modem - am i pissing in the wind?
 

I'm so new to linux that I'm probably still wrapped in plastic! I installed Red Hat 7 today and like what I see so far. I went for the dual boot option as until I have Linux figured out I'm still going to need windows.
So here's my problem:
When I tried to set up my dial up internet Linux could not detect my modem and asked me to find it myself. How??!!!
I booted up windows and searched the web for help. Some sites simply say that Linux won't work with a PCI modem while others go into more technical detail that seems to suggest the modem will work if I modify the program.
PC is Gateway p3 500. Modem is GVC56k wimbledon (internal)
Have I any chance of using this modem with Linux?

just from a first guess... very probably not. i've never heard of a wimbledon modem... and if it doesn't work right away with linux, then that means it's a winmodem.

there are true modems, and then there are winmodems. winmodems are modems that pass along a large amount of the processing to the cpu instead of doing it themselves. this makes them cheaper in hardware costs. however, that means that a driver needs to be written for the winmodem, and it's different for every winmodem. naturally, windows drivers don't work on linux.

some winmodem drivers have been written and reverse-engineered - there's a listing of them over at www.linmodems.org -if your modem isn't there, then you're out of luck. the only real option is to go buy a true hardware pci modem.

still not sure
 

I called gateway and they said it was a proper full modem , not a software modem. The brand name is GVC and according to their website they are one of the biggest modem manufacturers in the world ;p
Wimbledon is the model name.
I've looked through heaps of linmodem type sites and only found references to GVC ethernet cards. Maybe companies rebrand GVC as their own? Or maybe their website claims are a crock.
Most importantly though, is their a good chance that my red hat 7 can be made to recognise a pci modem?

no... it's not companies rebranding as gvc... it's gvc rebranding other companies. i checked the gvc site... most of thier modems are either software or controllerless modems. either one means winmodem.
there was only one true gvc hardware modem : DF-1156IV/R3 with a Rockwell chipset. every other modem was either Conexant, ESS, or Lucent.

if you want to check the make of your modem, use

lspci -v

and look for either a Lucent, ESS, or Conexant device. (you'll probably need to be root to run lspci) if you can't find any of those, but have a Rockwell device, then that means that you DO have a true modem, but redhat somehow muffed up the install. honestly, tho, i doubt that.

there's also the chance that, if you have a lucent modem, you might still be in luck. there are a few supported lucent winmodems. the chipset for gvc lucent modems is DSP1646, which does have a driver written for linux.

Thanks V.much mate, I'll do some more detective work tomorrow.