Greetings, I have scanned some of the older posts on this forum, which refer "winmodem" users to linmodem.org. I am interested in learning something a little bit different. I intend to purchase a new modem. I would like to buy one that is compatible with Linux, because NONE of my three modems are useable at present with Linux, (they all work fine with win98se.) The ideal modem would be one that employs HSP (host system processing), such as the motorola and a couple others, found at pricewatch.com, which employ the amr slot, rather than the pci slot on my motherboards. I am wondering if there are any distributions of linux, yet, (I have been waiting for the last five years) which can access this bit of hardware, WITHOUT imposing an obligation on the user, me, to RECOMPILE the OS. I am profoundly disinterested in wasting my time with command line syntax from the 1960's, trying to recompile the old bell labs junk. (wow: grep, cat, ls, and kill, amazing, what boorishness.) If there is a point and click distribution that will accept one of the "new", i.e. three years old, sub 10$ modems, then I want to purchase both that distro, and that modem. If, on the other hand, one has to purchase a "proper" modem, i.e. one that accesses the serial port, a la 1980 technology, (e.g. RH install list), and that costs 50$, then no thanks. I will stick with win98se. Any os is supposed to provide the user with access to all of his/her hardware, not just some of it. I can put up with the limitations of a mid 1990's os, like linux, which considers firewire, usb2, and webcams as alien entities, but only if that mid 1990's os can access my mid 1990's hardware, as win95r2 could. (I won't even broach the subject of accessing a USB cable modem,... that's only three year old technology, we may need to wait another decade for something that arcane and avante garde to be accessible to linux) Thanks for your advice.

i feal dirty answering you, but since you know so very little, here goes... the reason that a cheap $10 modem is a cheap $10 modem and not a $50 modem is that it is not a real modem. follow me so far? it uses your processor (that 166 processor i know you are using) and thus makes everything run slower. an amr slot is designed expecially for these (non-real)hardwares. HSP!!!! that cracks me up, thanks for making my day! :^)

the reason that many distro don't support HSP :^) modems is that most manufacturers won't share the the needed drivers with the open source community to port them to linux.

since you are so willing to spend $200 on micro$oft software and not $50 on real hardware. see you! go on! leave! oh, yeah. i forgot. it's a pirated version of windows, isn't it?

i hate when uninformed people like you knock on open source for no fault of their own.

--cheers

It sounds as if you don't really want to use Linux.... but anyhow

# Linux Distribution links:
A Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Linux Distribution
Reasons to Choose or Not Choose Linux
LWN distro list
elinux Linux Distributions

# Modem and connection troubleshooting
WinModems and Linux
Modem HOWTO
Modem NHFs
Linmodems.org
Conexant/Rockwell modem HOWTO
The Unofficial PCTel Linux Driver page
I finaly got my PcTel hsp56 mr modem to work
Linux driver for Winmodems with Lucent Apollo (ISA) and Mars (PCI) chipsets
Lucent AMR modem listed as an Intel AC'97 - Smart Link Modems
The kppp Handbook
Dial-up Networking Configuration Using KDE's Kppp
Troubleshooting ISP Connection Problems

I picked up my serial port external modem (works with any box, any OS that has a serial port) for $14.50, but that is out of your price range, apparently.

Thank you Iggymon for taking the time to respond. There is some error in your interpretation, no doubt due to the tenor of my post, for I am not at all hostile to the "open source community", and no, I do not believe that I possess a "pirated" version of win98se, or, at least I paid for it, but only 100$, not 200$. I also paid 50$ for a copy of Mandrake Linux 7.1, and 35$ for a version of RH linux, neither of which is operable, while my ancient win95 still works fine. Yes, I do have a pentium 100 machine, but that is not one of the three computers discussed in the post. They are all Celeron 1 ghz machines with half a gig of RAM. You are quite confused in assessing hsp capabilities. Contrary to the implications of your remarks, HSP, which was called NSP by Intel, perhaps before your time, (Native signal processing) is a FEATURE, an ADVANTAGE, an OPPORTUNITY, to exploit the modern cpu's incredible computing capabilities. The silly, TRIVIAL, banal operations performed by a "real" modem are so easily replicated by the cpu, in addition to everything else the cpu is doing, that the user does not know the difference, even with a pentium 166. There is probably a MEASUREable decrease in performance, but not a PERCEPTIBLE difference. This of course would be EVEN more true for a hot shot like you, who doubtless works with a 2ghz + cpu, wasting lots of energy, and still uses an EXTERNAL modem (waste more energy), simply because Linux is incapable of interacting with a cpu engaged in hsp manoeuvres. Since when does a manufacturer's product LIMIT the capability of an os??? A bona fide OS doesn't depend on the manufacturer. The os functionality depends on the architect of the OS, not the silly hardware it regulates. It is the architect's job to FIND OUT how the hardware works, and control it, not make excuses, and suggest that people go out and purchase OBSOLETE, and more expensive alternative hardware, simply because the functionality of that older hardware has already been defined. A good os, whether in open source form, or from some private corporation, needs to be sufficiently flexible to ADAPT as newer devices are added to the computer. Linux doesn't seem to adapt too well, I suspect, because of its orientation to FILES, i.e. assuming a character based input, rather than to binary data, e.g. cameras, interrupts, usb ports. The problem isn't with "open source", it is with a worthless design, based on UNIX, a worthless os for the real world, which has nevertheless worked wonderfully well to train at least two generations of befuddled ivory tower types who can not think beyond the obvious. Learn a little more about cpu architecture, then criticise hsp.

