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sindi keesan wrote:
>
> You cannot use the same inittab for dumb terminal 
> and telnet server modes via serial cable.

You can use the same inittab if you use two different 
serial ports: one for the dumb terminal, one for TCP/IP.

> In all cases you need to set the port/line, speed, 
> and in the case of kermit tell it you are not using 
> a modem.  Other com programs also need to be told 
> it is a direct connection.  Steven likes commo.  

Steven likes commo because it is relatively small and 
works well as a dumb terminal.  commo also uploads and 
downloads (which not all terminal programs can do).

> Is there some way to switch back and forth using 
> command-line instead of inittab to start and end 
> agetty, rather than editing inittab and rebooting 
> to switch from dumb terminal to serial network mode?  

Perhaps.  Try executing agetty directly (with the same
parameters shown in /etc/inittab).

> Or can I kill the agetty before setting up serial 
> network with ppp?).

You can kill it, but it will immediately be reborn.
If you look in /etc/inittab, you will see that agetty
is launched with the respawn setting.  This means the
getty restarts automatically when terminated.

> pppd local crtscts /dev/ttyS0 11500 192.168.1.1:192.168.1.2

That line is wrong.  
I suggest you use the line in /root/netsetup.

> I don't know if it was necessary but I also did
> ifconfig ppp0 192.168.1.1 and the same for .2

It's not necessary.

> Steven could you write this up as a FAQ?  

The most important bits are already in /root/netsetup

> The part about securetty was not in netsetup, 

It's not needed.  Editing /etc/securetty is something
you do on a server.  BasicLinux was designed to be a
client, not a server.  I realize that some people are
using BasicLinux as a server, but that is not a normal 
function of the distribution.  In fact, using BasicLinux
as a server is very insecure (particularly if you run it 
as root).

> or the fact that you cannot telnet with the same 
> inittab that you need for dumb terminal.

The inittab is not at issue.  Your problem was that you
were trying to use a serial port for two different things.
You would get the same effect if you put a modem and mouse 
on the same port.

> Is a nullmodem cable called a laplink cable?  

Yes.  I've seen both names on cables in the shops.

> I thought laplink was the name of a specific program that 
> is used in DOS for file transfer

Yes, it was a well-known program targetted at laptop users.
It used a nullmodem cable for serial transfers.
 
Cheers,
Steven

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