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Modem Success Stories With Linux?
lasindi writes "Whenever I install Linux, I have trouble with the modem (unfortunately I'm stuck on dial-up). On the first installation, I found out it was a Winmodem and when I tried the solutions and drivers offered by linmodems.org, it still wouldn't work. I finally got an Intel PCI modem, but Intel only provides drivers that work on the 2.4 kernel. I have also have a Conexant modem lying around, but I found out that the only drivers that work for it are provided by Linuxant. These drivers, however, cost money (unless you want to crawl along at 14.4 Kbps for free) and are closed-source. I've found that, although I have five modems, I can't run any of them at full speed under the 2.6 kernel. I would like to know how common such problems are and how Slashdotters have gotten around them."
For my laptop, the linuxant drivers cost hardly anything compared to the price of the machine (certainly cheaper than a card modem), so I ponied up.
For a desktop box - well, apart from the fact that I use a modem about never these days, it's always broadband of some sort - what I _used_ to do was buy a decent quality external modem and not have all the problems that plague cheap crap.
I used to use a serial modem. That should make the driver not as much of a problem... I think.
I'm not going to tell you that you SHOULD get high-speed Internet access, perhaps it's not what you want or need, however, most Linux users are on some type of high-speed connection, and so you might find support for dialup in Linux to be quite lacking. I know I did several years ago, and this was still when a lot of people used dialup.
I would expect such blatant racism on Fark, but on Slashdot? Mods please ban this asshole.
Sell for about $15 on ebay. Buy one and stop worrying about stupid stuff like this.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
I got me a new Sterling 56K modem just last week, and was pleasantly surprised to see that my mother had gotten me a Knoppix CD. The WTFL edition I believe, with the book Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye.
I'm not quite sure what the problem is, since I'm just moving to Linux and I also would appreciate any help.
I was thinking of converting to paganism, but where the hell can you find sacrificial virgins these days?
A lot of internal modems are winmodem-style or something like it these days. Just get a good old external modem on a serial port. As long as it supports AT commands you're gtg in any OS that supports modems and serial ports in general. Or if you wanna get all high-tech about it, get a USB modem that does serial-over-USB and acts like a plain external modem on a serial port.
11*43+456^2
Story Here
Or did they change that yet?
/usr/games/fortune
CompUSA used to sell an external modem that would do the dialing for you and provide ethernet on your side (2 ethernet port hub built in that provided DHCP). You would just have to set up ethernet on your linux machine (easy, compared to setting up stupid winmodem crap) and then configure it via its internal web page.
I can't remember the name, but it cost about $50 - $65 a year ago.
The best thing about it was that it ran embedded linux on the inside, and was hackable. I couldn't find the article where I first heard about it, but I'll look a little harder and will post it if I find it.
Religion is poison to rationality, and we lose sight of that at our own peril. -- Lurker2288
But I have an external Sportster 28.8 that I've been using for, oh, 6 years now. It hooks up to a comm port and speaks ASCII. Granted, I need a comm driver that's just smart enough to do proper handshaking (and perferably hardware flow control) unless I wish to do a little soldering. But aside from that, ATZ, ATS0=55, ATDT5551010. It all works nicely and requires no drivers. Of course, I use {Commo} most of the time to talk to it, so this isn't terribly on topic either way.
You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
Get the best.
Anyway, in the few short years I've been using Linux, all the distributions have come very far in detecting and using newer hardware. However, the general rule of thumb, especially for things like dial-up modems, is still the older the hardware is, the more likely it will be compatible.
I'm stuck on dialup myself, and I use an old Creative Modem Blaster 56K. Purchased around... 98 or 99 I think.
Before that it was my lovely US Robotics 28.8 DSVD (Digital Simultaneous Voice and Data! OHHH, AHHH!) modem. Heh. That sounded like a cool feature at the time, but it never really took off. And MAN that modem was HUGE. I'm talking over a foot. Really hard to cram it into my case. This modem also worked fine in various Linuxes.
So yeah... To answer your question: Your modems are too new. Find older ones.
