I'm not so sure it didn't work, 1. what made it "appear" to work? 2. what makes it seem to not be recognized? Using even a known working modem in linux isn't quite as easy as it should be i guess, so don't give up just yet.

ok - I can see pctel and ptserial when I run ls but when I try to set up my connection it keeps saying that my modem is not supported Maybe I'm missing something out (I'm a true noobie when it comes to this) Any ideas, I'm sure I must be close ? thanks

A 56K modem right? And you have an ethernet card but that isn't your route to the net?
Try using a dialer like Kppp (off the cds) instead of the Mandrake Control Centre, and also make sure your pc is trying to get online via the modem and not the network. What does the route command say?

my friend, my friend, have you heard this before: if the shoes dont fit dont wear them!

well i had a similiar problem so i gave up in trying to force the installation for the driver, so i did some research to which modem
i could use with linux and in linmodems.org they list some SmartLinks modems to be compitable! for a moment i thought i was going to be expensive, surprise it was not! i purchased the modem for $12.99 and problem solved! the cd comes with the driver and installation procedure at first it was confusing but it just took me about 45 minutes and it worked!

the modem can be purchased at pcclub.com or at their store! i rather spend $12.99 then to spend the whole night with a headache and you know what i mean

i am using a smartlink pci56 modem and here is the link http://www.smlink.com/

very good modem i love it!

pctwister

my friend, my friend, have you heard this before: if the shoes dont fit dont wear them!

well i had a similiar problem so i gave up in trying to force the installation for the driver, so i did some research to which modem
i could use with linux and in linmodems.org they list some SmartLinks modems to be compitable! for a moment i thought i was going to be expensive, surprise it was not! i purchased the modem for $12.99 and problem solved! the cd comes with the driver and installation procedure at first it was confusing but it just took me about 45 minutes and it worked!

the modem can be purchased at pcclub.com or at their store! i rather spend $12.99 then to spend the whole night with a headache and you know what i mean

i am using a smartlink pci56 modem and here is the link http://www.smlink.com/

very good modem i love it!

pctwister

Allow me to digress from the problem at hand for a moment and give you some (hopefully) helpful advice on how to get better and quicker answers to your linux questions here in the forums.

As a general rule, the more specific you are, the more quickly a resolution will be found. Linux distros typically come with way more than one program or way to set things up, so it makes a difference as to which particular program or script file, etc. that you're using/working with.

So, instead of saying "when I try to set up my connection", you should probably be saying "I tried using kppp and it gives me an error message of modem not found" or something similar to that. This saves us the additional posts required to ask you which program you're using to set up your connection. The more specific details you can give, the fewer questions we need to ask.

Additionally, take care to post the things you've done as completely and accurately as possible. For instance, when you say "I can see pctel and ptserial when I run ls", I'm assuming you really meant "when I run lsmod" since ls lists files and directories as opposed to loaded kernel modules, but I can't be completely sure that you didn't actually type ls and see pctel.o and ptserial.o in your kernel module directory, so it'll take a couple of posts to find out. Even better, posting a section of the relevant output of the commands you're using is very helpful and can identify other problems you may not know about.

You may be wondering how to post that output, in other words, how to cut/paste text from a console window to the area here where you type in your post. Draggng the left mouse button to highlight the text in your console window will copy it. Using the right mouse button in the textarea here on the forum should give a menu and an option to paste it.

for instance here's the output of lsmod on my notebook:
# lsmod
Module Size Used by Tainted: P
mousedev 4116 0 (unused)
nfsd 66576 0 (autoclean)
lockd 46480 0 (autoclean) [nfsd]
sunrpc 60188 0 (autoclean) [nfsd lockd]
sd_mod 11788 0 (autoclean)
nls_cp437 4348 0 (autoclean)
smbfs 34936 0 (autoclean)
8211 63368 1
usb-storage 51952 0
scsi_mod 90372 2 [sd_mod usb-storage]
floppy 49340 0
smapi 3316 0 (autoclean)
thinkpad 2536 0 (autoclean) [smapi]
cs4232 3780 0 (unused)
ad1848 22220 0 [cs4232]
uart401 6628 0 [cs4232]
sound 55732 0 [cs4232 ad1848 uart401]
soundcore 3780 0 [sound]
ds 6828 2
yenta_socket 9728 2
pcmcia_core 42272 0 [ds yenta_socket]
af_packet 13000 18 (autoclean)
nls_iso8859-1 2844 1 (autoclean)
nls_cp850 3580 1 (autoclean)
vfat 9588 1 (autoclean)
fat 31864 0 (autoclean) [vfat]
supermount 14340 1 (autoclean)
keybdev 1920 0 (unused)
hid 18340 0 (unused)
input 3456 0 [mousedev keybdev hid]
usb-uhci 21676 0 (unused)
usbcore 58304 1 [usb-storage hid usb-uhci]
rtc 6560 0 (autoclean)
ext3 74004 1
jbd 38452 1 [ext3]

As I did not have to type that info by hand, you can be sure it's accurate, furthur, there's a wealth of info there that can assist someone who might be trying to help me with a problem, etc.

