Modem Problems
Christopher Bardin
plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
Thu, 27 Mar 2003 20:46:58 -0700
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Pardon the HTML. This is for Michael Havens:
Hi. My name is Chris and I'm a Windows-holic.
It started so innocently. My first computer, an HP, came with Windows =
Me preinstalled. All I had to do was turn it on and soon I was pointing =
and clicking all over the internet. I learned about Google and Yahoo =
and the joy of e-mail. I began to download. For a while life was good. =
Then my computer crashed. And crashed again. Files disappeared. I =
hit rock bottom when I had to reinstall my OS.
I began to think that there must be more to life than trying to get my =
computer to work reliably. I had bought a certain bare-bones computer =
from Fry's, an FIC Sabre, because it was very quiet and small, unlike =
the HP which sounded a lot like a cheap vacuum cleaner (I finally =
quieted down the HP by replacing its 12 volt case fan with a 24 volt =
fan.) The Sabre had a problem which prevented any OS installation: it =
can't handle the 512 MB of RAM it said it could. I didn't discover the =
cause of, and cure for, the Sabre's problem until after I had bought =
Windows 2000 Pro to try to install in it. I began to read about other =
operating systems and decided to give Linux a try. I bought Mandrake =
8.1 PowerPack and installed it in my Windows 2000 Pro computer last =
March or so. I have had no problems dual booting the two operating =
systems in spite of the fact that everything I read said it would be way =
tricky to do. I just stuck the Mandrake CD in and sat back. During the =
installation LILO automagically replaced the Windows boot program =
without a hitch. I only needed to tell Mandrake not to bother the =
existing partitions during the installation, and then I had to find the =
GUI and configure LILO to my liking after I restarted the computer and =
Linux loaded by default.
But I haven't been able to kick Windows cold turkey because I can't get =
online in Linux. In fact you could say I've fallen off the Linux wagon, =
since I never use Linux for anything because I can't get online. I =
bought a hardware based internal PCI modem, a U.S. Robotics/3Com 5610B, =
because it was the only modem I found at the time in Fry's which said on =
the box that it would work with Linux. It didn't, at least not for me, =
but since it worked fine in W2KPro I knew that the problem wasn't in the =
modem. When I tried the Harddrake wizard it thought the modem was a =
Winmodem and wouldn't go any further. With help from Mandrake:
Here are the details about your incident: alans : 06:06 01:38 : Reply =
received=20
Try this in a console or console window as root. First, to find out =
the pci address of the modem, type: lspci And then use that address (of =
the form xx:xx.x) to get verbose info by typing lspci -v -s
Write down the io and IRQ being used then run setserial by typing: =
setserial /dev/ttyS4 port irq then verify that it sees a UART by typing: =
setserial /dev/ttyS4 If it doesn\'t, you can guess that it\'s a regular =
16550A UART, so then type: setserial /dev/ttyS4 uart 16550A.=20
This is the part that makes it work though: type: cd /dev then type: =
ln -sf ttyS4 modem. Now set your kppp program to use /dev/modem and you =
should be fine. -- Alan - MandrakeSoft Support Team :)=20
This got Linux to recognize the modem and even dial my ISP, but as soon =
as the two modems established a connection they disconnected. A friend =
who knows Linux very well actually got my Yahoo home page to load, one =
time. He couldn't figure out how he did it though, and was unable to do =
it again. At least I know that it is possible to get online using my =
dial-up modem in Linux
After that I gave up trying to use Linux until Mandrake 9.0 came along. =
I hoped that however it was different it might allow me to get online =
so I asked a friend who had access to high-speed internet to download it =
for me, but it didn't work either. In fact setserial seems to have =
disappeared from 9.0, and I need it to make the modem work.
I joined the PLUG discuss mailing list hoping to discover something that =
will help me to get online in Linux. Forums and mailing lists are new =
to me so maybe I'm not doing it right, but I find the PLUG mailing list =
a bit difficult to read. Most of the messages (posts?) seem to be in =
plain text, full of darts and carriage returns on my computer (Windows =
2000 Pro; and I use Yahoo for my mail, so I'm reading it in IE.) The =
one message that was in HTML was fine. Again, I'm probably not doing =
something right, but what?
