Michael Havens wrote:

>lspci -v listing results of the modem
>00:0b.0 Serial controller US Robotics/3Com 56K Fax/Modem Model 5610 (rev 01)
>(prog-if 02 [16550])
>    Subsystem: US Robotics/3Com = Unknown device 00d3
>    Flags: medium devel, IRQ 9
>    I/O ports at ec00 [size=8]
>    Capabilities: <available only to root>
>  
>
Excellent.  Now, let's do a little tutorial on how to find and solve 
issues with a Linux box.  Google is your friend. (Your very best friend!)

Googling on the information you now have: "us robotics 5610 modem linux"

The first link is:
http://www.sysopt.com/userreviews/modems/reviewhtml/US_Robotics_Performance_Pro_PCI_5610.html
One guy says it works well in four distros of Linux "In some versions of 
Linux I have had to use the setserial command to set the interface up 
manually."
I don't know how to do that but there is a big hint!

The second link in the list is:
http://www.usr.com/support/product-template.asp?prod=5610
with an RPM for RedHat 6.0.  Probably pretty old.  I wouldn't mess with it.

A couple of links down is:
http://hazard.com/linux/pci.html
Titled "Using the 3Com/US Robotics 3CP5610 internal PCI Modem with 
Linux" even with directions on the setserial command.  Looks promising.

Another couple down is:
http://www.people.iup.edu/bclg/pci-modem.html
Titled "How to set up your PCI modem in Linux" and he uses a slightly 
different method but his lspci output looks just like yours, on first 
glance.

What if you were to google on: "us robotics 5610 modem linux mandrake"?  
I'll bet you will get even better results specific to your distro.

Then, after you read a few of the pages you have found, pick one that 
looks reasonable and try it.  If it doesn't work, try another or ask for 
more help.

I am not trying to be rude, just exposing the vast information available 
for solving configuration problems in a system.  Once you know some 
tidbit of information, you can find what you need.  Remember, google is 
your friend.

Alan