Spirit Magnum V.92 Modem incompatibility?

deliriously · 05-10-2004, 04:43 AM

Sorry if this has been asked before. I did search here, and didn't find anything even close to identical at first glance. I've also tried Google for 'spirit magnum modem linux' and similar, and found only a Modem Initialization String...more about that later...

I am only fairly new to Linux and have tried a couple of the bigger distributions' stable releases, + FreeBSD-4.9 (Stable) for good measure.

In all the *nix-like OS's so far, the same problem persists : the internet connection fails (something along the lines of 'Child Failed : errdead', or 'ppp thingy died unexpectedly' etc. etc., varying somewhat from OS to OS.

Anyhow, sooner or later it occurred to me that the problem was probably with drivers / the like.

I am - almost - 100% sure (through a process of elimination) that it's not (just) my ignorance, not any hardware problem, not the modem itself per se (it works ok in - ahem - w*****s), and not the ISP nor my account with them.

So anyway after having got a Modem Initialization String from Google, I tried it out in apparently the right place and all that - all it did was sometimes change the nature of the failed almost-connection to another different failed almost-connection. Like say, from 52000/V44 (I think) to 52000/MDNP - those letters could be wrong, I'm sorry. But anyway, you get the general idea. I'm thinking V90 or V92 would be a bit more appropriate, though I don't know for sure.

The model number of the modem is SDM2020. It's external, 56k, serial, V.92, VFD - like most modems really. Um.

If anyone knows anything at all, or even has some good advice for locating a fix, then thank you very much in advance, because the problem has been driving me mad lately.

Xerop · 05-10-2004, 06:46 AM

Who is the manufacturer? Is it usb or serial?
And a link to the manufacturor might help.

deliriously · 05-10-2004, 08:04 AM

As I stated in the thread title, it's a Spirit Magnum V.92 modem. I also stated that in the post, and gave the model number (SDM2020) and the fact that it's external, serial, 56k, V.92, V/F/D.

It was pretty cheap - is it some kind of winmodem in a box or something? My god, I hope not. That would be a new(?) low for manufacturers, surely...

Just to further elaborate : I do know _some_ of the basics of networks, like TCP/IP, firewalls that work etc. So the networking side of things has also (sooner or later) been set up just fine on each OS. I am fairly new to *nix-like OS's, sure, but I've picked up a lot as I've gone through each install, config, customization etc. procedure. I think it must be the modem and/or BSD/Linux that has incompatibility issues.

Any ideas?

deliriously · 05-10-2004, 12:24 PM

Well, in case it's some use to someone, I had a look at some hardware info about the modem in question according to wi***ws. Here it is :

Port Information
---------------------
Port: COM1
nterrupt: 4
Address: 3F8
UART: NS 16550AN
Highest Speed: 115K Baud
---------------------

IC+ 56k External Data Fax Voice Modem

Identifier: SERENUM\ICP0001

Command Response
------------- ------------
ATI1 External Controller Ver3.00, CheckSum=2936
ATI2 TEST OK!
ATI3 IP568 Data/Fax/Voice 56K Modem
ATI4 DSP Ver3.00 CheckSum=138E
ATI5 Australia
ATI6 0
ATI7 Controller Ver3.00 Date:Feb 18 14:59 2003
AT+FCLASS=? 0,1,8

And to summarize from before : It doesn't work in Linux or FreeBSD, so far, at all. Well, it dials OK, and looks like it's going to connect, but always dies just then.

Just to pre-empt a little, maybe : No, I haven't botched the configurations. No, they're not cutting-edge or rare distros. Yes, the modem works fine in win***s. No, the firewalls aren't interfering. No, my ISP has been flawless thus far in every way. No, my dialup account doesn't have any kind of limits either. And as you can see already, no it isn't an internal modem.

Grrr. You know, I really like the look and feel of the few unices I've tried now, and am really looking forward to exploiting some of their potential, but...I also like being online sometimes. If I can't have both, well that would suck. A lot.

diverse · 08-18-2004, 10:25 PM

Hi, Just for the record I have one of these modems that I have got working on two different systems based on Mandrake 10. I just set kppp to the serial port /dev/ttyS0 (or /dev/ttyS1) and it worked.

It seems to work without any special settings but this initialisation string doesn't hurt "ATM1L1W2X4\\V0S95=45".

Diverse Technologies

Update: This modem also works in Mandrake 10.1

jebus123 · 12-01-2004, 04:02 AM

I know its a bit late, but if it is of any help i have this modem working fine in Fedora Core 2. It didn't work until i turned off hardware flow control.

Dr Croubie · 03-29-2005, 08:18 PM

so did you end up getting this modem to work?
short history of me:
i tried redhat7 about 5 years ago, but eventually gave up on linux because of the lack of winmodem drivers (and the fact that win98 didn't like partitioning). so a few low-level formats later, and i'm finally going back to trying linux on totally seperate hdds (starting with SuSE 9.1).
anyway, so i still need a modem though.
i've found one of these on ebay, and i'd be hoping to get one that works with linux this time.
has anyone had any experience with this modem and suse?
cheers
doc c

(ps, the front of the box looks kinda ominous, with all those winblows versions on the front.)
http://www.users.tpg.com.au/eastlink/ebay/magnum1.JPG