PCI Modems and Linux?

Torey asks: "I recently acquired a Fujitsu 985TX laptop which I was informed was very Linux compatible. Well, so far it appears to be only 90% compatible. The built in modem appears to be a PCI modem (lspci reports it is a Lucent Microelectronics modem), which I have experienced to be highly unsupported in the kernel. Has anyone been successful in getting one of these to work? The PnP tools didn't notice it either. Any help would be greatly appreciated." What other PCI modems are problematic with Linux? Which ones do you all recommend?

Comments

Re:PCI modems == bad

[Gleef]

PikaPal asks:

Does anyone know what kind of support Linux has for USB and where one might find more information about it?

Linux currently does not have USB support in the kernel. There is a USB project, its homepage is at http://peloncho.fis.ucm.es/~inaky/uusb d-www. Make sure to read the FAQ.

This project probably won't find its way directly into the kernel. From what I hear, the kernel developers want to redo the low level device driver stuff to better handle hot-swappable devices in general (PCMCIA, USB, FireWire, PPA, etc.) then add a cleaner USB implementation on top of that. In the meantime, this USB project is pretty heavily used, particularly in the LinuxPPC world (iMac requires USB support to do anything).

Re:So how do you tell if it's a WinModem?

[IntlHarvester]

Look for DOS and/or OS/2 compatibility advertised. As far as I know, WinModem drivers have never been released for DOS, so you can be sure it's a real modem.
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Re:Show that Linux users don't play favourites..

[IntlHarvester]

One can make cheap and perfectly usable PC with supported modem, cheap or expensive, PCI or ISA.

What's the real cost difference to the manufacturer? $1? $5? Does anyone know?

Hopefully, the WinModem trend is dying out. I know a couple companies that refuse to buy any equipment that ships with a winmodem. This rules out a bunch of laptops that might otherwise be considered. (Of course this is commercial equipment and commercial pricing. I have to think that a $500 PC is going to be problematic hardware-wise, even with Windows.)
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Re:So how do you tell if it's a WinModem?

[IntlHarvester]

Thanks for the correction. It should be noted also that the IBM MWave is a DSP modem/soundcard that runs under DOS, OS/2, and Windows. There might be some Linux support, but it seems like a common complaint that there isn't.
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