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking
This is a hardware modem, requires no drivers, I am using it on 2.6.6 now. Downside is it costs $60
My laptop has an internal modem and i use the slmodem driver and it works great(Its an IBM G40 laptop) running with a 2.6 kernel. I think for every PC(workstation), I've always used an ISA modem. I tink you've got 4 options:
? sku=USR5610B .. i blieve this is a hardware PCI modem .. many do work .. really .. they do
1 - buy an ISA modem(if possible)
2 - Buy an external modem
3 - http://www.usr.com/products/home/home-product.asp
4 - Do your research on the drivers before you buy a winmodem
http://www.physcip.uni-stuttgart.de/heby/ltmodem/
I've had good luck with the above driver for the Lucent winmodem in my Dell laptop (Inspiron 4000). I recall using it with 2.6 kernels (back on broadband).
CompGeeks.com has a used hardware modem for less than $14 and a Agere winmodem with Lucent chipset for less than $10. I'd double check it works though before buying the winmodem (by fcc id or chipset model).
You could have just gotten yourself a real hardware modem, probably even 2.
I used to work tech support for a mid-sized ISP, and we used to take calls from unhappy Winmodem users constantly. No matter what your OS, don't waste your time with a Winmodem -- it's just not worth the time and hassle.
You probably spent at least a few hundred dollars on your computer, perhaps much more. Chances are, you'll be spending some time online with it. For many people, web browsing is their computer's primary use, but they insist on using a $13-on-Pricewatch modem (usually the one installed by the manufacturer -- Gateway, this means you!) to dial up.
Buy a US Robotics (or 3COM) modem, and spend at least $80 for it. Yes, I know that you can buy an HSP Micromodem for $8 on eBay, but as long as your computer can handle running IE (or Firefox, etc.) your modem is the single greatest influence on your dialup experience.
This goes for any operating system. Linux users are often forced into such a choice by the fact that Winmodems are rarely supported, and never work well.
Many here say "buy an external modem" -- initially, all modems were external, and plugged into a computer's serial port. This worked well, because serial ports are standard hardware, and no special drivers were required at all.
Modern quality modems (such as an $80+ 3COM) have a built-in serial port -- picture a serial port with a modem plugged into it, all contained within an ISA or PCI card. This is why they work so well, as dedicated hardware does what it was meant to do, and has been doing well for years.
Winmodems are like the bargain-basement "shared memory" video cards often shipped with home systems. Such video cards have no memory of their own, and consume system RAM for video memory. Similarly, software modems consume force the CPU to emulate an actual modem. While the CPU is a general-purpose computing device, it simply isn't a DSP, and isn't meant for signal processing. This means that it's less than efficient at processing signal data, and you'll notice the inefficiency in dropped connections.
Anecdotally, I once convinced a friend at my ISP to disable the auto-disconnect feature for my account. I was connected through a 33.6k US Robotis modem for 29 days before a power outage interrupted the connection. Soon after, I switched to broadband, but every winmodem user who has ever complained to me about dropped connections while refusing to shell out money for a real modem still brings a smile to my face.
I know I'm repeating myself here, but ANYONE USING DIALUP UNDER ANY OPERATING SYSTEM OWES IT TO THEMSELVES TO SPEND $80 OR MORE FOR A MODEM. And a PCI 3COM card (not a Winmodem -- again, be sure it's a hardware modem) will work fine under Linux. It'll show up as a serial port.
(Why $80? Sure, you may find a hardware modem for $75, but $80 should be a high enough bar to weed out even the priciest of Winmodems.)
Somebody get that guy an ambulance!
One motivation not to spend money on a real modem is that you're getting DSL "real soon now." But with this, you'd already have a DSL router, and even then, it would cost about the same as a good Hayes modem. And of course you could share a connection with it.
HSF linmodem drivers
It's still perfectly fine to use and maintain the old Linuxant drivers for Conexant modems AFAIK. They work at normal speed, and worked fine for me for a dial-up connection a while back. I think that the old version of the driver that I linked to is the old/full-speed one, if not just do some googling for the name (hsf*.rpm, h-whatever*.tar.gz), and you'll find the old/good version. I think that Gentoo and a few other distros also maintain versions of the old drivers, so you can find them if you search enough. That's how I found mine.
I have three internal 56K hardware modems, and 2 external ones. They're all sitting on my shelf; I'm on ADSL.
455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
I phrased my request like this:
"PCI internal modem with a real UART that appears as a serial (COMx) port without any drivers"
The clueless sales people who answer emails at some vendors got themselves struck off my list, while the cluefull ones replied that they knew what I meant but didn't have any - except for one vendor who guessed I most be running linux, and had one in stock. It cost me 45NZ$ (About 25US$) - they're more expensive than other modems because they have all the hardware to modulate and demodulate without using the cpu.
