LinuxQuestions.org - flakey ppp connection to ISP with winmodem

Right, any hints gratefully accepted ... this is driving me bonkers.

I have a Pctel World Micromodem (a winmodem), for which the lspci -v is:

Code:

00:0f.0 Modem: PCTel Inc HSP MicroModem 56 (rev 02) (prog-if 04 [Hayes/16750])        

Subsystem: PCTel Inc: Unknown device 0001        

Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 10        

I/O ports at 1880 [size=64]        

Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

Now, I'm using ppp-go (or ppp-on, they are the same thing aren't they?) to connect to the internet. However, the connection is terribly hit-and-miss. Sometimes I'll do ppp-on, wait for the connectino failed message, kill it with ctrl-c over and over and it won't connect, usually it connects on the second attempt after the ptserial and pctel modules have been removed and re-insmod-ed ... does anyone know why, or where to look to find out?

My ppp log messages (sample from end of file) are like this

Code:

Dec 18 22:15:02 ixthus pppd[1200]: pppd 2.4.1 started by root, uid 0

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: timeout set to 60 seconds

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: abort on (ERROR)

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: abort on (BUSY)

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: abort on (NO CARRIER)

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: abort on (NO DIALTONE)

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: send (AT&FE0&C1&D2&K3V1W3S0=0^M)

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: expect (OK)

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: AT&FE0&C1&D2&K3V1W3S0=0^M^M

Dec 18 22:17:06 ixthus pppd[1231]: remote IP address 213.121.143.89

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: OK

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]:  -- got it 

Dec 18 22:15:03 ixthus chat[1201]: send (atdt08440404951^M)

Dec 18 22:15:04 ixthus chat[1201]: timeout set to 75 seconds

Dec 18 22:15:04 ixthus chat[1201]: expect (CONNECT)

Dec 18 22:15:04 ixthus chat[1201]: ^M

Dec 18 22:15:21 ixthus chat[1201]: ^M

Dec 18 22:15:21 ixthus chat[1201]: NO CARRIER

Dec 18 22:15:21 ixthus chat[1201]:  -- failed

Dec 18 22:15:21 ixthus chat[1201]: Failed (NO CARRIER)

Dec 18 22:15:21 ixthus pppd[1200]: Connect script failed

Dec 18 22:15:22 ixthus pppd[1200]: Exit.

Dec 18 22:15:35 ixthus pppd[1215]: pppd 2.4.1 started by root, uid 0

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: timeout set to 60 seconds

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: abort on (ERROR)

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: abort on (BUSY)

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: abort on (NO CARRIER)

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: abort on (NO DIALTONE)

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: send (AT&FE0&C1&D2&K3V1W3S0=0^M)

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: expect (OK)

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: AT&FE0&C1&D2&K3V1W3S0=0^M^M

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: OK

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]:  -- got it 

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: send (atdt08440404951^M)

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: timeout set to 75 seconds

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: expect (CONNECT)

Dec 18 22:15:36 ixthus chat[1216]: ^M

Dec 18 22:15:53 ixthus chat[1216]: ^M

Dec 18 22:15:53 ixthus chat[1216]: NO CARRIER

Dec 18 22:15:53 ixthus chat[1216]:  -- failed

Dec 18 22:15:53 ixthus chat[1216]: Failed (NO CARRIER)

Dec 18 22:15:53 ixthus pppd[1215]: Connect script failed

Dec 18 22:15:54 ixthus pppd[1215]: Exit.

Dec 18 22:16:12 ixthus pppd[1223]: pppd 2.4.1 started by root, uid 0

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: timeout set to 60 seconds

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: abort on (ERROR)

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: abort on (BUSY)

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: abort on (NO CARRIER)

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: abort on (NO DIALTONE)

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: send (AT&FE0&C1&D2&K3V1W3S0=0^M)

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: expect (OK)

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: AT&FE0&C1&D2&K3V1W3S0=0^M^M

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: OK

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]:  -- got it 

Dec 18 22:16:13 ixthus chat[1224]: send (atdt08440404951^M)

Dec 18 22:16:14 ixthus chat[1224]: timeout set to 75 seconds

Dec 18 22:16:14 ixthus chat[1224]: expect (CONNECT)

Dec 18 22:16:14 ixthus chat[1224]: ^M

Dec 18 22:16:31 ixthus chat[1224]: ^M

Dec 18 22:16:31 ixthus chat[1224]: NO CARRIER

Dec 18 22:16:31 ixthus chat[1224]:  -- failed

Dec 18 22:16:31 ixthus chat[1224]: Failed (NO CARRIER)

Dec 18 22:16:31 ixthus pppd[1223]: Connect script failed

Dec 18 22:16:32 ixthus pppd[1223]: Exit.

Dec 18 22:16:36 ixthus pppd[1231]: pppd 2.4.1 started by root, uid 0

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: timeout set to 60 seconds

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: abort on (ERROR)

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: abort on (BUSY)

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: abort on (NO CARRIER)

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: abort on (NO DIALTONE)

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: send (AT&FE0&C1&D2&K3V1W3S0=0^M)

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: expect (OK)

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: AT&FE0&C1&D2&K3V1W3S0=0^M^M

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: OK

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]:  -- got it 

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: send (atdt08440404951^M)

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: timeout set to 75 seconds

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: expect (CONNECT)

Dec 18 22:16:37 ixthus chat[1232]: ^M

Dec 18 22:17:04 ixthus chat[1232]: ^M

Dec 18 22:17:04 ixthus chat[1232]: CONNECT

Dec 18 22:17:04 ixthus chat[1232]:  -- got it 

Dec 18 22:17:04 ixthus pppd[1231]: Serial connection established.

Dec 18 22:17:04 ixthus pppd[1231]: Using interface ppp0

Dec 18 22:17:04 ixthus pppd[1231]: Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/ttyS15

Dec 18 22:17:06 ixthus pppd[1231]: local  IP address 217.135.115.104

Dec 18 22:17:06 ixthus pppd[1231]: remote IP address 213.121.143.89

Notice how it all seems to work but just won't connect, is this me or my ISP??

Please help, this is driving me nuts and stopping me from getting my wife on Linux!

Thanks

pbhj

{I'm using Slackware 9.1; kernel 2.4.20; ppp 2.4.1}