Thank you FancyPiper for an excellent response, very helpful. I tried following the link you kindly provided to the pctel hsp56 mr modem, since that is one of the modems I currently own, but, you will recall, that I inquired about the availability of a distribution of Linux that incorporated the half dozen steps involved in downloading, reconfiguring, changing directories, renaming, redirecting, baffling, untarring, unzipping, and otherwise bamboozlling through the swamp of the internals of the os. I really am not looking for that kind of solution, which would require a good 80 hours of my time to figure out. I want to point my mouse, and click, and that's it. done. configured. type in the telephone number of the ISP, because Linux can't find that info from the other partition where win98se sits, ok, I can handle that much. So, yes, I don't really want to LEARN Linux, but no, I do want to USE linux, the same way I USE my automobile to fetch groceries. I don't know how the internal combustion engine works, and I don't need to. I don't know how the butcher and the grocer and the candy stick maker operate, nor do I need to in order to acquire my frozen tv dinner that I pop in a microwave whose function I also cannot explain. I just want an OS that let's me use my web cam, my dvd player, my USB flash memory to boot up, and my light pen to illustrate my lectures. So, thanks again for a wonderful response, obviously you are very well informed. Can you please answer my question: Is there a distribution that can interact with a sub 10$ hsp modem such as the 6$ motorola v.92 amr slot device? Your 12$ external modem is not ridiculously expensive, but it has 4 problems: (1) bulky, (2) power consumption, (3) double the price, (4) uses serial port, not usb. If you are talking quantity ONE, then none of these objections is significant. But what about ten thousand of them??????? IF you live in a cold climate, then the additional heat generated from wasted power is either insignificant or a blessing. But, in a tropical setting, where I will be placing 10k units in confined quarters, poorly ventilated, EVERY watt is precious. Not only is it difficult (and very expensive) to GENERATE the additional unnecessary energy, it is also difficult to disperse the unwanted additional heat. So, back to the future: is there a linux distro that I could use???? thanks.

Nope. With winhardware, you will have to jump some hoops (blame Microsoft's business practices for that) and put up with buggy drivers.

Your best bet would be to purchase the Mandrale Personal Power Pack as some non-open source software is included such as the nvidia and conexant modem drivers.

If you don't want to learn Linux but only use Linux, I suggest you hire a system administrator to administer your system for you.

You could also try the Knoppix Live CD or other live CDs that run off the CD to try without having to install. You could get a feel of whether you want Linux or not with those.

Thanks for the reply. Um, I think there is still some misunderstanding. This is not "winhardware". There is no relationship between Microsoft corporation and the manufacturers of these modems. The modems will work with any os that understands how to read data from the particular I/O port address and IRQ issued by the device. the computer doesn't care a whit about politics, and doesn''t respond one way or the other to complaints about M$. regards.

Methinks you misunderstand hardware mfgs and Microsoft business agreements and the workings of modems/cpus....

Otherwise, the support would be built into the kernel......

Trolling along and he caught a few.

Wonder if he will change his bait next time around.

The tone was slightly different from the normal trolls, but I am pretty sure that was the intent of the poster.

Maybe after he does an actual install and does a tiny bit of research, he will find some actual facts to use about modems.

fancypiper proposes "a tiny bit of research." Here are some quotes from "understanding the linux kernel" 2nd edition by Bovet and Cesati:
page 148: "softirq's: Net_Rx_Softirq: receives packets from network cards.
Question: is it possible that the USB cable modems and HSP dial up modems do not work with linux because the os is configured to receive packets of data from ONLY ethernet cards?

Is it possible that the Microsoft operation system uses non-standard protocols so that reverse engineering has to be applied to unravel it?