Christopher Bardin
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2920.0" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3D"Calligraph421 BT" size=3D2><STRONG>Pardon the =
HTML. This is=20
for Michael Havens:</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3D"Lucida Sans Unicode" size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3D"Lucida Sans Unicode" size=3D2>Hi. My name is =
Chris and I'm a=20
Windows-holic.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3D"Lucida Sans Unicode" size=3D2>It started so =
innocently. My=20
first computer, an HP, came with Windows Me preinstalled. All I =
had to do=20
was turn it on and soon I was pointing and clicking all over the=20
internet. I learned about Google and Yahoo and the joy of =
e-mail. I=20
began to download. For a while life was good. Then my =
computer=20
crashed. And crashed again. Files disappeared. I hit =
rock=20
bottom when I had to reinstall my OS.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I began to think that there must be more to life than trying to get =
my=20
computer to work reliably. I had bought a certain bare-bones =
computer from=20
Fry's, an FIC Sabre, because it was very quiet and small, unlike the HP =
which=20
sounded a lot like a cheap vacuum cleaner (I finally quieted down the HP =
by=20
replacing its 12 volt case fan with a 24 volt fan.) The Sabre had =
a=20
problem which prevented any OS installation: it can't handle the =
512 MB of=20
RAM it said it could. I didn't discover the cause of, and cure =
for, the=20
Sabre's problem until after I had bought Windows 2000 Pro to try to =
install in=20
it. I began to read about other operating systems and decided =
to give=20
Linux a try. I bought Mandrake 8.1 PowerPack and installed it =
in my=20
Windows 2000 Pro computer last March or so. I have had no =
problems=20
dual booting the two operating systems in spite of the fact that =
everything I=20
read said it would be way tricky to do. I just stuck the Mandrake =
CD in=20
and sat back. During the installation LILO automagically replaced =
the=20
Windows boot program without a hitch. I only needed to tell =
Mandrake not=20
to bother the existing partitions during the installation, and then I =
had to=20
find the GUI and configure LILO to my liking after I restarted the =
computer and=20
Linux loaded by default.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But I haven't been able to kick Windows cold turkey because I can't =
get=20
online in Linux. In fact you could say I've fallen off the Linux =
wagon,=20
since I never use Linux for anything because I can't get online. I =
bought=20
a hardware based internal PCI modem, a <STRONG>U.S. Robotics/3Com=20
5610B</STRONG>, because it was the only modem I found at the time in =
Fry's which=20
said on the box that it would work with Linux. It didn't, at =
least=20
not for me, but since it worked fine in W2KPro I knew that the problem =
wasn't in=20
the modem. When I tried the Harddrake wizard it thought the modem =
was a=20
Winmodem and wouldn't go any further. With help from =
Mandrake:<FONT=20
face=3D"Calligraph421 BT"></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style=3D"MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<P style=3D"MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><STRONG><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman, serif"><FONT size=3D4>Here are the details =
about your=20
incident: alans : 06:06 01:38 : Reply received =
</FONT></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P style=3D"MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><STRONG><FONT size=3D4><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman, serif">Try this in a console or console =
window as root.=20
First, to find out the pci address of the modem, type: lspci And then =
use that=20
address (of the form xx:xx.x) to get verbose info by typing lspci -v=20
-s</FONT></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P style=3D"MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><STRONG><FONT size=3D4><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman, serif">Write down the io and IRQ being=20
used t</FONT></FONT><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman, =
serif">hen=20
run setserial by typing: setserial /dev/ttyS4 port irq then verify =
that it=20
sees a UART by typing: setserial /dev/ttyS4 If it doesn\'t, you can =
guess that=20
it\'s a regular 16550A UART, so then type: setserial /dev/ttyS4 uart =
16550A.=20
</FONT></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P style=3D"MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0cm"><STRONG><FONT size=3D4><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman, serif">This is the part that makes it work =
though:=20
type: cd /dev then type: ln -sf ttyS4 modem. Now set your kppp =
program to use=20
/dev/modem and you should be fine. -- Alan - MandrakeSoft Support Team =
:)=20
</FONT></FONT></STRONG></P></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT>
<DIV>This got Linux to recognize the modem and even dial my ISP, but as =
soon as=20
the two modems established a connection they disconnected. A =
friend who=20
knows Linux very well actually got my Yahoo home page to load, one =
time. =20
He couldn't figure out how he did it though, and was unable to do it=20
again. At least I know that it is possible to get online using my =
dial-up=20
modem in Linux</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>After that I gave up trying to use Linux until Mandrake =
9.0 came=20
along. I hoped that however it was different it might allow me to get=20
online so I asked a friend who had access to =
high-speed internet to=20
download it for me, but it didn't work either. In=20
fact <EM>setserial </EM>seems to have disappeared from 9.0, and I =
need it=20
to make the modem work.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I joined the PLUG discuss mailing list hoping to discover something =
that=20
will help me to get online in Linux. Forums and mailing lists are =
new to=20
me so maybe I'm not doing it right, but I find the PLUG mailing =
list a bit=20
difficult to read. Most of the messages (posts?) seem to be =
in plain=20
text, full of darts and carriage returns on my computer (Windows 2000 =
Pro; and I=20
use Yahoo for my mail, so I'm reading it in IE.) The one message =
that was=20
in HTML was fine. Again, I'm probably not doing something right, =
but=20
what?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Christopher Bardin</DIV></BODY></HTML>
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