ADSL: Using mpd(8) for PPPoE

[Rob]

Listfolks,

I'm trying to connect a Netgear DM602 modem to my FreeBSD 4.8 firewall.
I haven't used PPP over Ethernet before, and I'm not making much
progress.

The Handbook[1] talks about using ppp(8) and netgraph modules. Renaud
Waldura has written an excellent tutorial[2] on this, and I also found a
guide[3] to using ppp with Telstra (which is my provider).

But there seems to be a question about whether ppp(8) is the best
approach. The benchmarks for 'usermode PPPoE' at [4] are very
disappointing, and they mention mpd as a better option. And when reading
about FreeBSD+ADSL in Austria[5], I came across this comment:

  Another way to setup such a connection is using the netgraph-system
  and the mpd package, which is a little more "BSD style" and is (in
  my experience) more stable than pptp-client.

So I looked at /usr/ports/net/mpd and it handles all the ppp traffic in
kernel using netgraph, which seems like a good approach. The
documentation is very thorough and there's lots of sample
configurations.

I copied the samples for PPPoE, changed the username and interface, and
this was the result when I started it up:

  Multi-link PPP for FreeBSD, by Archie L. Cobbs.
  Based on iij-ppp, by Toshiharu OHNO.
  mpd: pid 245, version 3.13 (root at freebsd.org 16:04 22-Mar-2003)
  [PPPoE] ppp node is "mpd245-PPPoE"
  [PPPoE] using interface ng0
  [PPPoE] IPCP: peer address cannot be zero
  [PPPoE] IFACE: Open event
  [PPPoE] IPCP: Open event
  [PPPoE] IPCP: state change Initial --> Starting
  [PPPoE] IPCP: LayerStart
  [PPPoE:PPPoE] [PPPoE] bundle: OPEN event in state CLOSED
  [PPPoE] opening link "PPPoE"...
  [PPPoE] link: OPEN event
  [PPPoE] LCP: Open event
  [PPPoE] LCP: state change Initial --> Starting
  [PPPoE] LCP: LayerStart
  [PPPoE] device: OPEN event in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] exec: /sbin/ifconfig rl0 up
  [PPPoE] Cannot send a netgraph message: rl0::No such file or directory
  [PPPoE] device is now in state OPENING
  [PPPoE] device: DOWN event in state OPENING
  [PPPoE] device is now in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] link: DOWN event
  [PPPoE] LCP: Down event
  [PPPoE] device: OPEN event in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] pausing 4 seconds before open
  [PPPoE] device is now in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] device: OPEN event in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] pausing 1 seconds before open
  [PPPoE] device is now in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] device: OPEN event in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] Cannot send a netgraph message: rl0::No such file or directory
  [PPPoE] device is now in state OPENING
  [PPPoE] device: DOWN event in state OPENING
  [PPPoE] device is now in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] link: DOWN event
  [PPPoE] LCP: Down event
  [PPPoE] device: OPEN event in state DOWN
  [PPPoE] pausing 6 seconds before open
  [PPPoE] device is now in state DOWN
  ^Cmpd: caught fatal signal int
  mpd: fatal error, exiting
  [PPPoE] IPCP: Down event
  [PPPoE] IFACE: Close event
  [PPPoE] IPCP: Close event
  [PPPoE] IPCP: state change Starting --> Initial
  [PPPoE] IPCP: LayerFinish
  mpd: process 245 terminated

There is definitely a rl0 interface, which I configured to be on the
same subnet as the modem:

  rl0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
   inet 192.168.0.2 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255
   ether 00:c1:28:00:e6:0b
   media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>)
   status: active

I also tried it with the interface unconfigured (in case mpd(8) wants to
do this itself) with the same result.

I've spent the last day searching google, and can't figure out where the
problem is, let alone how to fix it. If anyone actually has it up &
running, I would really appreciate your suggestions.

Thanks.
Rob.

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/pppoe.html
[2] http://renaud.waldura.com/doc/freebsd/pppoe/
[3] http://logicsquad.net/freebsd/PPPoE-how-to.html
[4] http://www.jraitala.net/comp/articles/2002/pppoe/
[5] http://mailbox.univie.ac.at/~le/freebsd+adsl-howto.html