One you insert the real modem inside the PC and reboot, then type:you'll get a message likeor something like that. That would mean that the modem is at
The hard part is finding a real PCI modem, cause not many places sell them. If you phrase your request like I did you're more likely to get the real thing.
You make the mistake of thinking you can educate the fundamental stupidity out of people. You can't.
My 5+ year old V.90 56k modem is being used right now on my router box (external, serial, conexant/rockwell chipset).
My laptop has a Intel 537 internal modem. Got them working with the SmartLink drivers.
Or find someone who has old computer parts or even computer fairs. I still have my old USR Sportster 33.6k FaxModem whenever my cable modem service goes out/has problems. No point of getting 56k modems since the phone lines and carrier around here really suck (up to 26400 only and 3 KB/sec.).
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
The modems I've had working under Linux were US Robotics modems. I had a 56k fax internal ISA modem and after that came the 56k PCI pro performance modem. Both worked fine under Linux. I went to PCI because the new board I bought didn't have ISA slots.
Things to watch out for: If the modem's box says "for Windows*", it's a winmodem. If it shows up in Windows as a PCI communication device, it's a winmodem. PCI hardware modems will show up in Windows as PCI serial controllers. And Linux shouldn't have much trouble finding them. Also, price difference is another way to tell the difference. With US Robotics hardware modems, you're actually paying for a five year warranty. But you're getting a good piece of hardware.
Winmodems under Linux have been a big problem for a long time. I remember back in '99 when I had a winmodem with Linux. Things have gotten better since then, but it's still a significant issue. And the fact that a tech at a computer store said that hardware modems weren't worth the cost made my stomach turn. Winmodems are notorious for increased CPU usage (uses the CPU as the controller. very stupid) and leaving an absolute mess in the Windows registry. There are actually winmodem registry cleaners!
A little off-topic here, but wasn't there once upon a time a software package that would emulate a modem in software using the mic/ear jacks on a soundcard? I'm thinking it only did some crappy low speed like 2400 or something, but my memory of this thing is real hazy. Perhaps with modern high end soundcards that are doing higher sample/bit rates, would it be possible to write a soft 56k modem using a soundcard?
11*43+456^2
A year ago or so I bought a PC for home so I do not have to carry my laptop home if I may need to access some email at work, etc. The PC had a PCI card modem, so I asked in the shop if it is linux compatible, i.e. not a software modem - the
PC was sold without any OS so it should work with any OS - if not, I would choose to buy an external hardware modem. They told me it is a winmodem type but a linux driver exists too. Fine, I tried it and spend an hour finding/downloading/installing the linux driver. Actually I returned the first modem and tried another one. Finally it worked (I think it actually works full speed), but it doesn't support FAX. That was the other thing I expected the modem to do (I do not care about voice mode at all). The website from conexant claimed, the driver will be improved soon and provide better stability/speed and FAX support. Later I went to conexant to check for the promised updates, but they now do sell the driver via Linuxant. I would have better spent my money on a hardware modem - no special software/driver
required. I do not see how supporting linuxant would support linux. So I will sell this modem sooner or later on ebay. And I will not - ever - choose some closed software again. Spending extra time and/or money on something which stops working after the next OS version comes out doesn't make much sense.
Buy a "real" modem with a UART, preferably an external serial modem (RS232). Yes, a lot of people already said this already. But it's the only way to avoid trouble. There is no need to buy an expensive brand, just any external modem with a 9-pin or 25-pin connector will do the job. USB modems are often WinModems, so are most PCI modems. ISA is dead. ISA modems are often "real" modems with a build-in COM port (i.e. UART), but there are some ISA WinModems.
Even if someone would try to build a serial port WinModem, he would fail terribly: the serial port is fast enough for the well-known Hayes commands even at 56.000 baud, but it is way to slow for a WinModem sampling the phone line and doing the modem part in Software. So an external serial modem can't ever be a WinModem.
And by the way: Yes, I have a success story. My WinModem in my old Toshiba Tecra 8200 "accidentally" works. I just had to try two or three different drivers that all claimed not to work with my WinModem. Thanks to http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/! (But I just don't want to know what happens when I update my kernel.)
Tux2000
Denken hilft.
I was just trying out MandrakeMove on an older Dell laptop recently, which doesn't have an ethernet port. Under Windows I either use a 1394 connection to a nearby PC or a WLAN connection if not near the PC, both via PCMCIA adapters. Both of them where impossible to get to work under MandrakeMove. The GUI of course didn't do any good and crashed right away in an error loop. But even after extensive googling and command line bashing I was not able to connect this laptop to the outside world, mainly due to a lack of hardware support.
