I may not have gone about things in the best way possible, but I needed a new computer. I bought one from Microtel that came preloaded with Lindows. I knew that I probably wouldn't want Linblows, so I ordered a copy of Slackware 10.0. I was right. Lindows is a sorry excuse for a Windoze replacement, and Slackware is the best thing that I have ever seen. Except for one small problem. Try as I might, I can't get it to find my modem.

I have been searching for days now for a solution. Unfortunately, Microtel did not send me proper documentation for the modem. From their website, it seems that I must have a winmodem (FX-IC56K PCI 56K V.92 WinModem. I tried to post a link to it, but I can't do that until I have posted five times.) I read somewhere that those don't mix with Linux, and yet Microtel sells them as Linux compatible, and Lindows finds it and uses it just fine. (What the f...?)

The real question is what do I do? I can't stand Lindows much longer. I want Slack. There are two options that I can think of:

1. Is there a way to get this thing to work with Slack? If so, I will need some seriously detailed instructions, because I am only just learning how to use Linux. I have found advice from several places that has not helped me at all.

2. Would buying a new modem solve my problem? If so can you reccommend a good one that won't break my wallet?

Hmmm. When I used to use dialup I used an actiontec external modem and it worked great. Any external modem should work (serial). Now, I know how bad some people think lindows is but under the hood it is linux. So with that said if it runs in lindows it will run under something else also. You can more then likely look at some setting and find out if it is using a special driver. You can also open kppp and see how it is sitting on the ports in the settings and heck just try slack with it. Just make another partition, and if it works delete lindows and start from scratch.

Welcome to LQ.org, Bowman!

The name or make of the modem is practically useless when trying to find a linux driver. You need to identify the chipset of the modem. Running the command 'lspci -v' from a terminal will give a better idea of what chipset you have and what driver you need, but the best way is to use the scanModem tool to identify it. Check out this site for more info, and then get scanModem here.

That should get you started, it might even get you through it completely. If not, then post back with the output of 'lspci -v' and the info from scanModem and we'll get you going.

Enjoy!
--- Cerbere

The results of lspci -v under Lindows:
The results of ScanModem under Lindows:

I tried to dual boot, but Lindows doesn't like it. If I install Slackware first, and Lindows on a separate partition, I never get the option to boot to Slack, it just goes straight to Lindows. If I install Lindows first, and then Slack, I get LILO just fine, and I can boot to Slackware just fine. But Lindows refuses to boot from there.

Anyway, thank you for your help so far. I will continue reading at linmodems.org to see if that helps. In any case, I'll be back.

After reading a bit about winmodems, I think that it may be best to buy a fully functioning external modem. Sure, it looks like I could get the winmodem to work with a bit of hassle, (it might even be a good exersize to help me get to know my computer.) Modems aren't that expensive.

hi there,

if your modem works under lindows, you can check with "lsmod" witch module is loaded for it. ( i think you just need the right module... )

egag

a lot of that information about winmodems is old, and much of the latest say winmodems may have some advantages over hardware modems

try this driver. I have an sis modem in my computer and this work great. http://www.smlink.com/main/item.php?...=84&main_id=32

http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/packages/Intel/537/
Download the package that fits to your modem and kernel.
After unpacking the archive you get all installation steps in the README file.
I had the same problem with Intel's winmodems

Don't forget to become root before installing with:
Usually the installation goes like this after unpacking the archive:
Good luck!
Boby

I have a Lucent windmodem in a Dell laptop and found a driver through Linmodems. Just installed that driver and ran wvdial and everything has worked perfectly ever since. One hint you should bear in mind is that the driver may need to be changed when you update your kernel - mine is kernel-specific. I make a point of remembering to download the new driver and put it in my home directory before upgrading, so it can be installed first thing and I have my modem without having to go into Windows or borrow someone else's computer! . Good luck, it sounds as though there should be a driver for you.

Have read a lot about winmodems not working in Linux. Recently installed Mandrake 10.0 and very surprised to find my old US Robotics Sportster modem works perfectly for faxing with KDE's KdeprintFax. In the settings window I just configured Fax System to "EFax", left Command as is, and entered the serial port of my modem in Fax/Modem device.

Actually john2cu, most (if not all) the external modems are "hardware" modems, they don't use software to emulate the tones so they always worked with Linux. Winmodems are called like that because they usually provide drivers & software for Windows to get tone emulation, they're cheaper of course because there's less hardware on it .

I think Boby has the gist of it. I have an Intel 537EP winmodem. I have it running under Slackware with those same drivers. Actually, I got them straight from Intel's web-site but they sound like they are the same. I used the same 'make' commands to get it running.... Don't buy a hard modem just yet. It'll be a waste of money from the sounds of it. I think the resulting module will be called 'intel537'. Just insmod 537 and fire up kppp or whatever it is your going to use. I'm not sure if Slackware's UDEV is going to be a problem for you. When you 'make install', A node '537' gets created along with a 'modem' symlink. Instead of hacking the UDEV initilazation script, I wrote my own script that creates '537' and 'modem' with the proper major/minor numbers and then at the end, I had it do a 'insmod intel537'. Put the script in my path and then had it execute in rc.local upon every boot....

#!/bin/sh
mknod /dev/537 c 240 1
ln -s /dev/537 /dev/modem
insmod intel537

Something like that... The driver package installs a startup script in /etc/rc.d but I never bothered trying to use it.... Well, good luck. Post back and let us know the outcome. There are a few people with the same modem here, so go ahead and use us instead of forking out more money....

Driver Page

Go down the list and snag the uncompiled source driver and give it a whirl...

Yes, thanks gbonvehi. I now realize my dial-up modem is a hardware modem - so guess I shouldn't really be in this string!
John

I compiled it, but the module refuses to load. At startup I get a message: then: . insmod chokes when trying to load it with an "unresolved symbol" message. What am I missing?