I've just installed Libranet 2.7 Classic and am having problems with my modem, a US Robotics 56k faxmodem.

Basically Linux doesn't appear to be seeing the modem at all. I've checked (using dmesg) that I'm pointing to the right serial port, and used echo "ATDT/n" > /dev/modem" as suggested to "ping" the modem. No response at all.

Ditto when I use "pon provider".

Not sure what the precise model number is, though my wife just reported from home that it has the following numbers on it: 12VCLAGA17B7 and 71-245-630-01. I tried to post a link to the relevant page on USR's site but got blocked as a new LQ user. Let's try this instead (you'll need to cut and paste it into your address bar):

usr-emea.com/support/s-prod-template.asp?loc=unkg&prod=5630

I understand that there may be a need for a Linux-specific driver for this modem, but I can't find any information about this on USR's site (see link above). Can anyone suggest where I might find an appropriate (and preferably free!) driver?

Thanks,

John

External modems (thats what a 5630 is if I followed that link correctly) are a cakewalk to set up, just make sure the com port you plugged it into is enabled in the BIOS, I've forgotten that before

Oh and there are no 'drivers' needed since your modem isn't one of those gimpy software modems where they leave chips out and make up for it with software, all it needs to do is talk to the com port it's plugged into which Linux knows how to do.

Type 'ls -l /dev/modem' to see where /dev/modem actually points to. External modems usually go into one of the motherboard's com ports so it should be ttyS0 or ttyS1. You can also try your echo command to /dev/ttyS0 or /dev/ttyS1 instead of /dev/modem, one of those should get lights to flash on the modem at least.