Installation

[JohnCole]

I have installed FirstSpot succsessfully as per the manual. However when I attempt to connect with a browser to a test pc via a x-over cable, nothing happens other than a 404 error. I have tried pinging 10.20.7.1, but the message returned is "host unreachable".

The private network interface has hardware checksum disabled.
I have disabled DHCP server, DNS server, WWW Publishing. I have tried Routing & Remote Access enabled and disabled - all to the same end.

When I attempt an ipconfig/renew command, the message is that the DHCP server cannot be contacted.
Curiously the private interface card assigns itself the ip address
169.254.151.190 - despite being connected only to the test pc.

Can you help?

[alan]

The 169.254.x.x is assigned by Windows when the client PC cannot reach the DHCP server.

Your problem is related to DHCP. Use the following steps:

- connect the client with FirstSpot using crossover cable (need to conect first since FirstSpot needs to detect connection signal before it can start)
- Start FirstSpot (which also start FirstSpot DHCP Server)
- issue ipconfig/release then ipconfig/renew to obtain an IP (sometimes you need to retry the sequence multiple times).
- once you obtain an valid IP (e.g. 10.20.7.x), go to any valid web site(e.g. yahoo.com). You should be able to see the login page.

P.S. set the Routing & Remote Access service to "maunal" and "not started"
_________________
~ Patronsoft Limited ~

[johncole]

Tried the advice you gave, but I still fail to get an IP address despite over one hundred tries. I CAN ping fisrtspot machine if I set the IP address of the test PC to 10.20.7.2, but DHCP server seems to let me down.
_________________
John Cole

[alan]

DHCP involves several back and forth traffic, and sometimes if the link is not stable, your client might have difficulty obtaining the IP.

Please post your ipconfig/all and config.ini file for further analysis.
_________________
~ Patronsoft Limited ~

[johncole]

Here are the files ypu asked for. Hope this will help solve the problem.

C:\>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : studiobeccy
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : firstspot.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : firstspot.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI For Com
plete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-75-E3-E3-23
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 62.253.254.195
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.192
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 62.253.254.254
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 194.168.8.100

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 6:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8029(AS) PCI Ethernet Ada
pter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.20.7.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.20.7.1

config.ini

;
; Description : FirstSpot Setup INF file
;
; Filename : config.ini
;
; Copyright (c) 2002-2004, PatronSoft Limited
;

; Note: use a slash to separate directories and files, those lines starting with
; a semi-colon are considered as comments.
;
; Warning : please don't change this file without supervision of a PatronSoft Engineer
; It is highly recommended that you change the FirstSpot setting in the Web-based Configuration Manager

[version]
version=Trial
versionDesc=2.1.11

[MNS]
; number of return paths
num_return_path=0
return_path0=

;
; Redirect Login Page php file
;
[loginPhp]
Login_enable0=
Login_php_Num0=

;
; Gateway Settings
;
[gateway]

; Post-Startup Batch File Path Name
batch_filePath =

; lan's subnet mask
;
subnet_mask =255.255.255.0

; domain name server IP address
;
DNS =0.0.0.0

; domain name server IP address
;
preferred_DNS =0.0.0.0

; domain name server IP address
;
alternate_DNS =0.0.0.0

; username
;
user =firstspot

; password
;
pass =a03af780c0f2959f26512a2cc8c2efb6

; network interface card to Internet
;
publicNIC=Local Area Connection 4

; network interface card of LAN
;
privateNIC=Local Area Connection 6

; data source for user login
;
Datasource =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\datasource\firstspot.dsn

; datasource table for user login
;
Datasource_Tablename = fsusr


; enable session logging into the datasource log table
session_log =ON

; datasource table for user session logging
;
Datasource_Log_Tablename = fsusrlog

; datasource table for PayPal
;
Datasource_PayPal_Table=ppal

; port used by Gateway Service
;
port =5786

; port used by Authentication Server
;
auth_port =5788

; port used by ssl site
;
ssl_port =5789

; Greeting message displayed in login page
;
greeting_msg =Welcome to our Hotspot!

