Below is a summary of a thread I posted a couple of nights ago.

Firstly, I'd like to thank kevinatkins for his help up to this point.

Summary: I can't connect to the web with my built in modem. I'm reasonably accomplished on both Windows and Mac. I'm not stupid, though my first experience with Linux makes me question that statement. I am a total NEWBIE so use English.

I'm using Mandrake 10.1, no documentation, but I managed to get it running on a different partition to Windoze.

Generic softK56 modem on COM3

Downloaded and ran modemident.php from Linuxant.
Results;
PCI CONFIGURATION INFORMATION READ:
VENDOR ID : 14F1
DEVICE ID : 2F00
SUBVENDOR ID : 14F1
SUBDEVICE ID : 2004
REVISION ID : 01
DEDUCED INFORMATION:
VENDOR NAME : CONEXANT
DEVICE NAME : HSF CHURCHILL DATA/FAX
SUBVENDOR NAME : ACTIONTEC, ZOLTRIX, ACEEX, TAICOM OR ASUS

Subsequently, the Linuxant 'supported modems page' reporting the modems recognized by the driver included these two; (either of which could be mine?)
#PCI ID {127A,14F1}:{2004,2006}
#PCI ID 14F1:{2F00, 2F01, 2F02, 2F03, 2F04}

I then downloaded and ran the driver installer 'cnxtinstall.run' but it tried to open a browser to download another file. (Duh... I'm trying to install a modem driver, and it's trying to connect to the web???)

The second time I tried to install it, it tried to connect to the internet again but came back with the message 'can't bind socket: Address already in use'

So I tried to download the distribution-specific basic driver files (rpm) for my version of Mandrake 10.1 (2.6.8.1-12mdk)

Modem wouldn't work!

My Linux guru, the ever helpful kevinatkins, suggested I run 'hsfconfig'

Did such and got the message 'ERROR: no device detected by hsf driver. Have I done anything obviously wrong?

Also, the hsfconfig message said 'When reporting a problem for the first time, please send us the file generated by "hsfconfig --dumpdiag" Where doI find this dumpdiag? I have done 'whereis dumpdiag' but nothing.

Wotz next?

You would be better to save much problems and get a real modem. They are cheap now most places second hand. They work much better anyway. They are very easy to use with linux.

any recommendations?

Any will do. One's that go on the serial port are good as they tend to be real modems. I like netcomm myself, but they are all much the same if you are in a reasonable area... All work well anywhere a software modem works... I live in an area with very poor rural lines and have to use a more specialized modem for good results, but the netcomm does okay even here...

I just tried reinstalling the rpm and got the following message.

The following packages have bad signatures:
/mnt/floppy/hsfmodem-7.18.00.03full_k2.6.8.1_12mdk-1mdk.i586.rpm: Invalid signature ((SHA1) DSA sha1 md5 (GPG) (MISSING KEY) GPG#5dfbf7dc NOT OK)
Do you want to continue installation ?

what does an invalid signature mean?

Anyone...???

What exactly did you try after installing the .rpm that made you think the modem wasnt working?

IIRC whereis is for finding executable files. Try looking in the directory from which you ran the hsfconfig command (probably /root/) or try man hsfconfig.

The bad signature warning means that the creator of that rpm hasnt had their key added to your chain of trust/official sources. Don't worry about it, just ignore it if you trust the source of the rpm.

Hi Proud, remember I'm a new newbie. Some of the stuff on this forum I don't think I'll ever 'get'.

I reinstalled Mandrake 10.1 (becouse of another unsolvable problem I'd dug myself into) and noticed that it offered to configure my modem for me. It had recognised that it was a Connexant HFS modem, so I clicked yes, it started to install and I got the following message.

---------------------------------------------------
An unexpected error has happened. Can't use an undefined value as a ARRAY reference at /usr/bin/perl-install/network/modem.pm line 21
---------------------------------------------------

Anybody make any sense of that?

well you can pay for the linuxant driver but this is what i did.

http://www.gearxs.com/gearxs/product...oducts_id=3464

I ended up buying a second hand serial modem for 50 bucks. Probably couldve got one cheaper, but I wanted to get online without the Microsoft interferences.

Boow, I don think Id be able to use that modem in Australia - our telco (Telstral) is a bit of a tyrant with non Telstra hardware. (Telstra is the Australian phone company)

Thanks for all your help everyone. Maybe Il get this linux stuff one day.

PS, why doesnt my apostrophe key work?

That error was probably due to a mistake in the perl code of the program.

Any time you have a question about what's been posted here just ask.

Maybe your keyboard mapping is for the wrong number of keys, or language/locale or something?

Hello Muzza,

I saw the thread and thought 'that sounds familiar'! Anyway, glad you're sorted with a modem now - as a beginner, you've come up against one of the trickier things to get working (the conexant winmodem). When i installed the Linuxant driver, i'd had two years' Linux experience, so it was easier; but as a newbie, i did exactly what you've done and bought a proper serial modem! (and a hardware modem will always be better than a software job...)

As for your apostrophe key.. it could be keyboard mappings (i'm assuming it's all ok in windows!). I'm not sure what keyboard you use in Australia, but I'm thinking it'll be US - go into Mandrake Control Center, to 'Hardware', and check your keyboard setting. If that's OK, it could be your window manager / desktop environment. Assuming you're using the default KDE for Mandrake, open up 'Configure your desktop' from the Mandrake star menu, then click on 'Accessibility' and 'Country - Region & Language' and you should find a setting for Australia - but I think this has more to do with currency, dates, etc...