--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Modem setup in linux Author : Terry 'Mongoose' Hendrix II Email : stu7440@westga.edu Version: 3.1 Date : 1999.05.02? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES: '' - When you see a 'command' you don't type the quotes (*) - Hints (!) - Warnings (/) - URL for more information 1. First you need root access to setup your modem. (a) Execute 'su root' in a shell. (b) Now enter your root password. (*) Your prompt should change to indicate you are now root. 2. Now you can make a device link to your modem. (!) If you have already have a /dev/modem, do 'rm -f /dev/modem'. (a) You must know what "COM" port your modem is on your machine. DOS COM port | Linux device file -------------|------------------ COM 1 | /dev/ttyS0 COM 2 | /dev/ttyS1 COM 3 | /dev/ttyS2 ... | ... (!) As of linux 2.2.x kernel /dev/cuaN is bad form. (*) If unsure of your com port, it's likey to be COM 1. (b) Execute 'ln -s DEVICE /dev/modem', DEVICE is figured from table. (i) Example for COM 1: 'ln -s /dev/ttyS0 /dev/modem'. 3. Now test to see if you have made the link to your modem. (a) Execute 'echo "atdt PHONE_NUMBER_HERE" > /dev/modem'. (*) I would suggest dailing a local call. (!) Don't use spaces or dash. (b) Execute 'echo "atd" > /dev/modem', to hang up. (c) If you hear it dail out the link to your modem is correct. (*) If it didn't dail try another COM port. (!) If you've tried all the COM ports and still no luck... then you may have a "winmodem" or "dsp" modem. See below. I strongly suggest returning software modems, and obtaining a true full hardware modem. (*) There is now an alpha driver for lucent winmodems. Follow the link below for the source. Only soe Toshiba laptops are known to work with it. (/) http://www.suse.cz/development/ltmodem/ (*) Winmodems lack the full hardware implementation of a normal modems. This is why winmodems are cheap. The UART chip is replaced by software to emulate the UART on your CPU. This can use up to 33% of a intel pentium machine, resluting in slow system performance. If that wasn't bad enough, the only operating systems that can run the emulation software are MS Windows 95/98. I would suggest never purchasing winmodems, even if you only use supported operating systems. The winmodems I know of are all lucent chipsets and are mostly PCI, however some ISA winmodems exsist. (*) DSP modems are a misnomer. All modems need DSP loaders, however most modems have DSP loaders in hardware. "DSP modems" lack the hardware to load the DSP firmware needed to communicate on your system bus. DSP modems have to load their DSP firmware from software on the operating system. Like the winmodem they're only supported in MS operating systems, however most will work in MSDOS too. A few DSP modems can be hacked to work in Linux. Try booting into Windows or DOS, then running the DSP loader for your modem. Then using loadlin, boot into linux. This works for a few DSP modems, since the DSP is loaded low in main memory. (Perhaps at BIOS level, I'm not sure.) If this doesn't work, then you can try running the modem without XON/XOFF error control enabled. If that fails, then get another modem. The DSP modems I know of are the Rockwell chipset and the MWAVE chipset. I've heard that some Rockwells work with the hacks. I personally have an MWAVE modem, and I doubt you can get then to work. It seems that MWAVE is like a DSP/winmodem combo in that it needs both UART emulation and DSP loader in software. If you have a laptop I suggest you get a PCMCIA modem, since most companys force DSP and winmodems on you with their intergrated models. (/) Soft modem list - http://www.o2.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html