; Enable to show InfoBox
;
show_infobox =ON

; Login page picture (filename)
;
loginpage_pic_name=pic.jpg

; authentication server IP address
; Note: different from gateway_IP when it is not installed in gateway (not officially supported in this version)
;
auth_IP =10.20.7.1

; login page filename which dispatcher will call
;
loginpage =login_select.php

; login form filename which login_select.php will call
;
loginform =login_form.php

; anonymous login form filename which login_select.php will call
;
a_loginform =alogin_form.php

; logout form filename which logout.php will call
;
logoutform =logout_form.php

; anonymous logout form filename which logout.php will call
;
a_logoutform =alogout_form.php

; idle time (minutes) allowed for authenticated users
;
idle_timeout =10

; private network
;
private_IP =10.20.7.0

; gateway IP address
;
gateway_IP =10.20.7.1

; allow access to config manager from private network?
;
access_from_private =off

; allow access to config manager from public network?
;
access_from_public =off

; license file path
;
licensepath =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\

; session handling mode, 0 for MAC-based, 1 for IP-based
session_handling =0

; path for dhcp config
dhcppath =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\dhcp\dhcpservice.ini

; dhcp mode, 0 = auto, 1 = static, 2 = disabled
dhcpmode =0

; for static dhcp only, path of the Ip MAC mapping list
static_dhcp_path =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\StaticDHCP.txt

; anonymous login
anonymous_login =OFF

; anonymous login user table name
Datasource_Anonymous_Tablename =fsa

; anonymous login log table name
Datasource_Anonymous_Log_Tablename =fsalog

; password offloading mode
pwd_offload = off

; password encryption directory path
encrypt_path =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\dispatcher\encrypt_pwd.exe

; initial air time in minutes for self signup users
self_sign_up_credit=0

;secure socket layer for authentication
;443 for enabled SSL, auth_port=ssl_auth_port for disabled ssl
ssl_auth_port=5788

;use 3 party ssl cert 0=yes 1=no
ssl_cert=1

;rewrite engine for http to https redirection
rewrite_engine=off

; Allowed Hosts Settings
;
[allowed hosts]
; allowed hosts keywords file path
;
hosts_keywords_path =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\AllowedHostsKeywords.txt

; allowed hosts IPs file path
;
hosts_ips_path =C:\Program Files\FirstSpot\AllowedHostsIps.txt


; Bandwidth Throttle Settings
[bw_throttle]
; Bandwidth Throttle Mode
bt_mode =0

; Overall Upload Limit (at least 20KB/s recommended)
bt_ul_limit =0

; Overall Download Limit (at least 20KB/s recommended)
bt_dl_limit =0

; low, medium and high definition
bt_low=100
bt_medium=50
bt_high=20
bt_drop_period=3


[paypal]
; Business id
;
ppal_business=your_business_id@your_email.com

; URL for successful transactions
;
ppal_return=http://10.20.7.1:5788/cart.php

; URL for cancelled transactions
;
ppal_cancal_return=http://10.20.7.1:5788/cart.php

; trust "Pending"=="Complete"?
;
ppal_pending_release=no

; the settlement currency
;
ppal_base_currency=USD

; URL for notify
;
ppal_notify_url=http://fixed_ip:5789

; Starting number for invoice
;
ppal_invoice_start=1


[lang]
lang_pack_file=custom_lang.php


[misc]
show_cart=yes
block_icmp=off
block_udp=on
_debug=1
oem=C:\WINDOWS\INF\oem10.inf
PublicAdapterDescNme={7EF16B18-62BB-4373-B061-089C7F8332F9}
PublicAdapterIP=62.253.254.195
PublicAdapterIpMask=255.255.255.192
PrivateAdapterDescNme={1C784DC1-F5E3-43F9-95AB-57A011569C93}
PublicAdapterDisplayNme=3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)
PrivateAdapterDisplayNme=Realtek RTL8029(AS) PCI Ethernet Adapter #2
PrivateMAC=000000000000
_________________
John Cole

[alan]

Okay, I understand your problem. FirstSpot v2 has problem with Realtek 8029 as Private Network Interface. Please uninstall/reinstall FirstSpot with 3com as Private Network Interface instead.

The Realtek 8029 problem will be resolved in the coming version 3.
_________________
~ Patronsoft Limited ~