Conexant PCI ADSL Internal Modem
 

Hi

Firstly, I apologise for my ignorance in the usage of Linux -- I'm brand new to the OS. So, sorry in advance..

Ok. I was using WinXP Pro with my Internal (Conexant) ADSL PCI Modem fine -- under Mandrake 9.1 it seems to have problems finding its drivers though.. I have looked on the net and come up with some tutorials to get it running, but since I've relatively new to the enviroment I'm finding it hard since these tutorials require kernel modifications etc.

I was wondering if anyone knows of/has an easy method to get my modem up and running? Just now I'm forced to keep XP just to use the net :S

PS - if it helps any, the box blurb describes the modem as "controller-less" ?

Many many thanks,

I think you're going to have to do the kernel stuff to
get that working. You're probably lucky it's possible
at all. conexant made drivers for windows, but probably
none for linux.

This may sound negative, but as a previous owner and user (under Linux) of an Alcatel usb ADSL modem, my advice would be simple. Get an integrated modem/router.
http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-se...price&stab=ref shows 4 available from Dabs.com. If you want a home network, get a 4 port.

This little device does all your connecting and demodulation, so all you need in your pc is a network card that works with Linux - http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-se...price&stab=ref there is a Benq on this page that only costs £4 plus vat, for example. Then a short length of Cat5 straight-through cable - couple of quid - and you are done.

If you fancy a challenge, though, ignore me.:)

It sounds like you've got an ADSL modem just like mine! It is possible to get them working and I'm more than willing to try to talk you through it although its not really that nice!

Does your provider use PPPoA or PPPoE? I'm PPPoA (where are you physically based, I'm in the UK which is nearly all PPPoA) so I'll assume you are too. You'll need to rebuild you kernel to support ATM, PPPoA and get the kernel modules for the ADSL modem. Once that bits working you'll need to get a version of PPP that recognises PPPoA and get that configured.

It took me a few evenings work but I had the added problem of not knowing 100% that my line had been 'enabled' yet :rolleyes:

It's also worth noting that the kernel module will 'taint' the kernel as its not using the GPL:The driver gives you a reasonable amount of information, pitty I don't know anything about ATM!I would agree with carlywarly, if you want an easy life get an ADSL<->Ethernet router, if you want to learn a bit more and have a challenge then do it the way I have. The only other advantage to having the PCI modem is if you are running external serivices and want to manage the firewall yourself without having to forward lots of ports through the router.

Its worth avoiding the Dlink DSL-500 router. There is a bug in the firmware that causes the router to believe its received a christmas tree packet from webservers when you try to access them, this causes it's firewall to drop all packets from the IP which is really really really anoying! Dlink tech support say "They are working on it" but don't give any dates for when it may be fixed.

cheers

Jamie...

Many thanks
 

Hey,

Thanks for your replies -- any help you could give me would is very very much appreciated.. On the subject of the router etc; thanks for the infom but! I'd hate to see my money for this modem be wasted :(

I do understand though, its a challenge.. I had already attempted to follow Lordy's Guide Lordy's Link but it just messed things up eventually -- even though it seemed to be going, roughly, well.

I kept on getting an error about symbols in the Cnxadslctl.o file.. :S

Anyways, as I'm in Scotland I'd assume I'll be PPPoA as well.

Many thanks,
Peter

How far did you get through that guide? We can use that as a template for getting you working. Did you rebuild your kernel? Did you use the source version of the ADSL modem drivers?

cheers

Jamie...

Guide
 

Well I actually completed it and it got so far to say that, at boot time, the "Conexant ADSL Modem has started!" etc.. but it didnt work :S .. it complained about unrecognised symbols or someting along those lines.

I had used Lordy's version of the cnxadslctl.o file.. see, I cant for the life of me find my mandrake sources on the install CD <dont laugh :(>

I did use the source version. I think its all stemmed from the fact that I couldnt locate my kernel sources so I couldnt make my own cnxadslctl file. I think

Thanks,
Peter

PS - Forgot to say; since I tried that guide, I have re-installed Mandrake again.. it began hanging at boot up cos of the modem errors :(

Righty ho...

First things first, you need to find some kernel sources. Best place for you would be ftp://mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.kernel....2.4.20.tar.bz2 (~24MB). Are you confident about building your kernel? If not you'll want to look at http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO/index.html. When you build the kernel you'll need to pick Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers which is under Code maturity level options, and the following options under Networking options (or they work for me put it that way)Under Network device support you'll want the following PPP related optionsIn addition to the above you'll need all the options specific to your hardware.

While you're getting this bit done I'm going to have a check through my system and try to remember what I did to get the kernel module to build correctly and dig out the linux-atm and version of pppd I used (I used a precompiled binary at the time as I couldn't get the sources to compile correctly :()

HTH

Jamie...

Ok, cheers.. am getting that stuff now and will see what I can do.. !

Thanks,
Peter

Welll.. it seems I can't do much :) .. following Lordys' guide; I'm trying to recompile this "CnxAdslCtl.o" file.. its just not working.

When I try and tar xvf the file it says its not a tar file (CnsADSL-TgrATM..tar.gz) .. argh.. if I use his version, it doesnt work -- different Mandrake versions.. there must be an easier way, non!?

Help!

Have you recompiled your kernel yet?

Jamie...

I have no idea how to do that. Why do I need to do that?

You need to make sure that you have a kernel that supports ATM and PPPoA otherwise you'll never manage to build the kernel modules, and even if you did manage to build them they wouldn't load as the necessary functionality wouldn't be in the kernel.

One step at a time!

cheers

Jamie...

Ok, I'm cetain my build of Mandrake (being 9.1) has that functionality.. I recall seeing it at install somewhere.. in any case..

What would the next step be?

Next you'll need to get the Tigris drivers. I downloaded CnxADSL-TgrATM_k2.4.3-6.1.2.007.tar.gz from the web and untar'red it. IIRC I couldn't run make in the root of the Tigris drivers for some reason so just built the kernel module itself by doing a cd KernelModule; make. Once the make finishes you should have a file called CnxADSL.o which is your kernel module. Copy this to /lib/modules/2.4.xx/misc (you may need to make the dir). If you can run make in the top level directory for the source then great, in which case a make && make install may do you. Give me a shout back with the results. Once the module is build we'll need to get the control apps and config files working