New to llinux and this forum, and encountering numerous problems!
 

Hey everyone!

As you can see i am new to Linux as well Linuxquestions.org. I require assistance with sorting out a few a problems that i have encountered upon installation of SuSE Linux 9.0

My machine specs are as follows:

PII 400mhz
128mb Ram
ATI Rage 3D Rage PRO AGP 1x/2x
Conexant HSF Internal 56k v.92 modem.

I have problems with latter two of the above.

Firstly, and most importantly the modem is not being detected. After roaming around the forum, it seems this is very common with Conexant modems. However although i have read a lot on it, i still dont understand! As i play around with Linux i am beginning to understand some bits but i would greatly appreciate your assistance in rectifying this problem with step by step instruction maybe?

Secondly, the graphics card; Now on Windows i can play 3D games but when i try to play one of the 3D Linux games i get an error saying '3D is not supported by this graphics". Why is this? I know the graphics card is old but it works fine on Windows?

Thirdly, how the heck do you 'activate' apache?! In the documentation it clearly states that you must 'activate' apache as it is not activated by default but it does not state how to actually activate it, which is ridiculous because it also tells you how to check if it is activated but again not how to actually activate it! So how do you activate Apache on SuSE?

And finally i may get shot for asking this, but will AOL work on Linux?

Much appreciated,

SoulPioneer

1.Your modem is probably a winmodem. What this means is that instead of having hardware to control certain features of the modem it used the computer processor instead. WHY DO THIS? because it saves the manufacturer money. Go to www.linmodems.org for drivers. you will want something like ltmodem-8.26a9.tar.gz to download.


2.You will also need drivers for your graphics card have a look around the manufacturers website and do some google searches. NVIDIA supports their graphics cards well so if you do decide to buy another card please buy from manufacturers that support the linux community.

3. To activate apache type the folowing in a command prompt

httpd start

to stop it

httpd stop

to restart it

http restart

Thanks for the immediate reply.

Is command promt 'Konsole' in Linux?

SoulPioneer

Konsole is one of the terminals.
You can get drivers for your modem at www.linuxant.com/drivers

yep, sometimes called Terminal or konsole or command prompt. Basically anywhere you can type linux commands.

Oh yeah, please add your email address.

Thank you for the replies.

Okay, so i went to lixuant and downloaded the relevant drivers however i got the following error:

ERROR(InstTarget:E_RpmDB_subprocess_failed)
---

Warning: existing driver modules found under:
/lib/modules/2.4.21-99-default/misc/

Pre-built driver modules that seem compatible with your system were found under
/usr/lib/hsfmodem/modules/binaries/i686/suse/linux-2.4.21-99-default.

ERROR: hsf driver not active
error: %post(hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04032800full_k2.4.21_99_default-1suse) scriptlet failed, exit status 1

Any idea what to do?

I tried those commands in Konsole and they did not work. I got a 'bad command' error. I am certain that i have installed the apache software off the install CD-ROM. What to do now...?

SoulPioneer

Oh and as requested i have added my email! Plus, just thought i would that Linux has crashed twice already! Iv only had it installed for just over a day!

ThrillSeeker

try: and see what (if anything) happens...

I just tried it. Got the following message:

bash: modprobe: command not found

Anything else?

SoulPioneer

do it as root...

Sorry but your going to have to tell me what you mean by root?

SoulPioneer

the root user... type su and then enter the root password (which you should have chosen when you installed linux)

Ohhhh yes i understand.

Okay i typed modprobe hsf and got the following message:

modprobe: Can't locate module hsf

However, i re-tried httpd start and it worked. Apache is up and running as far as i can see. So thanks for the that..

But the bloody modem?! Apache is usely without modem!

modprobe linux-2.4.21-99-default

though I don't think that's right....it looks like there's actually a driver on your system...getting to it is what I can't really do without being present!

nope that didnt work either.

If there is a driver already on my system, why is linux failing to detect the modem?

Any other idea's?

ThrillSeeker

Did you run make install as root? It has told me before a bout the prebuilt modules, just ignore it.
I think it gives you an option to not use them, do that. If the modem drivers are properly installed then you can check.
Open kppp->Options->Device tab. In the list of devices the should be a /dev/ttySHSF0 option if the drivers are properly installed. If it isn't there, try using /dev/modem, it might work if they re installed.

Oh yeah, about the freezing. Maybe it has something to do wtih apic. Go to the Mandrake control centre->Boot->Boot loader. Check "force no apic".

Beejayzed... i am not using Mandrake! I am using SuSE, so i am kinda confused about your instructions...

SoulPioneer

Woooops, I confused ya with someone else :D Well then I can't suggest anything to do with teh freezing. All I can say is that even if I tried I wouldn't be able to get Mandy 10 to freeze.
Do you use kppp to connect?

lol

well the freezing i dont mind, cus its only happened twice and in comparison to windows, thats relatively quite good.

No i dont use Kppp and even if i did i wouldnt know! What is kppp?

Any idea about the modem?

SoulPioneer

Try running the command "kppp". I don't know much about suse, but maybe if it isn't there you can install it.
Check in the folder /dev/ for ttySHSF0.

