Hi, I'm new to linux and have very recently installed RedHat Linux 9 on my computer. But I'm being unable to connect to my ISP via dial-up. I've tried alot but couldn't succeed. I can query the modem, but the results are blank (shows nothing in the AT, AT1, ... boxes). I've configured the network interface with kppp but when I click the 'Connect' button, it just says 'Initializing modem' and nothing happens after that. How can I make sure if my modem (internal one) is supported by Linux or not? I'm totally new to linux, please, someone help me.

You internal modem is most likely a software modem, a.k.a. a "winmodem." These have been quite problematic for Linux users. The Linux drivers we have for them have been obtained through valiant reverse engineering efforts. If you think you might have one of these modems, your first stop should be http://www.linmodems.org/ . From there you can download a scanning tool which will help you identify your hardware, which, as that website explains, is the first step toward (hopefully) getting a software modem to work.

There are some hardware (non-software) based internal modems, but these are less common. (I am using one now.) If this is a PCI based modem, we should be able identify the modem by the output of the command /sbin/lspci. (You can type that command into gnome-terminal, for example.) If your modem is PCI based and you think it might be a hardware based modem, please post the output of that command.

Or ... You might save yourself a lot of trouble if you just buy an external modem. If you do this, make sure your computer has the appropriate type of connector. External modems used to hook up through an RS232 connector. I believe that today many of them use USB. If it uses RS232 and your computer has such a connector, it is my belief that almost any modem will work. (As always, I could be wrong.) I am not so sure about USB modems. If you want to check a modem out before you buy, LQ maintains a hardware compatability list. Just click the HCL link at the top of the page.

If you want to try to talk to your modem at a low level, i.e. type in the specific "AT" commands, you should check out the program minicom. Be sure to read its man page first, so you know how to configure it before use. In case you don't know, man pages are a traditional way of providing info about programs on Unix like systems. "Man" is short for "manual." To use it, you just type man followed by the name of the program. So in this case you would type:

You know that Red Hat Linux version 9 has been end of life since about 2004, right?

At the very least you should try the latest version of Fedora, the Red Hat sponsored, community driven distribution. See http://fedoraproject.org/ for the latest version.