Problem getting modem to work
 

I have two HDDs. Hda has Win98SE and hdb has Puppy. The modem works fine in Windows and is on COM 2. I tried the Modem Wizard in Puppy and went through all the selections and it failed to find the modem. It's a Conexant SoftK 56 PCI modem. Is this a winsoft modem? If so, how do I configure Puppy to run it?

I can just replace it with a real hardware modem. What would be a good one for Puppy and Linux? Thanks.

Hi,

Is your modem an 'internal' or 'external' modem?

This could have a significant effect on your frustration levels over the coming days!

Internal. How so?

I have a connexant modem in my laptop and I know in my case Connexant didn't make the drivers avaliable for Linux.

However, if you visit:

http://www.linuxant.com

You may be able to find a solution to your problem but be warned they may want money off you, it may be cheaper to get an external modem or go tatally crazy and get broadband and save yourself a load of hassle in the future.

Regards...

From what I've learned, most external modems connect via USB which takes me right back to where I was at the beginning.

Hi,

When you say it connects on COM2 do you mean one of those big, old and grey plugs that we used to have back in the day? Sorry if I am asking what you have already said but i'm a little fuzzy on what COM2 represents.

Or do you mean that you have a PCI modem that snaps into a slot INSIDE your computer?

Okay, time for me to butt in here, Kirmonkey. You're obviously a little bit out of your league on this question. (Unfortunately for me, but) Fortunately for you, I've been down this road before. I'll try to wrap this question up for the most part here.


jacatone:
1. You have an internal (pci) winmodem
2. The manufacturer (conexant) has never released the hardware specifics for your brand of modem
3. Because of #2, there are no OpenSource drivers for your modem

Your options are this:
1. You can get zero cost ($0) drivers for your modem, but it will only run at 14.4K
2. You can buy the drivers for your modem ($20), and run at full speed 53.3k
3. You can buy another modem

If you decide to go with option #3, you can get a (external serial) hardware modem, or another software modem that has OSS drivers. A hardware modem would never require drivers and be the easiest to setup, but they tend to be a minimum of about $40. If you're interested in getting another software modem, I suggest the (Smart Link) sl-modem. There are OSS drivers for this software modem.
http://www.smlink.com/smlink.asp (manufacturer page)


I've never used one of the sl-modems myself, but I have read good reviews about their ease of install. Here is one on ebay for only $5
http://cgi.ebay.com/SmartLink-56K-PC...QQcmdZViewItem

In the end, you decision will probably come down to this:
1. If you want the modem to work RIGHT NOW! Then jump to http://www.linuxant.com/drivers and buy the drivers.
2. If you're tight on cash and want the cheapest setup, a new sl-modem could be less expensive than buying the driver for conexant. (just watch the shipping rate though)
3. If you don't care about price and want the easiest setup from start to finish, then you'll want a (external serial) hardware modem.

Thanks Sepero for your in depth reply. I decided to take #3 and just buy an external modem. Got a new U.S. Robotics serial one off of eBay for $11.00. This particular modem was on the OK list for Linux, so hopefully that'll solve the winmodem problem.

Dial up issues
 

I am a newbie Linux user running Puppy offline due to the same problem, but have a PCI V.92 Broadxent Model: DI3636-1. Someone familiar with Linux suggested this modem to me as a compatable Linux "hardware modem". I'm still attempting to see if this is true or not as I cant find the modem in the Wizard on PuppyLinux. Would love to know how to set up the internet running Puppy!

Beware of people selling "linux" and "hardware" modems. Always check it out for yourself to be certain. I've been scammed on ebay before.

Here are the top 3 Win/Linmodem websites:
http://start.at/modem
http://www.linmodems.org/
http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/

Unfortunately, all those websites are very poorly laid out. Here's a direct link to all known info on PCI modems(the most common internal modems).
http://xmodem.org/modems/pci_list.html

Thanks for reply. Still cant connect Puppy. I found my chipset: HCF 14F1, 1035 148D http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/ has Ubuntu 6.06 drivers at slower speeds. (They want cash! for 56K!). This was also helpful :http://www.conexant.com/support/md_faqs.html from Conexant on getting Linux supported drivers. I learned much!

People must be binning these modems by the thousands at th moment

Hi,

I'm in the same modem boat in Puppy. I run it from USB stick and the installation makes it probably the friendliest distro I've found so far. But the modem thing is a nuisance as I can't go online.

It's a PCI Conexant HSF modem. I downloaded the cut-down (free) version driver and can go online in Ubuntu. There's no Puppy friendly version, unfortunately and, of course, no open-source options.

I'm fairly new to Linux, but I'm well-impressed. If only going online was a bit easier I'd happily ditch XP.

Eoinrua

Was that supposed to be like a question, eoinrua?

No, there's no puppy friendly version of the $0 driver.

In the long run, you'd probably be better off with K/Ubuntu instead of Puppy anyway. Since it is more popular, it will be easier to find help for it.


To tytower, the only reason people are trashing modems by the thousands is because they're moving to broadband.

Hi Sepero,

Guess it was both question and answer. I'm probably at the stage where I've more questions than answers.

And there'll be plenty more - posted in the relevant forums, of course - before long as I'm going to commit to a hard-drive dual-boot XP/Ubuntu install tomorrow on one of my spare PCs. I want to try it out with XP first because I don't want to annoy Vista on my main machine until I'm certain I can get it to work.

Cheers