What does kppp do? What is its purpose? And if i dont have it where can i get it from?

SoulPioneer

Kppp is a dialup tool, to connect you to the net. Did you check for that file in /dev/ ?

I know you are working on the modem issue at the moment, but I would just like to add that that your video card's 3D features are not supported under linux. You will only have 2D with this card. ATI only wrote linux drivers for their later cards.

I briefly had this card in one of my boxes and found nothing out there to allow 3D functionality.

Of course, YMMV

HTH

hey i checked for ttyshsfo and i have it.

I also ran kppp in konsole and kppp opened up... except what am i suppose to do with it?

Franklin thanks for the reply. I guess for now i will have to do without 3d accaleration for now. My main aim is to learn linux and get the modem working.

thank your for replies,

SoulPioneer

In konsole, i also got the following error even though kppp opened up:

WARNING: KDE detected X Error: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes) /x08 Major opcode: *

Soulpioneer

Now that you've got kppp up, go to option->"Device" tab-> Make sure the device is /dev/SHSF0. You can create a new account and try and connect.

There is no shsfo. Only the following are available in the drop down menu for modem device selection:

/dev/modem
/dev/ttyS0
/dev/ttyS1
/dev/ttyS2
/dev/ttyS3
/dev/ttyl0
/dev/ttyl1
/dev/ttyl2
/dev/ttyl3
/dev/usb/ttyACM0
/dev/usb/ttyACM1
/dev/usb/ttyACM2
/dev/usb/ttyACM3

SoulPioneer

Start with /dev/modem, and go through the list.
Noah

I have gone through all of the settings, and this is what has been the result for each one upon dialing with KPPP:

/dev/modem: unable to open modem
/dev/ttys0: initializing modem (waited for five minutes and nothing happened)
/dev/ttys1: The modem is busy (i checked the line and it was not busy)
/dev/ttys2: -same as above-
/dev/ttys3: -same as above-
/dev/ttyl0: -same as above-
/dev/ttyl1: -same as above-
/dev/ttyl2: -same as above-
/dev/ttyl3: -same as above-

As you can see /dev/ttyS0 attempted to initialize the modem but didn’t get past initialising. I did not hear a dial tone or an attempt by Linux to dial out. So what I did was close KPPP and lauched Kinternet. Now because I am with AOL, I realise that I can not go on the internet without the AOL software, however Linux should at least attempt to dial out if I put in some aol details like username, password and the dialing number right? So I did this and used the LOG to see what Kinternet was doing:

SuSE Meta pppd (smpppd-ifcfg), version 1.06 on Linux.
Status is: disconnected
Trying to connect to smpppd
Connect to smpppd
Status is: disconnected
Status is: connecting
pppd(0): Plugin passwordfd.so loaded.
pppd(0): --> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.42
pppd(0): --> Initializing modem.
pppd(0): --> Sending: ATZ
pppd(0): --> Sending: ATQ0
pppd(0): --> Re-sending: ATZ
pppd(0): --> Modem not responding.
pppd(0): --> Connect script failed

Anyone have any idea whats going on?

SoulPioneer

That's funny, the file /dev/ttyshsf0 exists but theres no entry for it in kppp. Hmmm, maybe the drivers aren't installed properly. Try downlaoding the one which isn't for a specific distro, the ones under the distro specific ones.

Oh yeah, i forgot to mention. The other /dev/entries probably won't work. That's why they have to mae a driver....

you have completely lost me on that one? Where am i suppose to download the non-specific distro drivers from?

This is gonna be my last attempt. If it doesnt work now, forget it! I will leave the internet connection and just work on learning linux better and then hopefully i will be getting a new system in the next coming months. I will try to ensure that components are linux compatible.

Although i must say that this is very frustrating. i was hoping i would have less hardware issues so that i could concentrate on learning linux.

Ah well.

Hopefully you can clarify what you mean by non-specific distro drivers and where to obtain it from.

Very much appreciate that your trying to help!

SoulPioneer

From http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hsf/full/downloads.php there is a heading: "Generic packages with source".
Download the rpm or tar package. I've only dealt with the tar package so maybe you should download it. The kernel source should be installed.

Hey sorry for the late reply! I did as you suggested and i just recieved the following error:

ERROR(InstTarget:E_RpmDB_subprocess_failed)
---

Pre-built driver modules that seem compatible with your system were found under
/usr/lib/hsfmodem/modules/binaries/i686/suse/linux-2.4.21-99-default.
WARNING: renamed existing /dev/modem to /dev/modem.old:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Apr 16 23:39 /dev/modem.old -> /dev/ttyS0

ERROR: hsf driver not active
error: %post(hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04032800full-1) scriptlet failed, exit status 1

It seems clear that the modem is not going to work. So i give up... for now.

I appreciate your trying to help and im sure i'll be back with different problems later!

Thanks,

SoulPioneer

Yes, maybe you should tell linuxant, and they can fix it.

i have bought external serial modems for $35-that's the answer to your connect prob and the aol stuff is irrelevant(unless maybe your isp is aol or aol dependent). the rage fury pro card($50) will do graphics using the r128 and agpgart modules-suse should give you a chance to set things up, i got it going using an suse live cd, so i would think the distrocould handle it.