i have a dell inspiron 1100 with suse linux 9. i have two modems- an internal conexant hsf and an external zoom serial with a conexant chipset. suse automatically detected my internal, but didn't configure it. my zoom wasn't detected at all when i connected it with the adapter. i see the usb to serial adapter in my hardware info when it's connected and it's supposed to make it seem as if i'm directly connected to a serial device. however, i don't think this going to be as easy as i thought to get the zoom to work. even if i configure my isp info with yast or kppp, i don't know how to merely get a sucessful query with the modem. how do manually get linux to detect it? would the adapter really make usb to serial transparent? any one who can help - it would be appreciated.

The problem is your laptop. Do you have an intel celeron? If so, throw it out and get a real P4.