Can 'sl-modem-daemon' enable dialup in Ubuntu 7.10? So far, I've used KPPP and Gnome-PPP to no avail in connecting through dialup. These programs do detect the modem, but when they try to connect, I hear no dialtone and it just says 'connecting' forever with no connection at all.

Could 'sl-modem-daemon' be the answer? I have it installed but I don't know how to use it. What must I do?

What type of modem do you have? (external/internal, manufacturer, model, serial/usb/pci etc etc etc)

I got an internal modem in my gateway laptop.

OK, so you have a 'software modem'. First of all, find out if it is supported at all under Linux. This 'Gentoo' page is very simple but good - most of what is discussed there will work on ubuntu (except 'portage' which only exists on Gentoo and derivatives). Get at least as far as identifying the modem, then tell us what it is. The rest of that article has to do with installing drivers, etc - if you follow it blindly horrible things will happen. So just get to the 'identifying modem' and let us know what you've discovered, then we can get you through the rest little by little.

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_slmodem

pinniped, I identified my modem through scanModem. I got dialup enabled through a "free" software from a linmodem.org or linuxant.com. The catch is that the free software is limited to 14 Kbps, whereas the licensed version runs at 56 Kbps. Of course, you have to buy the full version to enjoy the benefit of the speed. Is there any way you cna think of to get around to buying the license? I hate to have to pay for something that I know should be free since ubuntu is open source. Thanks!

Is there a free solution?
Unfortunately, for most WinModems (software modems) there is none. If you followed those websites and they only identified non-free tools, you're pretty much stuck with that.

On the other hand, if you're lucky, the limitation in speed is entirely due to the driver checking the bit rate that you requested and enforcing an upper limit. If you can find the offending byte (or perhaps 2 or 4 bytes), a little hex editing magic might fix things. Just don't ever share your fix if you find it because it's not fair for the people selling the thing. Personally, if I really need something I'll pay people for it rather than put an effort into taking some crippled software which they provided and hacking it to suit me; after all, they've got to earn a living too. It's that or build it myself from nothing (which is the usual case if I can spare the time and can get adequate documentation).

pinniped, I got to admit you do make sense. I never looked at it that way, being that I'm so used to downloading free stuff from the net so easily. Besides, the price these guys are offering is only $20, which is nothing if you think about it. However, if there was a way to hack into the code as you suggested, I would most likely go ahead and do it. Thanks for the tidbit, boss!