I decided to do a clean re-install. After the install, I used Kppp to access the internet. I then proceded with apt-get update and apt-get upgrade. The internet connection was working just fine through the whole upgrade process. I figured that I would just stick with Kppp for a while.

After reconfiiguring my settings, which include backgrounds, colors, fonts and etc, I decided to start removing some packages. The packages I wanted to remove were related to isdn. I do not have any isdn hardware.

I did not retry my internet connection until after the the packages removal.

When I did try to connect, my modem was in the ready state so I started Kppp. I hit connect and the modem went through the ATZ intialize part, then it tried to dial but cut off immediately. There was a brief dial tone before cutting off. My modem will not go back to the ready state. I tried shutting off the modem, issuing ATZ manually, and shutting down and restarting my system. The modem will not go back to the ready state.

So the problem is with the upgrade I did or the removal of the isdn packages.

When I removed the isdn packages, I did not use the purge option. I am new to apt-get system so I am probably making some mistakes. Can I use the purge option to eliminate the configuration files even though the main package is gone?

I read in another post that the upgrade might have change some configuration files the wrong way. So I will check the configuration files to see if I see anything wrong.

At this point with my modem not going back to the ready state no ppp dialer program is going to work. Something is keeping my modem from going back to the ready state. This something has to be doing this at startup.

Thanks for all suggestions and help.