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getting a connection to my machine by modem ?
Ilan Finci writes:
> I'm running a PC with linux & I want to allow a friend of mine to work on
> it throu a modem. I don't have Internet access or anything like that. Is
> there a way to do it ? (When my computer is working of course & so is my
> modem) and can I work on the system at the same time ?
>
Alon suggested getting the Serial Howto & setting up getty on the
modem port.
I agree on on getting the Serial Howto (& reading it :), but as for
which version of getty to use, I suggest mgetty. I tried using
getty-ps, but couldn't get it to work properly. mgetty comes with
decent documentation & also won't block the line (so that you can both
dial out over the modem as well as receive dial-in calls). The mgetty
package also comes with software to send & receive faxes (assuming
your modem supports it).
For a little background info, getty is responsible for monitoring a
tty line & spawning login when necessary. The init daemon is
responsible for spawning getty. So, for example, in /etc/inittab, you
probably have command lines which run getty on /dev/tty[1-6] so that
you get a login prompt when you switch to consoles 1-6 & thus can log
in on the consoles. To allow dial up to your machine, you'll have to
add a line to instruct inittab to spawn a getty process on /dev/ttySx,
where x is the number of the serial line which your modem is connected
to. Then, when someone dials up your modem, getty will answer the
call, home in on the correct speed (assuming that your /etc/gettytab
file is set up properly), and spawn a login process to prompt the
dial-in user for login name & password, etc.
Good luck,
Dr. Harvey J. Stein
Berger Financial Research
hjstein@math.huji.ac.il