plip problems ahoy

[Matthew Dalton <matthewd@research.canon.com.au>]

Hi there,
I've been trying to install Debian 2.1 on my
laptop, which has no cdrom or network card. Debian's base system was
easy to install (using floppies). I've been trying to set up a PLIP
link, so I can ftp the rest of the system over.

My setup is unusual:

+---------------+
| laptop: comet |
+---------------+
       |  192.168.2.2 (plip1)
       |
 laplink cable
       |
       |  192.168.2.1 (plip0)
+----------------------+
| headless box: saturn |
+----------------------+
                |  192.168.1.1 (eth0)
                |
            ethernet
                |
                |  192.168.1.13 (eth0)
   +----------------+
   | desktop: earth |
   +----------------+


comet is running Debian 2.1 (kernel 2.0.36, glibc 2.0.7)
saturn is running RH5.2 (kernel 2.2.10, glibc 2.0.7)
earth is running RH5.2 (kernel 2.2.6, glibc 2.0.7)

Earth is the only computer which has a cdrom drive. I wish to connect
comet to saturn though, because PLIP requires that IP forwarding be
enabled in the kernel (according to the PLIP mini-HOWTO... is it
correct?). Saturn also acts as a gateway for IP-Masqerading, and so
already has support for IP forwarding. I don't want to compile support
for this into earth's kernel (also, configuring PLIP between comet and
saturn will allow me to access the internet through saturn via the
laplink cable later on...).

(I'm don't have access to any of these systems right now, so the
following might not be exact :/ )

PLIP seems to be working okay between comet and saturn. Pings work both
ways, and I can telnet/ftp from comet to saturn (but not the other way
because telnetd and ftpd aren't installed).

Routes have been added:
comet:
- saturn is the default gateway, plip1 is the defaultroute

saturn:
- all packets to 192.168.1.x go to eth0
- all packets to 192.168.2.x go to plip0

earth:
- saturn is the default gateway, eth0 is the defaultroute

Sorry, I don't have the output from route -n. I'll post it tomorrow if
required.

* saturn can ping comet and earth
* earth can ping saturn and comet
* comet can ping saturn but NOT earth!

It is mostly working, but the most crucial link, the one I need to get
access to a cdrom, is the one that doesn't work. Can anyone tell me what
could be wrong?

Thanks,
Matthew

ps. Please don't tell me to remove the cdrom from earth and install it
in saturn ;)