday 30 October 2003 11:58, Scott Ehrlich wrote:
> It actually does not exist:
>
> sudo /sbin/ifconfig ax25 up
> ax25: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
>
> sudo /sbin/ifconfig ax.25 up
> ax.25: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
>
> This is why I seek help in trying to make it appear.

Considering the way you are doing your configuration it shows you have not 
really consulted any documentation, considering this fact i would like to 
point you to the AX-25-HOWTO (without meaning to be rude of course).

MOst likly places to find that are;
/usr/doc/Linux-HOWTOs/AX25-HOWTO (slackware)
/usr/share/doc/ most other systems.

Or if you cant find it;
http://www.linuxdocs.org/HOWTOs/AX25-HOWTO.html

It is said to be rather outdated, however it will certainly give you a good 
start to understanding how linux and AX25 work.

Of course others may be able to help you with the soundmodem stuff first hand, 
sorry i cant i dont and never have used it.

> Scott

-- 
If the Linux community is a bunch of theives because they
try to imitate windows programs, then the Windows community
is built on organized crime.

Regards Richard
pa3gcu@zeelandnet.nl
http://people.zeelandnet.nl/pa3gcu/

Re: [HELP] Sound card as TNC, Kernel 2.4.22, Intel board

[Rodolfo Brasnarof]

---
On 29 Oct 2003 at 5:20, Scott Ehrlich wrote:

> I have an Intel Pentium 3 board with Debian Woody, Kernel 2.4.22, and am
> trying to get the motherboard sound to act as my TNC.   I want to
> experiment with packet and APRS using the sound card.
> 
> I've compiled a static kernel with AX.25 support, /sbin/ifconfig -a shows
> AX.25 ports exist.   I run Xastir, Configure > Interfaces > Add > AX25 TNC
> > OK and get an error window popping up:
> 
> "Interface error! Error opening interface 0 Hard Fail"
> 
> and the xterm from which I typed xastir offers:
> 
> axconfig: port 1 not active
> axconfig: port 2 not active
> ERROR: problem with axports file
> 
> 
> 
> What am I missing?
> 
> Thanks in advance.

As far as I know, you need to install the usermode 
soundmodem. I don't know if woody includes it, but you can 
download and compile it yourself.

Then you can run the configuration utility, soundmodemconfig 
or something.

Then you need to edit /etc/axports

Then start the soundmodem.

Your soundcard must be supported by oss. Or maybe by alsa 
with oss compatibility enabled.

You need the mkiss kernel module too, in addition to ax25.

I'm not sure, but maybe you need some of the folowing 
packages:

libax25
ax25-tools
ax25-apps

I always install them prior to soundmodem because I need 
them. For example ax25-tools includes kissattach, necesary 
to attach a kiss tnc, and ax25-apps includes listen, that I 
use for monitoring purposes.

I hope you find this usefull. Try to check the ax25-howto 
that can give you more details. If you have any question, 
just ask.