Mac newbie paddling up stream!

M

Mo_money

Registered
Just bought an ibook & airport express bass station. Intention. wireless connection to the net through Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC DSL modem
(modem supplied by NTL Broadband engineers for PC setup).
ISP through AOL.
Every time I try to connect to the net. Ibook tells me Can't Connect Coz Server Not Found?
Called AOl & after a quick punch up with them confirmed access to the net is through PPPoe (name and password scenario).
Double checked info on the ibook.. Re-did it.. Still can't find the server comes the response!!!.......I started setting this up at 7pm it's now 2:07am...
Is it Aol???
Is it the Realtek RTL8139 modem??
Is my partner going to string me up when wakes & finds me laying comatose next to a non-net conected ibook??
(she's a uni student. & there's nothing worse than a uni student whose hungry & can't access the net!!)

I NEED HELP!! Any soloutions & i will be gratful. New modem. New ISP whatever it is.
Cheers up front guys
 
First consign yourself to not getting it connected tonight. Unplug everything, walk way, and come back tomorrow well rested.

Now once you have had some sleep let's get the terminology and topology a little clearer:
1) You have an iBook, which is a laptop. That I think we are all clear on.
2) Airport Express base (not bass) station.
3) a Realtek RTL8139 PCI Ethernet Card. The RTL8139 is a network card not a DSL modem. Further it is a PCI card meant for desktops so would not work in a laptop regardless.
4) finally we have a DSL modem of unknown type, but really that should not matter.

So those are the parts. We can ignore the RTL8139 since it is not useful for a laptop.

Next, how have you tried to connect? using the iBooks built in ethernet directly to the modem, using wireless with the airport express hooked up to the modem, or both?

Now in the end what we want the Airport express connected to the DSL modem and the iBook connecting to the airport express. Before we go that far though let's start with the basics and see if we can not connect you through the iBook's built in ethernet.
- Plug in the DSL modem and connect it directly to your iBook via the ethernet port.
- go to System Preferences => Network => Built in Ethernet and select configure.
- go to the PPoE tab select connect using PPoE then fill in the rest of the info.

Apply and see if you can connect. If you can not connect then make sure all the values are correct in the configuration. If you are still failing open the network utility and tell us what the reported link status is for "en0." Also go to the terminal and type "ifconfig en0" and let us know what it says.

If you can connect then you will want to reset your built in ethernet to not use PPoE, plug your DSL Modem into the airport and configure the airport with the same settings. This I can not help you too much with since I do not have a Airport Express. Finally connect to the airport using your wireless card in your iBook and you should be good to go.
 
Took your advice and got some well needed shuteye!
Let's start again. I have a IBook G4 runnining OSX 10.3.5 & A PC running XP.
The pc has AOL.9 & connects by an AOL broadband 200 dsl modem.
I've installed AOL 9 (mac version) on the Ibook. Connected it via the ethernet port to the dsl modem. tried to sign on as existing AOL member & new member, but the response comes back can't find server.

Went into system preferances >Network on IBook & checked account name, password.. checked PPP options. all correct... still comes back can't find server though the dsl modem.
Set up airport connection via dsl modem.. came back can't find server.

Yes I was foolish.
I believed this would be easy. HA!

Took some good advice & slept. First thing this morning called AOL (who had been so far rude, unhelpful and evasive to this point.) Asked them for the exact name of my dsl cable modem box. first she said it was a Voyager then changed her mind and said it was an AOL 200? & thus incompatible with a MAC!!!!!! Apparently it needs the software from a broadband installation cd to work. I used the same cd on my pc to set it up for a broadband connection. Unfortunately the IBook can't read its files.

Hung up a broken man, but decided at least to get on the net through the IBooks internal 56k (v.90) modem. Got the new AOL version 10.2.1 for the mac. unistalled the old & installed the new one. let the AOL software configure everything. Got the freephone access number for NTL set location, set up existing member & dialed up. It initiallises, dials trys to authenticate then displays trhe message Access via this number is not available. Click on Setup & choose another number or phone help line.
I know it must connects to AOL breifly (because all of the user names that we have are now available to switch between). Contacted AOL again and they insist the problem shouldn't be happening but have no soloutions.

I searched the net for answers & discovered that America Online can not establish a conection from the classic environment of Mac OS X 10.0 or later?? That came from 'Apple.com'. So I downloaded the latest version Of AOL & and am thinking is this a MAc issue. Some guys said they used a router to get connected to AOL on their MAc without problem.?

Need a soloution.

Thanks up front
 
First, remove the wireless from the equation. Do all your tests connected straight from the iBook to the DSL Modem with Ethernet.

The DSL modem should have a link light on it (usually green) that indicates whether or not the Ethernet connection is working. When your PC is hooked up and working, unplug the Ethernet cable and see which light goes out. Does that light come on when the iBook is connected? If not, that's the first thing you have to get resolved.

A modern Mac should autodetect whether a cross-over connection is needed or not and automatically adjust itself. However, if you're getting a link on the PC but not on the Mac, then you may want to try another Ethernet cable or an Ethernet crossover cable.

If you're unsure or the DSL modem doesn't have a link light, you can post the output of the terminal command "ifconfig -a" here and I can tell you whether you've got a link or not.

Once you're sure you have a good link, now it's time to verify the PPPoE settings. Are you sure they're absolutely the same as on the PC? Enable "Show PPPoE status in menubar." At what point does the "server not found" error come up? Is it before PPPoE shows connected? Or is it when you're actually trying to run the AOL app?

Once you've tried a failed connection run /Applications/Utilities/Console. Click on the Logs button and then look at both console.log and system.log. If you see any messages that look like they might be related, post them here.

Wade
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top