So, in keeping with the above, please post your own output from the lsmod command as well as what you're using to set up your connection. Don't be discouraged, it appears that you're close to a resolution, and as you said, this can all be chalked up to a good learning experience.

well I'm sorry for complicating things but I've only been trying to suss out Linux for about 10 days or so and I do tend to make mistakes in the posts as a result. I can't cut and paste cos I'm using windows to connect to the forum and don't have access to mandrake while running windows. Thanks for the tips tho' - now I think I'll go and buy me a modem and use one of the help sites out there - and you are right, it is lsmod of course.

Well, you may indeed be better off buying a different modem that is known to be easy to setup and use with linux, and spending your time on other aspects of learning linux, although from everything I've read, your modem should work with linux. Of course, an external modem should be less of a load on your processor, and may perform better as well.

I'm not asserting that you are complicating things, rather, I'm concerned that if a resolution to your modem issue isn't found more quickly you may get frustrated and decide that linux is too difficult to use or learn and thus, in my opinion, miss out on a very nice operating system. I've not lost interest in this at all and am more than willing to continue this dialog to the end, in fact, I'd love to see you get it working, but not at the cost of your sanity .

I think I've just had a really crap day at work. I do want to crack this thing 'cos I know I'm close to it. I'm gonna have an early night and get back to it tomorrow. Thanks for all the input, I'll sort out all the details tomorrow and put them up for u to check out for me. Thanks again and I'll cya later

Right - here goes, I've got up at 6.30 to type this in to see if you can make anything of it.
Module Size Used by Tainted : PF
ptserial 45092 0 (unused)
pctel 1291328 0 (ptserial)
isofs 27988 1 (autoclean)
zlib_inflate 21156 0 (autoclean) [isofs]
udf 90464 0 (autoclean)
parport_pc 25096 1 (autoclean)
lp 8096 0 (autoclean_
parport 34176 1 (autoclean) [parport_pc_lp]
snd-seq-midi 5024 0 (autoclean) [unused]
snd-trident-synth 9452 1 (autoclean)
snd-seq-instr 7172 0 (autoclean)[snd-trident-synth]
snd-ainstr-simple 3368 0 (autoclean)[snd-trident-synth]
snd-seq-midi-emul 6780 0 (autoclean)[snd-trident-synth]
snd-seq-oss 31104 0 (unused)
snd-seq-midi-event 5640 0 (snd-seq-midi snd-seq-oss)
snd-seq 42608 3 (snd-seq-midi snd-trident-synth
snd-seq-instr snd-seq-midi-emul snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event)
snd-pcm-oss 43556 0 (unused)
snd-mixer-oss 14488 0 (snd-pcm-oss)
snd-trident 32124 0 (snd-trident-synth)
snd-util-mem 3008 0 (snd-trident)
snd-pcm 77536 0 (snd-pcm-oss snd-trident)
snd-timer 18376 0 (snd-seq snd-pcm)
gameport 3316 0 (snd-trident)
snd-mpu401-uart 4396 0 (snd-trident)
snd-rawmidi 17600 0 (snd-seq-midi snd-mpu401-uart)
snd-page-alloc 7732 0 (snd-trident-synth snd-trident snd-pcm)
snd-ac97-codec 40160 0 (snd-trident)
snd-seq-device 5832 0 (snd-seq-midi snd-trident-synth snd-seq-oss snd-seq snd-trident snd-rawmidi)
snd 40868 0 (snd-seq-midi snd-seq-instr snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event snd-seq snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-trident snd-util-mem snd-pcm snd-timer snd-mpu401-uart snd-rawmidi snd-ac97-codec snd-seq-device)
soundcore 6276 0 (snd)
ppp_async 9216 0 (unused)
ppp_generic 24060 0 (ppp_async)
slhc 6564 0 (ppp_generic)
af_packet 14952 0 (autoclean)
sr_mod 16920 0 (autoclean)
floppy 55132 0
sis900 15564 1 (autoclean)
nls_iso8859-15 4092 3 (autoclean)
nls_cp850 4316 2 (autoclean)
vfat 11820 2 (autoclean)
fat 37944 0 (autoclean)[vfat]
supermount 15296 3 (autoclean)
ide-cd 33856 1
cdrom 31648 0 (sr_mod ide-cd)
ide-scsi 11280 0
scsi_mod 103284 2 [sr_mod ide-scsi]
usbmouse 2936 0 (unused)
keybdev 2720 0 (unused)
mousedev 5268 1
hid 20900 0 (unused)
input 5664 0 [usbmouse keybdev mousedev hid]
printer 8448 0
usb-ohci 20584 0 (unused)
usbcore 72992 1 [usbmouse hid printer usb-ohci]
rtc 8060 0 (autoclean)
ext3 59916 2
jbd 38972 2 [ext3]
[root@localhost root]#

