WVDIAL.CONF(5)

💖 WVDIAL.CONF(5) 💖

ok so bestie, welcome to the wvdial.conf manual page — yes it lives in File Formats Manual section 5, and yes it's giving "I read the docs so you don't have to" energy ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

wvdial.conf — the wvdial configuration file, aka the little text file that holds your whole dial-up destiny 🎀

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

ok so here's the tea 🫖 — when wvdial starts up, the very first thing it does is load its config from /etc/wvdial.conf. That file has the basic deets about your modem port, your speed, and your init string, plus all the info about your Internet Service Provider (ISP) — like the phone number, your username, and your password. literally everything it needs to go make friends with the internet 💅

The config file /etc/wvdial.conf is in Windows "ini" file format, which means sections named inside square brackets, and a bunch of variable = value pairs chillin' inside each section. iconic format tbh.

Here's a sample configuration file, no cap:

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyS2
Baud = 57600
Init = ATZ
Init2 = AT S11=50
Phone = 555-4242
Username = apenwarr
Password = my-password

[Dialer phone2]
Phone = 555-4243

[Dialer shh]
Init3 = ATM0

[Dialer pulse]
Dial Command = ATDP

So that sample config up there? It contains all the options you need to run the two sample command lines given above. slay. And here is the complete list of settings that wvdial understands 👑

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🌈 THE SETTINGS (every single one, we're not skipping, periodt) 🌈

• Modem — the location of the device wvdial should use as your modem. The default is /dev/modem. 💜
• Baud — the speed at which wvdial will talk to your modem. The default is 57600 baud. ⚡
• Init1 ... Init9 — wvdial can use up to nine initialization strings to set your modem up. Before dialing, these strings get sent to the modem in numerical order. These are especially useful when you're specifying multiple sections. Peep the example above that uses Init3 to turn the modem's speaker off 🔇 The default is "ATZ" for Init1.
• Phone — the phone number you want wvdial to dial. You can add up to 4 other phone numbers that wvdial will dial in order, by adding:
• Phone1
• Phone2
• Phone3
• Phone4
• Dial Prefix — wvdial will insert this string after the dial command and before the phone number. For example, to disable call waiting (in North America, anyway) set this to "*70,". 🎀
• Dial Command — wvdial will use this string to tell the modem to dial. The default is "ATDT". 📞
• Login — you must set this to the username you use at your ISP.
• Login Prompt — if your ISP has an unusual login procedure that wvdial is unable to figure out, you can use this option to specify a login prompt. When this prompt is received from your ISP, wvdial will send the Login string. 🔍
• Password — you must set this to the password you use at your ISP.
• Ask Password — by setting this option, wvdial will prompt for your password on every dialin. So you don't have to save your password in /etc/wvdial.conf. (Option added by SuSE.) 🙈
• Password Prompt — if your ISP has an unusual login procedure that wvdial is unable to figure out, you can use this option to specify a password prompt. When this prompt is received from your ISP, wvdial will send the Password string.
• PPPD Path — if your system has pppd somewhere other than /usr/sbin/pppd, you will need to set this option. 🛣️
• Auto DNS — try to get the Domain Nameserver (DNS) from the provider. This option is "on" by default. (Option added by SuSE.)
• Check DNS — check the Domain Nameserver (DNS) after the connection has been set up. This option is "on" by default. (Option added by SuSE.)
• DNS Test1 — first DNS lookup for DNS check. (Option added by SuSE.)
• DNS Test2 — second DNS lookup for DNS check. (Option added by SuSE.)
• Check Def Route — check the default route after the connection has been set up. This option is "on" by default. (Option added by SuSE.)
• Force Address — this option only applies if you have a static IP address at your ISP, and even then you probably don't need it. Some ISPs don't send the IP address as part of the PPP negotiation. This option forces pppd to use the address you give it. 🫶
• Remote Name — if your ISP uses PAP or CHAP authentication, you might need to change this to your ISP's authentication name. In most cases, however, it's safe to use the default value, "*".
• Carrier Check — wvdial checks your modem during the connection process to make sure it's actually online. If you have a weird modem that insists its carrier line is always down, you can disable the carrier check by setting this option to "no". 💀
• Stupid Mode — when wvdial is in Stupid Mode, it does not attempt to interpret any prompts from the terminal server. It starts pppd immediately after the modem connects. Apparently there are ISPs that actually give you a login prompt, but work only if you start PPP, rather than logging in. Go figure 🤷 Stupid Mode is (naturally) disabled by default. (the name is honestly so unserious but okay 😭)
• New PPPD — you need this option if you have pppd version 2.3.0 or newer, to make wvdial create the file /etc/ppp/peers/wvdial. This option is enabled by default, so if you have an older pppd you need to set it to `no' (or upgrade pppd). ⭐
• Default Reply — when wvdial detects a prompt, and it hasn't seen any clues that indicate what it should send as a response to the prompt, it defaults to sending "ppp". Sometimes this is inadequate. Use this option to override wvdial's default prompt response. 💬
• Auto Reconnect — if enabled, wvdial will attempt to automatically reestablish a connection if you are randomly disconnected by the other side. This option is "on" by default. 🔁
• Idle Seconds — set the hangup timeout in seconds. If there is inactivity for the given time, the connection is shut down. A hangup timeout of 0 disables this feature. 😴
• Abort on Busy — if enabled, wvdial will not retry the connection if the modem says that the line is busy. This option is "off" by default.
• Abort on No Dialtone — if enabled, wvdial will not retry the connection if the modem says that there is no dialtone. This option is "on" by default. 📵
• Dial Attempts — if a value is set, wvdial will quit after that many tries. If set to 0, wvdial will happily keep dialling forever. 🔥
• Dial Timeout — the maximum time in seconds that wvdial will wait for a connection to be made. Default value is 60 seconds. ⏳

Oh and also — the wvdialconf(1) program can be used to detect your modem and fill in the Modem, Baud, and Init/Init2 options automatically. so you don't even have to do it by hand bestie, it does it for you ✨

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💜 AUTHORS 💜

Dave Coombs and Avery Pennarun for Net Integration Technologies Inc. Great contributions have been made by many people, including SuSE and RedHat. Thanks guys! 👑

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

wvdial(1), wvdialconf(1), pppd(8).

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ok that's the whole page bestie, you ate that 🍓 this was WvDial, dated December 2005, and that's your WVDIAL.CONF(5) moment — go forth and dial, mwah 💅💖