Topic: Got this far...almost there...can anyone help me???

[djdisturbed]

I recently installed SME Server on a 300mzh 128mb ram
system with two network cards.  The installation went perfect with absolutely no errors...it even found my linksys and dlink network cards just fine. I followed the directions right off this website as per how to install and configure.  I'm 90% sure i did it correctly.  Here is whats going on.
     The machines on my network all get an IP address.  I can even log into my server via web interface and check the config.  But when i do, the first thing that stands out is it's giving me an external IP address of 192.168.57.12 er somthing which can't be the external IP.  I use a broadband connection that is dynamic so i picked use dhcp (send ethernet address as client identifier)  I even tried using my dnydns.org account.  I am not able to ping anything.  I am really at wits end as to why it doesn't auto detect my external ip
address.  I'm sure I am missing somthing really stupid.  I am using this box as a gateway and server.  Please say the magical words of what i'm doing wrong...lol

[crazybob]

djdisturbed,
 

It does sound like you are almost there, but we need a little more info. What ip does you work station come up with? What type of broadband do you have? If it is DSL is the modem set for bridge mode? (some give a private ip on the user side)

Bob

[djdisturbed]

My current internet connection is Roadrunner which uses a somewhat stable ip that changes every once in a while.  The Internal IP address is set to 192.168.1.1 like normal routers and the external IP shows up as 192.168.57.12 er somthing weird like that which i know for a fact isn't my RR address.  I am new to the linux genre of OS so i'm not familar with command line functions such as windows ipconfig and refresh and renew features.  I was going to try and renew the ip of the external but couldn't find the syntax...it was late and eyes were glossed over trying to find docs....lol  I do appreciate the help:)

[crazybob]

A simple test would be to hook your windoze box up to your broadband router and see what ip address you get. If it is in the 192.168.57.xxx range, then your modem is not in bridge mode, and usually they are not.

If you check the tech support site for your modem, they should tell you how to set it up.

Bob

[djdisturbed]

i did do that end of trouble shooting and after hooking up winblows box it gave me a 69.124.xxx.xx which also allowed me on the internet.  Its a motorola surfboard which is pretty common and there is no setup that has to be done when hooking up directly or thru a router for that matter.  Man im so excited on getting this working...lol  I searched forums and googled this problem for quite a while yesterday and nobody seems to be having my same issue.  I do thank you again for the help.

[nkevans]

What IP address is the server config showing as your local IP address?  I had a similar problem which I couldn't figure out until I discovered that I had accidentally reversed the ethernet connections for the internal and external LAN cards.  Sounds daft, I know, but it's worth a look.
Nick

[djdisturbed]

my internal ip address is set to 192.168.1.1 and dhcp is starting internal addresses at 192.168.1.100...when my first computer booted up on my network i recieved an ip address of 192.168.1.100 which tells me dhcp is working.  From that machine i was unable to ping 192.168.1.1 or anything else for that matter.  I also could not access the web.  When i go into the config review...it shows me that all settings are correct with the exception of my external which for whatever reason detects as an internal address 192.168.xx.xx...which shouldn't be happening if this server is doing routing functions.  I'd imagine it should autodetect the ip that my ISP provider is designating me.  I am using the version 6.01 i belive...im going to try installing with version 6.5 later this eve.  Not sure if that info helps at all.

[nkevans]

On the Review Configuration, what does it say for Server Mode?

Nick

[nkevans]

You said that you have a cable DSL.  You might find that your provider will need to re-provision your service for a different Ethernet card.  I had exactly the same problem (I'm on cable in the UK.) It seems to be a feature of a lot of cable services that they work on the MAC address for authorisation.

I ended up switching my ethernet card from my windows box to my SME box. Suddenly it sprang into life.

HTH

Nick

[djdisturbed]

I will check config mode when i get home but if its the server setting i'm sure its set to server and gateway.  I will try different nics...and i thought about possibly trying a different machine just to rule out the variable.

[crazybob]

I used to have a cable connection using a surfboard modem, and all I did is what you said you did in the config, but you may need a way to re-provision the modem. I was with attbi (which is now comcast) at the time, and had no problem.

[djdisturbed]

But just out of curiosity...by installing it as a server & gateway with setting the internal IP and choosing which nic does what...it should pretty much set itself up right...i mean it should auto detect IP addresses when it changes right?

[djdisturbed]

Also...what brand of network cards would you recommend?  I currently have two with realtek chipsets, one dlink, one netgear, and one linksys?

[nkevans]

It should indeed.  However, the problem that I had was that my cable provider used the MAC address of the NIC on my windows box to authenticate the connection.  When I tried to connect my SME box (obviously using a different NIC) the cable connection simply did not recognise its MAC address and would not authenticate.

It's a pain, I know, but you could do worse that switch the NIC from the box that will connect to your DSL into your SME box and see if it works.  If it does not then the problem is likely to be in your SME config rather than with your cable connection.

[nkevans]

I use Realtek cards with the 8139 chipset - cheap and cheerful but always seem to work.