I have a generic 56k external modem. A sticker on the back says:

DATA /FAX / VOICE MODEM

FCC No: H52PT-3020
Data: K56 Flex / ITU-T V.90 & ITU-T
V.34 MNP 4/5 & V.42 / V.42 bis
Fax: G3 14.4K/14.4K Send/Receive
Voice: Simultaneous Audio/Voice & Data
Full-duplex speakerphone mode

Anyway it used to work perfectly on Linux, then one day it just stopped. On kppp it would reach the “initializing” step and nothing more would happen. After a while and a lot of searching I found that under “Modem Commands” in kppp it was using “ATZ” to initialize my modem. Even though it worked fine for a long time, it wouldn't any more, and I found that by adding the number 1, making it “ATZ1” the modem worked again.

Now several months later it has stopped working again. I tried going back to ATZ, as well as adding numbers all the way up to ATZ6 but it just wont work.

What the hell does “ATZ” mean/do exactly? Is my modem the problem? Is there some way for me to reset it so it works with “ATZ” again?

Any help would be very much appreciated. I'm going insane having to use Windows (still works fine for that).

"What the hell does “ATZ”"

AT initializes the modem and clears the command buffer. Z restores all settings to the factory default.

"Is my modem the problem?"

I would guess that you have an intermittent hardware problem which is the sign of slowly dying hardware.

"Is there some way for me to reset it so it works with “ATZ” again?"

ATZ is very basic. You probably will gain nothing by changing it. After ATZ is issued then kppp will issue a second initialization string of commands to set up the modem the way kppp wants. You might be able to do something with the second init string. See if you can find the kppp second init string and compare it to the Windows second init string.

I have the Hayes command set in a book. You might google for the Hays command set so that you can interpret what the commands mean.


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Steve Stites

Thats the most useful information I've been able to get so far. I'll get a new modem in a couple of days so hopefully it wont be a problem much longer.

Thanks for the help