modem error

[ganbaru]

hi
I just installed Knoppix3.6 on my HD and am experiencing difficulty
dialling up to the Internet.
I manually set all the necessary information in kppp but it just
doesn't work.
This was the "Modem query results":

ATI : AEIGEX560LKTFI ERROR
ATI1: E794 ERROR
ATI2: ERROR
ATI3: AEIGEX560LKTFI ERROR
ATI4: 17 ERROR
ATI5: s051399v,0,01 ERROR
ATI6: ERROR
ATI7: ERROR

And my modem is NOT a winmodem. It's an "Actiontec" diamond voice modem.

Can anyone help me configure it so that I can connect to the Internet?

Thanks a lot
Ganbaru

[Flash00]

I'm afraid this won't be much help, but you are almost certainly looking in the wrong place. Linux seems to have a problem using dial-up modems for some reason. I gave up on Linux at first because I could not get online using a 56K modem that I bought specifically because it said on the box it was Linux-compatible. After trying everything I could think of to make it work, someone from my ISP came over and tinkered with it for a while. He managed to get online one time purely by fiddling in Linux but could not remember how he did it. At least he proved the modem would work with Linux. The problem is somewhere in the configuration of Linux or perhaps the TCP/IP stuff, about which I know nothing.

That was in Mandrake 9.2. Since then I changed to a PCI cable modem (Zoom 5001)and have had no trouble at all getting online with it, in any version of Linux.

I don't understand why dial-up modems aren't a slam-dunk in Linux. They were the first way available to connect to the internet. The interface and protocols are well known and freely available. I can only guess that they are old technology and so don't rate much attention from the developers of Linux, but that still doesn't explain why they never did work well in Linux. Check out any Linux forum and you will find many people with questions like yours.

Sorry. Maybe someone else will be able to help you.

[OErjan]

external SERIAL modems work GREAT 99% of the time.
that is because internal modems often are so called winmodems that emulate hardware with software.
this makes tham cheaper at cost of using the other hardware in the computer (cpu, memory, disk...), not too bad sacrifice in todays worls.
but as the manufacturers refuse to release the necesary HARDWARE specifications, developing drivers is trial and error that takes LOOOONG time, and may sometimes never be completed before new model replaces old.

[Flash00]

Both Ganbaru and I noted that our modems are not Winmodems. I thought that was clear. We are talking about hardware modems. Mine is a U.S. Robotics PCI card 56K modem. It says on the box that it is Linux compatible, and it is; Linux sees it and I can query it. I can even dial out with it but when it makes a connection with the modem at the ISP they immediately hang up. As I said, someone did actually manage to get online with it in Mandrake 9.2, but he was trying a lot of things all at once and couldn't remember what he did that worked.

[shah]

try different /dev/tty

[ganbaru]

thanks for all ur help.

On windows my modem is at com1, so on Linux it should be at dev/ttys0

The problem is: it says "initializing..." and the lights of "CS""RS""TR""MR" become on but it just won't dial!!!

any more help?

Thanks

[stuart_b]

Modem problems in Linux usually relate to security--sometimes to permissions on the files and devices involved, sometimes to the fact that PPP in Linux is designed both as a client and a server.

In recent versions where the designers anticipate use of broadband, the devices or files needed are often made available only to root. You might first try connecting logged in as root, and if that works start experimenting with the appropriate files in /dev.

As PPP is designed to allow dial-in to "your network", it often is configured to default to having the other party--in this case your ISP--have to authenticate. You can turn this off by adding "noauth" to the file /etc/ppp/options. Unfortunately that already seems to have been done in Knoppix, so temporarily disabling your ethernet connection may be an alternative.

The winmodem issue is also a factor with Knoppix, as it doesn't seem to have drivers by default and they don't seem to be available for simple installation as .deb files. (But both Xandros and Linspire are Debian-based, and may have some of the needed drivers.)

[jhiller]

Hi. Just saw Flash00's post about having no trouble with the 5001 modem. Any chance you (or someone) would tell me what exactly one uses for a driver with this, and where it's gotten? I've trying to use the one from the Zoom web site for the modem. It compiles fine, but I always get a module format error when I try to insert it.

I'm using no particular distribution, and kernel 2.6.0. Driving me up a tree!

thx,
jbh