Setting up a PPP server for OS X 10.3 clients

[David Wadson]

I've been spending the weekend struggling to a machine configured for 
dial-up connections from OS X Panther (10.3.5) clients. The server I've 
set up is a Power Mac 4400, with an external USRobotics Sportster 56K 
Faxmodem connected to the printer port as ttyS1. The box is running a 
straight install of YDL 3.0.1 with mgetty and ppp installed (plus 
wvdial, minicom, etc.).

I've followed a number of different PPP server howtos from various 
places, including the PPP-HOWTO at tldp.org, I've gotten to the point 
where the PPP server is answering the call and attempts to authenticate 
a connection.

So far, what I get is in my mgetty.log.ttyS1 is...

10/04 00:19:44 yS1  mgetty: experimental test release 1.1.28-Jan10
10/04 00:19:45 yS1  check for lockfiles
10/04 00:19:45 yS1  locking the line
10/04 00:19:45 yS1  WARNING: DSR is off - modem turned off or bad cable?
10/04 00:19:45 yS1  lowering DTR to reset Modem
10/04 00:19:46 yS1  send: \dAT&F1&K3[0d]
10/04 00:19:46 yS1  waiting for ``OK'' ** found **
10/04 00:19:47 yS1  waiting...
10/04 00:20:32 yS1  wfr: waiting for ``RING''
10/04 00:20:32 yS1  send: ATA[0d]
10/04 00:20:32 yS1  waiting for ``CONNECT'' ** found **
10/04 00:20:44 yS1  send:
10/04 00:20:44 yS1  waiting for ``_'' ** found **
10/04 00:20:48 yS1  WARNING: starting login while DCD is low!
10/04 00:20:48 ##### data dev=ttyS1, pid=578, caller='none', 
conn='33600/ARQ/V34/LAPM/V42BIS', name='', cmd='/usr/sbin/pppd', 
user='/AutoPPP/'

The OS X client times out trying to  establish the connection, and the 
ppp.log shows...

Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/cu.modem
LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests

and then terminates.

So, right now I have two questions:

1. Is anyone using YDL 3.0.1 as a PPP server? If so, was there a 
particular HOWTO that you used? Did you need to download new versions 
of mgetty or ppp (or anything else) or did the ones included with YDL 
work? Is a custom kernel or custom compile of mgetty necessary?

2. Do OS X 10.3 ppp clients use PAP or CHAP for authentication? I 
couldn't find any option for picking which though I'm sure it's buried 
somewhere under Aqua's hood. Every PPP HOW-TO I've seen uses PAP as the 
authentication - if OS X is using CHAP, then I might be totally barking 
up the wrong tree.

Any help that can be steered my way is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Dave Wadson
IT Manager
The Chronicle-Journal
Thunder Bay, Ontario