Re: martians

Alan Cox (alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk)
Fri, 6 Jun 1997 20:20:11 +0100 (BST)

> : Jun 1 17:37:25 bx2 kernel: martian source 00000000 for 00000000, dev ppp0
> : Jun 1 17:37:25 bx2 kernel: ll header: 45 00 00 28
> : What does it mean? ;)
>
> Your peer sends you packets with invalid IP addresses.
> : And can I safely 'echo "0" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_log_martians' ? ;)
>
> Yes. But it would be better to try to fix the problem on other
> side of PPP.

Actually I suspect the problem is one of protocol violation that may be
fixable. Several peoples pieces of kit - such as Ascend and 3Com ISDN routers
will offer 0.0.0.0 meaning "pick me an address" and accept 0.0.0.0 as a
reply - if neither side picks an address it tries to create an unnumbered
link which isnt precisely to the TCP/IP specs but is a useful item and
conceptually can be made to work.

Try forcing an address negotiation either by setting your address or its
address in the PPP setup.

Alan