I am having various problems with my Speed Touch USB and Linux Mandrake 9.1...

I run the Wizard to Get on the internet but i am unsure of what I should put in the box which has the letters "dns" at the end is this where i put my telephone number?

I have put in my telephone number but in the next section im stuck...

It tells you to goto ww.speedtouchdsl.com/dvrreg_lv.htm and put a file you download into /usr/share/speedtouch but the only thing on the page u can download is KQD6_R204.zip which only contains the files KQD6P1.eni and KQD6P2.eni and not the file asked.

One last thing...
The folder im suposed to move it to /usr/share/speedtouch seems to be the windows version of read only so i went into the file properties and it says i dont have permision to change the file i am not the owner.

Plz Help im new to linux (I installed it yesterday!)

If you are mega newbie, then you may have to do some reading.

If you just do a search here at LQ for speedtouch, then you will get about 8 or 9 pages of threads that refer to them - which will give you some idea of how many people have had snags setting them up - but don't give up, once you've got it working, it will do the biz. - see p.s. that'll put at the bottom for a slightly different idea.

to start with you don't put your phone number anywhere. It's adsl, not dial up.

I have just had a quick look at the download and without surfing to find out what kind of file extensions ".eni" are.

There is an easier way. Firstly have a look in your mandrake control centre and under the package option, there is an option to add software.

Click on that, and when the dialogue box opens, you have 3 different ways of listing available packages.

Try the alphabetical one, let it find the list, then head down to "S" and see if you get one called speedtouch or speedmgmt ( I have one but that may be because I have a genuine boxed set DVD and the driver comes "pre compiled" in the boxed sets)

If you have, then click that and tell it to install and see if you can do it that way.

if not, then believe it or not, you actually already have the file you need, but within the windows driver for the modem.

You will have to open your "speedtouch" directory (in windows) and surf through it. Now I cant remember the exact name of the file, but it is a ".sys" (without the quotes) file. If you have more than one, you will have to post the file names and I'll try to point you at the right one.

anyhow, all you have to do, is to copy the file to a floppy, then rename it mgmt.o - save the changes and that's the one you want.

boot into mandrake, copy the file to /usr/share/speedtouch (which you will have to do as "root"), then back into your user account and run the wizard.

dns is domain name server. It depends how you have installed your system. If, like my you just got "all the stuff down the left" on the package selection, then you just need to put the IP number of your isp (it should be in the paperwork that you got about the account from BT) into the "dns" box.

don't forget, that you need to specifically select "alcatel speedtouch" from the choices of the connection types.

all things being equal, it should then connect.

regards

John


p.s. As promised, a different idea, is not to use the speedtouch. If you can stretch to it, then have a look here. After looking for ideas here I got myself a SAR110. The single port model (I've only got the one computer to plug it into).

The reason that I did that, was because it used to piss me off, with the delay of disconnection and re-initialisation when booting between windows and mandrake. Also I managed to get an occasional problem that no one else had had, and I couldn't get connected - the only cure that I found was to re-install the mandrake - which was also a pain in the arse.

The modem/router (well I also had to buy a £10 NIC from pcworld as well) system means that you are running it as a mini network, and the modem router manages the connection not the OS (either of them) so the NIC gets detected and starts the net connection at boot - It also has a firewall facility.

I havent looked back since I changed over (sorry if that sounds like a tampon advert!).

Have you installed the mgmt.o file from the speedtouch website? Is mgmt.o in usr/share/speedtouch? This is the only thing you need from the speedtouch website. I don't know about BT Openworld (I'm with Pipex), but I've had no tech support from my ISP on getting a speedtouch 330 running on Linux.

run the command "mcc" from a console, (no quotes), type in your root password and then select "Network and Internet", then run DrakConnect. Follow the wizard and see if that works.

Good luck.

PS, If you need the mgmt.o file, I can email it to you.

Jimmy999 hasn't said which version it is (the modem), but I can see the confusion, the zip file on the speedtouch site inzip's into 2 ".eni" file types - one of them will have the mgmt.o file (probably), but unless he can sus out what app to open .eni files with (more to the point is is the app free?).

But if you've got it available to e-mail to him, that's an even easier option. Though when I looked at the speedtouch site I noticed it seemed to be saying that the available linux driver was an upgrade ??? an up grade from what, where it the original driver to up grade???

Oh, and my isp is pipex as well, and I'm still pleased that I got rid of my speedtouch (well, disconnected it and dumped it on a pile of magazines in the corner).

It was good. but not good enough for me. The delay between OS's annoyed me, and when, on the 3 or 4 occassions, I got that error about line 150 in the speedtouch/speedtouch.sh not finding whatever and spending too much time trying to sort it out, then it had to go.

The Solwise SAR110 has been a real "boon". I selected after going through the reviews in the adsl guide, also one of the members of my LUG is an IT pro who specialises in Open Source Solutions, and has, more than once, used the SAR110 as a good one for small businesses to use. I got mine through him, and haven't looked back. Hence the ideal answers aren't always the "big business" answers (i.e. Alcatel Thomson or even Microsoft for that matter).

regards

John

I'm glad you've had success with your modem! Unfortunately though, I didn't have the cash to splash on a nice shiny new router, so had to make my existing tech work. I've had very little problem with my 330 on Linux (touch wood) since the initial teething troubles, with no errors, and it seems just as fast as it was on windoze. (No great accolade tho ;->).