Just my 0.02 EUR regarding Linux and network hardware support...
Bitten Apples are still better than dirty Windows...
since i discovered wvdial i never had any problems on my PC. But i installed Linux several times on a friend's G3 and never got the internal modem up and running. I'm sure though that if i had a Mac at home, i would have tried until it works.
I know that it's been said but I'll say it again. Get an external Modem. I personally preffer USR V.Everything Fax Modem. It ran right around $300US but it just simply works.
Meddle thou not in the affairs of Dragons, for thou art crunchy and with most anything.
My shiny new computer (second hand) came with some mystique winmodem. Some little googling showed me that there's a driver for 2.4-kernels called "pctel-0.9.6.tar.gz".
It works for Via, Asus, CM8x, Sis, PCT and AMR based modems, but only "old" 2.4-kernels.
It should be possible to port it to 2.6 (some include file has to be fixed).
Lucent modems (such as that with a Thikpad T22) work pretty nicely. Look for the ltmodem driver, it claims to work on 2.6.
I have heard that the cost savings of taking the UART off the modem is almost nothing. UART's have been around a long time, they would only cost the HW manufacturer about an additional $1 per modem.
So it would only cost about $1 to build a real modem, instead of a winmodem - so I've heard.
If that's true, then it does it even make sense to make winmodems? Unless:
1) Msft is influencing the HW manufacturers.
or
2) The HW manufacturers like selling winmodems for $20 and real modems for $80.
I use SuSe 8.0 Pro @ home. I have used this distro for the last 3 years, with little to no troubles. I have an off the wall brand modem installed in the box, so off the wall I can't get Windows drivers for it. It took me all of 5 mins to install and configure it under Linux. I too had to go the route of Winmodem hell, but found the drivers I was looking for rather easily. My only complaint about bieng online with Linux, my ISP doesn't support Linux. So after 45 minutes online, active or not, I get knocked off which has never happened under Windows. I have asked tons of people why this happens and no one seems to have an answer. So I assume it is something to do with my ISP living in a dreamworld where every customer uses Windows.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
Winmodems have been a problem in Linux not because we haven't been able to figure them out but because there really is no good solution. The FCC regulates any piece of equipment that uses standard phone lines. This is why the UARTs have such a well-defined interface (the Hayes command set). You can pull a UART and use it in your project since these guys have already been blessed by the FCC.
Winmodems are cheaper to manufactor because the UARTs are pretty complex beasts (one poster said they cost $1 a piece.. thumbing through my digi-key catalog, it looks like in volume they run at least $3-8 a piece).
At any rate, portions of the software for winmodems have to be signed off from the FCC. These portions are usually firmware and can be downloaded right to the board. This is not universally true though. So the Winmodems that work in Linux tend to be the ones that 1) use a downloadable firmware and 2) come from companies that don't mind you using the firmware outside of the original driver.
int func(int a);
func((b += 3, b));
Before you drop you cash. Remember the HCL from hte early days of WinNT?
Just spend the $40 on an external serial modem and you'll be good no matter what OS you use (just about... do Macs have serial ports?)
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Two words: External Modem.
You plug it into a serial port but you don't have to put the receiver of the phone into the little rubber grometty things anymore.
Hire me...
the XServe does
"I keep looking in the want-ads under 'revolutionary' but there don't seem to be any listings.. "
Serial modem. I got mine from Creative a few years back when I was on dial-up. It is totally worth it. You will end up hunting forever for an internal modem that will work. It is pretty much guaranteed to work with any OS.
I hate sigs.
Yes, but a WinModem is theoretically going to get better as Moore's Law's benifits get better[1]. Also any DSP based modem (new or used) is going to be more expensive than it's equivalent softmodem. Plus are you really going to notice that 1 to 2% drain on your CPU?
[1] Theoretically you can go even faster because you have more flexability in changing the parameters and algorithms used in the modem. Hardware is well...hard.
The real modems (with a uart) would be a lower volume business with a correspondingly lower income. They might be able to build the boards for only a dollar or two more; but, that's not the only consideration. There's also "supply and demand" and "what the market will bear" to consider. If most (90%) of the people buy the winmodem and only 10% want a real modem; and that 10% is willing to pay a premium to get a real uart, then they can charge a premium price. That's not evil, it's business.
