/dev/modem won't stay, and other problems...
 

When my graphics card got fried from over-use, RH9 decided it didn't want to work with the integrated video, so I picked up my Slack 9.1 disks that I've had sitting around for a little while and installed it. I have been very pleased, but with a few exceptions...

1) When I compile and install the driver for my Intel 536ep internal modem, then link /dev/modem to /dev/536ep, it works. I have to do this every time I boot up though because either the link or the driver doesn't stay where it should. How can I make that stay where it should?

2) After setting up the modem again, I've used kppp, wvdial, and minicom, but none of them make the actual connection, although I've been successful twice to get kppp to connect. There was a feature in RH that I did like. It was a network device configuration, which included my dial-up modem, and whenever kppp didn't work, I used that, clicked "Activate", and started my surfing. Does Slack have this also?

3) I'm happy as can be that I can actually see my NTFS drive from Slack (unlike RH9), but I cannot write to the drive. I'm not so much worried about this one, but it would be nice to be able to do this.

4) Not so much a problem at all, but slightly annoying... When I boot up my computer and get into LILO to choose the OS, I have 5 options... but only 2 OS's. Of course I have Linux, and Winders, but then it has the "vmlinuz", "kernel2.4.22", and "hda1". Win is located on hda using the entire drive and I have Linux on a different drive entirely, so there are 2 drives and 3 partitions in total. How do I get just Linux and Winders to show up instead of showing the extras too? I've tried using the LILO manager from X to change it, but it keeps telling me that it isn't right, so I just have it probe and do it itself.

I know I could just simply fix the graphics card problem and go back to RH, but I like Slack MUCH better except for the dial-up and modem problems. So, if anybody can help me with any of these, please let me know. I am most worried about problem #2 though since the others are just more in the way of being annoyances than problems.

Josh

For number 3, there is a kernel module for writing to NTFS, but it is considered unsafe, so I wouldn't try it. Maybe someone else here has used it with success?
For number 4, open the /etc/lilo.conf file and then delete the 3 options you dont need. The lilo.conf file should look basically like this:
Then run /sbin/lilo after you edit and save the file.

<EDIT>For the modem, try using pppsetup and see if you can get somethign working with that. I configured my girlfriends dial-up in Slackware 10 using it. I don't remember what exactly I did or how I did it since I don't have her computer here to check out, but give that a try and see if you can get it working. Sorry I can't be of more help. Maybe someone else here will be of more help.

Thanks for the lilo info. I used it, but it still came up with errors when setting it, but it worked fine after a warning or three. It still has "hda" as an option, but not in lilo.conf. That's fine though. I'm only worried about the first two options anyway. :)

I tried using pppsetup, but it came to the same conclusion as the others. I know the modem works and everything. I've had it setup and working reliably under RH. It also works every once in a while after I try wvdial and then go to kppp. It's a little frustrating to go from a good OS like Slack, to Windows just to get online. I'll keep playing with it to see what I can figure out, but any and all help would be great.

And thanks for the help so far.

<added>
When I reinstall the modem driver and all, here's what is done...
-------------------------------------

bash-2.05b# insmod -f Intel536.o
Warning: loading Intel536.o will taint the kernel: non-GPL license - Proprietary
See http://www.tux.org/lkml/#export-tainted for information about tainted modules
Warning: loading Intel536.o will taint the kernel: forced load
Module Intel536 loaded, with warnings
bash-2.05b# rm /dev/536ep
bash-2.05b# rm /dev/modem
bash-2.05b# mknod /dev/536ep c 240 1
bash-2.05b# ln -s /dev/536ep /dev/modem
-------------------------------------

It's what the readme said to do if "make clean > make 536 > make install" didn't work, which that comes up with unknown distrobution errors. Is there something wrong with the way I did that? I know I was supposed to run hamregistry after "insmod -f Intel536.o", but that just makes terminal stop and when I press ctrl-c, I can go ahead with the process without hamregistry.

Yeah I've gotten errors before when running lilo, and then I run it again and it works fine.

Well I'm not too sure what to tell you about the modem though. I wish I could get to my girlfriends so I could play around with a few things and remember how I set hers up. Have you tried searching on Google to see if you could find anyone else with the same problem? Maybe someone with more knowledge will chime in and help. Sorry I coudln't be of more help. Good luck.

Well, I just made a W.A.G. and did some math... 2+2=5... meaning I got into a linmodem archive and pulled out an older version of the driver for my modem. As in about 4 releases ago. Why do they call it a driver update if there is less that works? Still having problems with actually getting connected though. I finally got it going after about a solid hour of attempting, but at least the driver is staying where it should. Is there anyway that I can make a connection in less than an hour? I'd like to see a connection in less than 5 minutes after typing "startx" and pressing enter.

Maybe if I used a different version of pppd? I'm currently using 2.4.1. If it's possible to get a newer (or maybe an older one might work), would it stand a chance of working better and where could I get it?


<edit> forgot to mention... W.A.G. = Wild Ass Guess