Dell Inspiron 5150 Modem
 

Good day.

A few weeks ago, I got myself a Dell Inspiron 5150, P4 3.06 GB HT, 1GB RAM. I installed WinXP and FC2 and it was a breeze. FC2 detected everything, synaptics, video card (NVidia GeForce FX Go 5200), network, firewire, USB mouse, etc. Even hyperthreading (it detects 2 CPUs) and the battery meter works.

Unfortunately, my modem doesn't work. It works flawlessly on XP but not on linux. When I check my hardware browser, the modem is detected. Even when I do an /sbin/lspci, it's there. Here are the some info:

Hardware browser:
82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller
Manufacturer: Intel Corp.
Driver: snd-intel8x0m

/sbin/lspci
Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)

When I do a scanModem, there are a lot of info there but one noticeable thing is:
An AC'97 modem codec was not detected
A /dev/modem symbolic link is not set.

I already tried installing SmartLink slmodem-2.9.6 and 2.9.7 but to no avail. My modem is already detected but I just simply can't connect. Using wvdial and /dev/ttyS0 as the modem device won't work. It tries to connect but just hangs (no response.... just trying to connect infinitely).

I really would like to get online on my Linux OS. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Arnel Estanislao

Take a look http://www.linuxant.com

They do modem drivers for using Winmodems with Linux. I think you can try their drivers for a few days before you have to pay the $20 or so, so you can see if it works for you first.

Thanks jrittvo. I visited the site and used their List Modem Tool. Unluckily, mine wasn't detected therefore I don't have a Conexant modem.

Is there any other driver that I can download? As per my earlier post, my modem was detected (through the Hardware Browser), I just can't make it to work. I used to have a desktop PC and a US Robotics as a modem and I never got a problem. Or maybe I'm missing something?

TIA.

I have a 5150 also, but I never fussed with the modem for Windows or Linux. These modems are "softmodems". They use the sound card or audio chip, I think, to make the actual sounds, instead of having a full modem chip set. The Intel modem controller you are getting listed is actually your sound chip. I have the same one. But when I run the Windows version of the List Modem tool, it says I have a HSR something-or-other modem with niumbers that are close to some of the ones they support. I'm going to boot into Linux and see what some of the things say.... Be back later.

Thanks for the quick reply. I think you're right that the modem uses the audio card to make the sound. I really would appreciate it if you could help me setup my modem.

Thanks so much.

This is what I get running scanModem in Linux:

Providing detail for device at PCI_bus 00:1f.6
with vendor-ID:device-ID
----:----
Class 0703: 8086:24c6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
SubSystem 14f1:5422 Conexant: Unknown device 5422
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 7
I/O ports at b400
I/O ports at b080 [size=128]
The soft modem Subsystem operates under a controller
8086:24c6 82801DB ICH4 with Subsystem chipset POSSIBLY from:
Broadcom
AgereSystems
Conexant
Intel
Smartlink

-------------------------------------
It's listing the same Intel chip as you get, but also mentioning possible Conexant subsystem.

Windows' Device Manager says it is a Conexant D480 MDC V.9x Modem.

Can you paste in here the result you get when you run scanModem?

Here's what I got from scanmodem:

Providing detail for device at PCI_bus 00:1f.6
with vendor-ID:device-ID
----:----
Class 0703: 8086:24c6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
SubSystem 14e4:4d64 Broadcom Corporation: Unknown device 4d64
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 177
I/O ports at b400
I/O ports at b080 [size=128]

Internal_test: ./scanModem test 8086:24c6 14e4:4d64 redhat 2.6.5-1.358smp 3.3.3

The soft modem Subsystem operates under a controller
8086:24c6 82801DB ICH4 with Subsystem chipset POSSIBLY from:
Broadcom
AgereSystems
Conexant
Intel
Smartlink

Then yours is a Broadcom. I know from the drivers on Dell's site that they use both Broadcom and Conexant. And I don't really know that this Conexant in mine is one that Linuxant supports -- I'd try it here but I'm running kernel 2.6.6-1.435 and I think it will be a day or 2 before Linuxant has a version for this newest kernel. I will try it out though when I can and post back here. If it does work, you could maybe contact Dell and find out what would be involved in getting the Conexant version of the mini-PCI moidem card. Or, you could find out what PCMCIA modems are directly supportd by Fedora and get one of those. Or, see what Windows Device Manager says you have (Broadcom model #) and Google it to see if someone has managed to get it working under Linux.

Thanks jrittvo. Your help is very much appreciated. I'll do some research on Broadcom and will post any findings here. But should you come across any information on this issue, kindly let me know.

You've been a great help!!!

Thanks dude.

I checked the modem that was detected on my XP, it's BCM V.92 56K modem. If anyone could help me find the correct driver for my lLinux OS, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

I think your out of luck. I had the same problem on my dell inspiron 8200. Softmodems and Linux just don't mix well yet. Find a computer store and buy an external one if you absolutly need a modem on the laptop. The external modems are all hardware controlled, and thus will work with Linux fine. However, I'm not sure how well an USB external modem works. I'd go with a serial connection external modem.

Thanks MacrossV for the info. I'm still hoping that someone in this forum would be able to help me out without resorting to getting an external modem. But should I really run out of luck.... then I'll get myself one.

Thanks.

I gave up myself. It drove me nuts seeing how everything works to perfection with Linux except for that lousy modem. Hope you have better luck than i did.

That's true. I can't believe everything works on Linux except the modem. I do hope someone out there was able to figure this out.

By the way, did you get yourself an external modem? Is it working properly?

Thanks.

Yes, i did get an external modem. It works very nicely. It's a Creative(i think that's the brand) Modem Blaster External v.92. Suse 9.1 Pro found it and configuration ran smootly. It cost me $70 though.