A similar thing happens in the automotive world: GM can produce and sell a car for $16-20k. They sell SUV's for $30k or more. Do you think it's because it costs them $10k more to build the SUV? No, they sell it for $30k because the market will let them charge the premium. Profit margins on economy cars are generally small (a few percent). Profit margins on SUV's run in the 50% range.
Rockwell PCI modems work fine with the RPM for Mandrake 8. Full speed (56k), never tried faxing though.
It's not difficult to find a REALY hardware modem.
Stop wasting your money on what is effectively nothing more than a sound-card with a relay... spend the extra $5 and buy yourself a HARDWARE modem.
If it says "softwmodem", click the "next" button and forget you saw it... it doesn't matter how cheap it is if it's junk.
My sister just bought (couple weeks ago) a real, hardware, PCI modem for about $9, so you have no excuse to keep buying crap and supporting the companies who produce it.
Check PriceWatch for the deals... and do a bit of research before you buy 'em!
Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but I can't imagine buying five (fake) "modems" and still not figuring it out.
- Preferences: Solaris 10 (servers), Ubuntu (desktops), Solaris 11 (personal servers) -
If it has "drivers" either with the package or downloadable from the manufacturer, it's not a modem, it's a sound-card pretending to be a modem.
NO modem needs a driver.
They have a standard interface and a standard command-set... just like a keyboard (no drivers).
- Preferences: Solaris 10 (servers), Ubuntu (desktops), Solaris 11 (personal servers) -
Well, if you have this WinModem it has good linux drivers. You need to change a little bit of code to get it to work in 2.4 and 2.6. The instructions are available in usenet linux groups..
-- Pls separate your sig from your msg so that I know when to ignore it.
Both are PCI hardware modems. I've used both under Linux, and they work great. Now migrated to DSL, but they're still going strong.
2976 is ~$40 at newegg.com
2977/5610 is ~$70 at newegg
(Not plugging newegg, especially, but I bought mine from them, and have had good luck with them on other hardware parts too)
Now I can ssh to my home box and check to see who called me today.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
This is the latest beta of the official Conexant/Linuxant driver. Works great, 56kbps all the way, no problems. .. but it violates the GPL so i will NEVER EVER buy anything Conexant.
Go grab those torrents.
Thanks for mentioning the books. I might check them out.
testing out my trending skills
It's not just the UART thats missing, its the DSP.
A winmodem is basically just a DAC and an ADC.
A real modem is the same, plus a DSP, plus a UART
.
One other advantage of a real modem, in addition to easily supporting Linux, is that you run in hardware what the winmodem does in software, so you offload some processing from the CPU.
I use the 2.6 port of the ltmodem driver with 2.6.6 on my Thinkpad T20. It works great.
Some winmodems actually have a DSP on board. I have a Rockwell winmodem that is like this. It is missing the UART; so, Linux wouldn't recognize it without the drivers (which, I have to admit, I never got to work; but, I didn't try very hard).
Run. Run now screaming in panic.
Flee now lest ye face horrer the like of which ye he'na dreamed of in yer worst nit'mares. FLEE!!
The true horrers of a linux modem setup can only be truely appricated on a Dell dimension, dual boot, fedora, XP.
First off, the 'modem' will not work. It will of course be picked up by fedora, but alas, ne'er a peep is heard.
So after hours, and hours, of searching through linmodems you finally just go out and get an external one as many sources will have assured you that, "all external modems will ork under linux"
Foolish mortal!! You went out and picked up the flashy new USB modem didn't you!! HAHAHAHAHAH!!! An EXTERNAL WINMODEM!!!! AFTER THEY ASSURED YOU!!!?!?!
butwait!....
Just there at the bottom of the page.
"Careful, some modern external modems are also winmodems"
Joyus day. Someone please kill me.
After weeks of searching I finally came across a zoom modem that worked in fedora but bluescreened XP on startup. Oh happy day. I eventually solved this issue by ignoring the zoom modem driver and using a generic XP one or something.
Modems in linux are horrific and show no signs of improving. God I hate winmodems. But not as much as I hate the fact that fedora can't play CDs!?!?
Ahhh the rocky road to linux!! Worth it? Ask me after I've figured out how to use GIMP and EMACS.
haha.. hahaha HAHAHAHAHA.........
*maniacal newbie laughter fades into the demented distance*
May the Maths Be with you!
Do USB modems *easily work in Linux?