Well I hope thats ok - it's as neat as I could manage at this ungodly hour - gotto go to work, cya tonite

akaBeaVis - I want to thank you for you help with this goddam modem - I've learnt quite a bit over the past week, I'm definitely gonna get this to work before I buy 'proper' modem. I may as well take it to the finish. Speak to ya later

No problem, this is the purpose of this forum.

Getting that last infernal piece of hardware to work with linux is perhaps the worst part about beginning to use linux and has probably been the reason for more than one person's decision to forget about linux.

You have to remember, these manufacturers typically only supply drivers for windows and macs. The linux community has to write their own from sometimes non-existant or limited documentation, this is why sometimes it's so hard to get some hardware to work.

Anyway, back to the problem. Ok, it looks like it's time to fire up kppp and see what happens, but first, go to a Konsole and type "cat /var/log/messages | grep -i tty" (no quotes) and see if a device has been registered for your modem. For instance, here's the line from my notebook: Jun 25 17:37:09 Thinkpad kernel: ttyS01 at port 0x02f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A. Note the date at the beginning of the line, it's important that it be recent, but any line like the above means you're almost there. The device should begin with tty and for instance, on one of my machines is ttyS1 (remember, case counts in linux, always). if no device shows up, type "modprobe -r pctel pcserial" (no quotes) to remove the modules and then insert them again in this order: insmod pctel and insmod ptserial. Then, re-enter the line above (grep...etc) and see if a device is registered. (edit: I now know the device name will be ttyS15)

Here's where we need to branch our logic:

1. If a ttyS type device is indeed registered (rejoice!)
- start kppp, from Konsole you should be able to type "kppp &", the '&' means to start and detach from the Konsole, like run 'in the background, sorta.
- click the 'setup' button.
- go to the device tab and choose yours from the list.
(if it's not listed, we can fix that. edit: ttyS15 will not be listed, use /dev/modem instead).
- go to the modem tab and click the 'query modem' button.
- various info will be returned, or an error will be displayed, please post the exact error msg.
- or...no you actually get some info back from the query, in which case go to the general tab, fill in your account info and enjoy.

1. a ttyS or s type device is not found:
- post the results of "lspci -v".

I am going to do some furthur research on your modem, so if you don't have a device registered I can give you some direction in which to go (hopefully, you'll be posting a success story from the modem by then). I'll be back...

Right, I'm all set to suss this out. I have a day off work and I'm not gonna move from this screen till it's up n running.
Thanks again - I've used a couple of forums where ppl just try to dazzle you with there brilliance, know wot I mean?
I'll get back to you tonite (at least it will be night-time where I am)
C'ya

oh-kay, well I've had a few hours to no avail. Here's what happened (I'll try to get it right) Everything seemed hunky dory until I tried kppp, then I got this error messeage "the modem does not respond"
in the konsole -
opener: received OpenDevice
opener: received RemoveLock
kppp; ERROR: write() in modem::
write Char failed
when I ran lspci there was no sign of any reference to a modem or pctel/ptserial.
Sorry I'm in a bit of a rush 'cos my boss has rang me to go to work - it's my day off but think cash,lol. I'll get back later and sort out these details for you, sorry if it's a bit confused (like me) thanks again

Here's a link to a mini-HowTo for this modem,

http://www.peacefulaction.org/sayamindu/pctel.html

It's very informative and describes most of the problems you've had so far. Have a look at it and especially the section describing the installation process for version 0.9.6, especially the "--with-hal=" portion. Did you add that to the ./configure command? Were you able to determine which chipset you have? If not, we need to go back and do that first

Hopefully one of these chipsets will manifest itself when you do an "lspci -v": pct789, cm8738, i8xx, or via686a. I can't determine from your lsmod listing which one you have. From what that doc says, you have to use the version 0.9.6 driver, since your modem appears to be an audio-modem riser type.