Unable to instll modem driver
 

I have Mandrake 9.2 sharing an AMD Athlon PC with Win98SE.

It runs fine but needed a new modem. I installed an Ambient v.92 HaM modem which Windows accepts.

Downloaded the Intel driver into a floppy with W98, booted Linux, extracted the archive to /dev/modem and the directories are empty.

Mandrake doesn't like me using Gnome but I don't know how to get a command line. But that's another subject.

How do I install the (*&*(() drivers?

Roger

What is the exact make and model number of your modem ? Is it internal or external ? Which driver did you download ?

Either way, your first stop should be http://linmodems.org. It's unlikely that any linux driver would be installed to /dev/modem -- at the very least it'll be a .deb or .rpm that you'll have to install, or source code that you'll need to compile and then install.

Cheers,

mj

installing modem
 

Which modem? Don't know except it's aa Ambient v.92 HaM Data Voice Fax modem. I got the Intel drivers via Win98, copied to a floppy, switched to Linux as root and it says I don't have permission to move the files to a directory.

How can root NOT have permission??

What paranoid a--h--e designed Linux anyway? It may make sense as a multiuser system but not as a single user desktop OS.

Help files are useless. You have to know what it's called to get help and how should a new user know that LS means list the files or CAT means print a file?

Sheesh!

Roger

First off, you won't get any help posting such comments here. Leave them out. Period.

That said, now to the modem: the important issue is whether it is a hardware modem (usually external) or a "software assisted" internal modem. The latter are missing some circuitry that the OS is supposed to compensate for. The code required to be compensated for is not generally disclosed by the manufacturers to anyone, except perhaps Microsoft. Any windows driver you may have downloaded is unlikely to be of much use under Linux (you haven't indicated what it was you downloaded, or what the file type was).

However, some Linux drivers have been written, and work surprisingly well. Whether one exists for your modem or not is unknown -- your best option is to use the Scanmodem tool available from http://linmodems.org to find out.

Regarding root and permissions: it is likely that you attempted to copy your files to an impossible location -- overwriting a device for example.

Cheers.

If you are new to linux and in a hurry to get 'net connected:

1. Make sure your ISP accepts linux - AOL does not without a special script
2. Go DSL (thru LAN) if possible
3. If not, wait till you have more linux experience to install any kind of software modem and stay away from internal PCI modems even if they are linux compatible. Installing drivers takes 5 minutes. Finding drivers, checking chipsets, loading kernel-source, troubleshooting, etc., can take WEEKS !! ( I have done both)
4. Use an external serial port ( NOT usb!) modem because they are almost ALWAYS hardware modems, they require NO external drivers, and if money is an issue, they can be bought at any local thrift shop for $5 or less. BTW, they are generally FASTER than many internal PCI modems.
5. Use Kppp in Mandrake to be your dialup connection. Install it from your CDs if it's not already installed.
good luck

> 1. Make sure your ISP accepts linux - AOL does not without a special script

It should but I'll check.

> 2. Go DSL (thru LAN) if possible

Not possible. Low speed dialup.

> 3. If not, wait till you have more linux experience to install any kind of software modem and stay away from internal PCI modems even if they are linux compatible. Installing drivers takes 5 minutes. Finding drivers, checking chipsets, loading kernel-source, troubleshooting, etc., can take WEEKS !! ( I have done both)

It's an internal PCI modem but not a winmodem. I have the drivers already.
This is a good example of Linux deficiency. I really want to get away from windows but Linux is just too primitive for the average user.

> 4. Use an external serial port ( NOT usb!) modem because they are almost ALWAYS hardware modems, they require NO external drivers, and if money is an issue, they can be bought at any local thrift shop for $5 or less. BTW, they are generally FASTER than many internal PCI modems.

Haven't seen any around here but there's always ebay.

> 5. Use Kppp in Mandrake to be your dialup connection. Install it from your CDs if it's not already installed.

I'll see if a) I can find it and b) if Mandrake will LET me install it.

> good luck

Thanks, I'll need it.

Roger