NoCat installation problems

hi folks,

I'm struggling to set up a regular NoCat Gateway with a dedicated Auth
Server. I'm using a Soekris AP, NoCat-0.82 and Linux 2.4 all around.  The AP
works fine now when I connect it directly to my network gateway router,
thanks to some earlier helpful advice, but not with the NoCat system.

Partial success so far:  it runs when I set the Gateway mode to Open in
nocat.conf .  It is kind of strange though.  It only works if my first
internet access is to an IP number rather than a domain name.  Then it gives
me a splash page from somewhere and clicking Login makes everything start
running.  So, I'm thinking, 40 watt bulb that I am, there is at least a DNS
snafu somewhere.

Captive mode, on the other hand, is dead.  I get a redirect to the Auth
Server with a token and all, but it never puts up a splash screen or lets me
do anything else.  It seems like something might be wrong with the login
script file.  Checking the nocat.log shows that the after about 5 minutes,
the AP gets blocked out for non-response and there is nothing I can do short
of re-booting to get the server to talk again to the AP.

I'm hoping that someone reading this could give me some ideas of things to
try.  I'm sure you'll need more info, but I'm not sure what to send.

Many thanks,

/Rob