Hey all, new linux user. Installed my shiny Slackware 8.1, and it is up great. Unfortunately, I am having a problem getting a USB 3Com US Robotics Voice Faxmodem Pro (model number 0525) u p and working. I have been reading (extensively), and have found that USB support is packaged with every kernel 2.4.* and higher, and was even back-ported to 2.2.*. I am running 2.4.18. I have also found a site (http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/) which HAS my modem listed as compatible. I headed over to the 3Com site, and found out that my modem is out of distribution. They suggested another modem. I found no linux .rpm files there. So I went to google. Again, nothing. I can't tell if my USB modem is working, or even noticed, nor can I find anything that tells me exactly what I need to do to make it work. I am really at a loss. My only other option is using a program like WinProxy to share the connection. Having to use a windows program to get my Slackbox on-line seems almost sacrilegious. Any ideas? Thanks for all your help in advance.
P.S. I am running linux off of a Compaq Ipaq with a celeron 500 chip. Thanks!

Well, first off all, what have you tried to get your modem working. Have you tried programs like wvdial or kppp? If so, what error messages are they returning?

The usb-subsystem guide is the place to go, specificly the usb-modem chapter but the entire document is a good read.

As of right now, I just rebuilt the kernel to add USB support and USB modem support. Other than that, I haven't really done anything else. Oh, and in Gnome I setup the ppp account.

Okay, I just ran mknod /dev/usb/ttyACM0 c 166 0
Have no idea what that does. Still nothing in mount, and I am unsure how to see usb devices, or force usb devices to mount, or anything. I am really sorry about this. Thanks for all your help.

"lsusb" and "cat /proc/bus/usb/devices" and for usb drivers "cat /proc/bus/usb/drivers", for the last two you need usbdevfs.

Apparently I don't have lsusb. Everything I am reading is that it is standard in 2.4.0, but I don't have man files for it or anything. I am currently trying to find a place to DL that, and usbdevfs. I am also reading about kUSBD. That insists that you don't need usbdevfs in the later kernels. Oh boy

Well, after compiling and recompiling to gain USB connectivity, nothing seems to be working. I tried wvdial, with no luck. Still no lsusb. I am uncertain if usbdevfs are packaged with the kernel, or if I need to add them, but I do not have either of those directories. What am I doing wrong?

Clarification, I didn't actually HAVE WvDial. My god. I am currently downloading tons of things to stick on my Slackbox, and am open for suggestions, as I can't get Samba to work to network it, and have to burn everything onto a cd. This is when I plead for patience, while this Uber Newbie tries to get a grip on the spiraling mess he is creating.

You set up usbdevfs by following the instructions that I posted a link to.

Following the webpage, I can't mount the usbdevfs. If when I compiled, I had selected both OHCI and UHCI, would that cause the USB to not work?

You only need one, depending on your chipset.

Recompiled again to only use OHCI, and when I mount -t usbdevfs none /proc/bus/usb like the site tells me to, I get mount point /proc/bus/usb does not exist. From what I can see of the site you gave me, I followed every instruction to the letter. Hrm.