iBurst and Fedora Core 6

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xmasbunny

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WIKI ARTICLE: http://mybroadband.co.za/wiki/index.php/How2:iBurst_and_Fedora_Core
I know at times that installing iBurst hardware on Linux can be daunting if not impossible. I thought I'd add my two cents worth to help those users using Fedora Core 6 Linux (this will more than likely work on 3, 4 and 5 as well) and the iBurst Desktop Modem (called a UTD). This is by no means a definitive guide, but it will get you up and running quickly.

The easiest method to connect your PC or laptop (for the sake of ease I'll be just mentioning the PC, the steps are exactly the same for the laptop) to the UTD is using your ethernet port. For those unfamiliar to PC's, the ethernet port is the network port which looks like a telephone port but slightly bigger. When you receive your UTD you should have gotten two cables, a black USB connector and a (in my case) a grey network fly lead. We'll be using the flylead to connect to the UTD.

  1. Connect the fly lead to your ethernet port on your PC and the other end to the corresponding port on the UTD.
  2. The network lights on your PC network card should now be lit which means the connection between the two devices is established. Don't worry if this doesn't happen as it is probably not activated yet.
  3. Click on "System" on your menu panel and select "Administration" then "Network".
  4. If you are logging onto your system as a normal user you will be prompted for your root password.
  5. After entering your root password the Network Configuration window will open. There should be at least 1 device listed and it should be labelled eth0. If there are more than one, the other device could be a wireless card or similar. We will only be focusing on eth0.
  6. Double click on eth0 which will bring up the configuration window for the device. (Please note: If you use your PC or laptop to connect to another network (possibly a corporate network) write down the current settings in this window. You will have to reset this connection back to these settings of you want to re-connect to that network.) These are the new settings:
    • Leave the nickname as eth0
    • Check "Activate device when computer starts"
    • Check "Allow all users to enable and disable the device"
    • Uncheck "Enable IPv6 for this interface"
    • Select "Statically set IP addresses:"
    • In "Address" set 192.168.0.10
    • In "Subnet mask" set 255.255.255.0
    • Leave "Default gateway address" blank
    • Click "OK"
  7. The eth0 entry in the Network Configuration window should still be highlighted. Click on the "Activate" button on top and then click "File" and then "Save" click "OK" in the warning window.
  8. Open a terminal window by clicking on the menu button, selecting Accessories and then Terminal.
  9. At the command prompt in the terminal window, type "su -" (without the inverted commas) and press enter. Enter your root password and press enter.
  10. Type "service network restart" and press enter. Don't close the window yet as we are going to use it again in a bit.
  11. Open your web browser and in the address bar type "http://192.168.0.1" and press enter.
  12. You should now be able to see the Link Information of you iBurst UTD modem, including the signal strength. If not, retrace the previous steps in case you mistyped or skipped a step. If after that it still does not work, restart your PC and start from the beginning.
  13. Next we have to set the "dial-up" phase to handle the connection to the iBurst network. Select the open Terminal window. If you closed the window by mistake open a new one, type "su -" and enter your root password again.
  14. Type "adsl-setup" to start the setup procedure:
    • Press enter to leave the connection name as ppp0
    • Enter your iBurst username e.g. [email protected]
    • Press enter to accept the default eth0 connection
    • Press enter to set the connection to be up permanently
    • Press enter for the DNS entries to be automatically populated by the iBurst servers
    • Enter your iBurst password press enter and confirm the password
    • Press enter to allow all users to start or stop the connection
    • Enter 1 to set a standalone firewall
    • Enter yes to start the connection at boot time or no if you want to start it manually. I suggest you start it manually
    • Enter y to accept all the settings
  15. To start your internet connection type "/sbin/ifup ppp0" to stop it "/sbin/ifdown ppp0"
  16. You can start and stop your connection as a normal user but there will be an error which you can comfortably ignore.

I suggest you install the lastest Firefox browser (get it from http://www.getfirefox.com) as it is very user friendly and rock-solid secure for internet browsing.

Congrats! You're on the internet using your iBurst UTD modem on Linux. Snigger to yourself when reading posts on mybroadband.co.za of Windows users moaning about spyware, viruses and general Microsoft shenanigans :)
 
Last edited:
@ xmasbunny - thanks for this info!

Do I have your permission to copy your posting on the Smoothwall community forums?

Regards



Libs
 
By all means. Distribute this freely anywhere you wish.
If I can get comments from other users perhaps I can polish it a little more ;)
 
I had a request on how to create a desktop shortcut to ease the starting and stopping of the iBurst connection.

  1. Right click on your desktop and select "Create Launcher".
  2. Set the following:
    • Type: Application
    • Name: iBurst Connect
    • Command: /sbin/ifup ppp0
    • Comment: None
  3. Click on the "No Icon" button and select one from the list.
  4. Click on OK
  5. To set a disconnect icon follow the same steps except:
    • Command: /sbin/ifdown ppp0
Double clicking any of the icons will execute the command.
 
I've tested it on a Windows PC - and it works. You can also access the iBurst UTD via the same methods as discussed above, which is handy to troubleshoot a troublesome connection quickly when you can't download anything at all, and you don't have utTraceStar installed...

Note that I've tested it successfully with the newer, black UTD of theirs.

NOTE : the speed graph works in IE and not very well in FF, but you will be able to get an idea of the signal strength as it will display in text as well, the graph might be funny-looking in Firefox.
 
Last edited:
Hi Guys

For some reason my ethernet port does not work with iburst (it works from the office lan though)
- and it's not the cable, I've tried other cables,
- I've even gone to iburst for support and they proved that the modem is fine, it works with other pcs.
- So yes the problem is supposedly with my ethernet card, and I called DELL and they say it's fine.

The point is I cannot use the ethernet card with my iBurst, but the usb option works fine on my windows. Now I'd like to use iBurst with Linux as well.

Do you guys have a step by step guide for getting iBurst working with my usb?

I've tried downloading the drivers from sourceforge but still no success. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards
kasperogp
 
Thanks xmasbunny!

Exactly what I was looking for when I came to the forums this morning (though admittedly because I'm using a Mac, not Linux).
 
ragunalth said:
I am running UBUNTU, would the setup be the same?
Click to expand...

Yip the same tools apply when using Ubuntu. If you're stuck however try the Ubuntu forums for friendly and concise help. Since initially posting this I too have switch over to Ubuntu (the local repositories are quick and up to date) but I share my iBurst connection using a wireless router :)
 
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