Why is networkmanagement so crappy?

gonzzor · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 03 Nov 2004 Posts: 133

Hi..

I have a laptop using Gentoo and I move around a bit.. Not much but enough to be annoyed..
I have both a wired and a wireless network connection on my laptop..

When I'm at my desk I like to use the wired for the speed and have all the network shares to be mounted...
I also have access to a wlan when I move around and I still need access to the shares... This is a little problem since I have access to the wlan when I have access to the wire. Since it is on the same network I have to connections with the same default gateway, wich conflicts.

So far not much but here is what is most annoying..

Why does Gentoo start the eth0 even if there aren't any cable plugged in? Is it so hard to first check to see if it is up, and if it is then bring it up... Or at least give me an options to do so... Because when it starts eth0 it tries to mount my networkshares that aren't available since I have no connection...

And some more. When I connect to another network using the cable, it still tries to mount the share on a server that doesn't even exists?

Solutions?

Isn't it possible to have a MAC/IP table that you can do some lookups against and choose the right network configuration, IP, resolv, mount and so on...
On wireless it is easier since you have the MAC of the AP, so there it can't be a problem (Isn't there such a feature that does this?)

Are there any projects that are working on these or similar problems?

It would be really nice if Gentoo could manage to do this...

_________________
After 5 hours trying to install PHP 4 on FreeBSD I missed my Gentoo machine...

rev138 · l33t Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Posts: 848 Location: Vermont, USA

gonzzor · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 03 Nov 2004 Posts: 133

Yeah...
I now it will start because I said so, but a nice option would be to not start if there aren't any cable pluged in..

ifplugd, does it work great with Gentoo?

Is there a way to only mount shares and use other network systems just on specific networks? Automaticlly?
Like specifing a IP and MAC for a server, if that server is present, then you are on the right network and then mount that share, start that network system..
_________________
After 5 hours trying to install PHP 4 on FreeBSD I missed my Gentoo machine...

rev138 · l33t Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Posts: 848 Location: Vermont, USA

Sequentious · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:25 pm Post subject:

I've had rather good success with NetworkManager, though my laptop is running Ubuntu and I have no need for dynamic configuration on my gentoo machine.

YMMV, but I highly reccomend it.
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--
Chris I
chris@cidesign.ca :: www.cidesign.ca/~chris/

sylware

Well, the idea is if you have a laptop that do not use a desktop (gnome-kde), the dynamic network configuration should be done via distro sysvinit scripts and their corresponding daemons. In the case you are a desktop user, you should use a graphic app specifically for this task.
So in the near future, we will probably end up with 2 mutually exclusive ways to dynamically configure the network.
As far as I understand it, the graphic apps will be desktop specific based on the common HAL from freedesktop.
(should have a look at the networkmanager gnome app though :lol:

)

Sequentious

sylware · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 11:13 pm Post subject: Bluetooth?

I haven't got the time to look into the source code. But does it support Bluetooth internet connexion using the proper profile?