I know where you're coming from - I've got an nVidia TNT2 which isn't performing as it should. I've downloaded the drivers from the nVidia website, and I keep shuddering when I contemplate updating the kernel... I think I'm just gonna buy a new graphics card.

The thing is, the 330 (If that is the modem in question, as the model number hasn't been specified in the post) works just fine, with minimal noob tweaks. I think it's worth jimmy999 hanging in there for a little while, to see if he can make it work. If not - it's an excuse to buy new kit!!!!

Peace

Nah, to be honest, I have heard that the updated 330 version is an improvement on the "turquoise cow shit" version that I used.

Also, big-john's wisdom of the day. IF, and that's a big IF, you like using mandrake (and of course it depends on what you want to do as well as what you like doing), and like me just want a system that works.

My wisdom of the day is BUY a boxed set from mandrake . I say wisdom, because the standard version of 9.0 that I got (3 cd's) followed by the powerpack DVD version of 9.1 (just the 1 dvd with not instructions etc - they cost extra-) have come to £25 and £36 respectively. I'm sure you'd agree, not expensive.

And I figured it was worth the money to have the nvidia drivers and a speedtouch driver pre compiled.

And yes the solwise SAR110 was a bit of a luxury - but one that I am very very pleased to have gone for.

regards

john

Obviously, if you use an OS it has to work - the great thing that I have found about Linux over the past month, is that *I* have made it work. With the help of this forum, I've learned more about my computer in one month than I have in 15 years of using MS products. Which sucks, because I'm the local tech guru!!! Says something about my locality I think. ;->

I *will* go for a boxed version one day soon - I'm using the free distro downloaded from their ftp site. It's a great way to evaluate a system before laying your money down, just the way Microsoft doesn't.

I firmly believe that Mandrake deserves my money. However, I'm still evaluating.

Peace

Just for info, this "/usr/share/speedtouch/speedtouch.sh line 150 command ?RETURNED =0 command command not found" was the error that I was getting some of the time with my speedtouch.

I did extensive searching for answers, as well as making sure that the "?RETURNED =0 command" was present (which it was), but the only way that I found I could sort out the problem was to re-install the entire OS - hence, while I'm happy to agree with you that the router/modem option was a luxury TrashCanMan, I'm sure you'll understand that the frustration levels ( and stress ) meant that, at the time it seemed more of a necessity than luxury at the time! (and boy was I gettting frustrated/stressed - the monitor came SO close to receiving a technical adjustment from a hammer! Now that would have been an expensive luxury )

regards

John

Oh and If you wanna hear a good one.

I have this brother (older).

This brother is a graduate IT professional.

He works at Sussex Uni.

Virtually, all his work is open source related.

But,

When I have a linux related problem,

I DO NOT, ask my brother for assistance,

Because,

He can't speak a word of english. (well as far as computers are concerned)

With computers, He will only converse in either geek or nurdesque (it's difficult to tell the dialects apart)



regards

John

A walking HOWTO eh?

Tell you the truth, I've found 99% of HOWTOs are so abstract to the problems faced by users it's unreal - in the same way a Computer Science graduate can't turn of his 'puter. At least here information is presented in human form.

Nothin worse than someone who offers help to show off their vocabulary rather than to actually assist.

Peace

originally quoted by TrashCanMan

I hear ya, and obviously you've met my brother!

When I am trying to do "something linux" and can only find the "gobbledygook" of howto's and man pages (which are as bad, maybe even worse than howto's) I usually end up back here at LQ with one of my soapbox subjects to rant about - usually documentation - not so much the lack of, but the abyssmal quality of it.

When the various projects are setting up, I don't understand why they don't include the two additional elements of (a) a professional editor/proof reader and (b) a resident project idiot - whose role is mainly enthusiasm, but knows very little about linux in it's truest sense, but can "beta test" the instructions on how to do xxx/whatever.

At the end of the day, If the n00b/inexperrienced user can, from written instruction, do some quite complicated stuff, then the word soon gets round that linux "isn't quite as hard as people think", but without "normalising" pressure, it will continue to have the reputation for being hard to understand, so often fostered by the geek/nerd section of the community.

Post rant, I then decide how much I want to get something to work. If I feel something is a "must have" then I go back to the drawing board, if I decide that I don't really need the "whatever" facility, then I just forget it ( and hope that the next version will have it pre compiled)!

regards

John

I agree about the How-Tos - often worth ignoring.
I had a green frog speedtouch and finally got it going with Mandrake 9.0 However, it was a real pain and not very dependable. I decided to get an ADSL Modem/Router all-in-one from E-buyer for about £50 with 4 ports (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=48449 ) . What a bargain!! I now have 3 PCs connected to my line, independently, no logging in and authenticating, and all nice and fast. Total cost -less than £70 including the network cards.

congratulations, MR carlywarly,

you are now honourary vice chairman, of the "Alcatel Speedtouch USB modems are rubbish with linux" Society



regards

John

originally qutoed by TrashCanMan


It's less than a £100. You could get that just mugging a few people in half an hour!



regards

John

That's £100 I could spend on beer, dude.