Linux and 56K modem

Bandit · Post by **Bandit** » Thu Mar 21, 2002 10:11 pm

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie to Linux, I have installed Redhat 7.2 and I can't get my modem to work at all. I know it is compatible with Linux but I don't know how to install it. This is driving me nuts.

This is what I am doing:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
0) Unpack the tarball by typing "tar zxvf pctel-0.9.0.tar.gz"

1) Go into that directory by typing "cd pctel-0.9.0"

2) Find out what chipset you have in your board:

Here is where the problems begin. I do not have a usr/src/linux directory. Instead I have a usr/src/Redhat directory. But this drivers look for a "linux" directory. It tells me, it cannot find modversions.h. I do have this file but it is in another directory (cant remember which off the top of my head) but when I direct it to the other directory it still looks for "linux" and it cant find it.

3) ./configure
Options:

--with-hal=hal
Select one of: pct789, cm8738, i810, sis, via686a

--with-kernel-includes=/path/to/my/kernel-sources/include
If you don't have your kernel sources at /usr/src/linux, specifiy
your includes

This is what I am entering:
./configure --with-hal=sis --with-kernel-includes=../../../usr/src/Redhat

4) Compile the modules by typing "make"

5) If everything went fine, get root by typing "su"

7) Install the drivers by typing "make install"

8) You are now ready to use your modules.
Type "insmod pctel" and "insmod ptserial".

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Any help is VERY appreciated. I am really looking forward to making an OS switch. But without internet it is poinless. By the way I have a PCTEL Platinum V.90 modem

Thanks,

Bandit

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Fri Mar 22, 2002 12:54 pm

Read the mini-HOWTO on PCTel modems. Your problems are answered in there (under FAQ/Troubleshooting).

Bandit · Post by **Bandit** » Fri Mar 22, 2002 3:26 pm

OH many thanks Stu! that pretty much covers it

Stef · Post by **Stef** » Fri Mar 22, 2002 5:58 pm

So did you get it all configured correctly? I've never configured a PCI modem under Linux before, only an ISA one. Never had to load a special kernel module, it was all done through the serial driver and minicom

Stef

Bandit · Post by **Bandit** » Sat Mar 23, 2002 2:04 am

No, I still can't get it to work. Why don't they do this when the OS is installed?? To tell you the truth I am very unimpressed so far. No modem, no printer, no sound card. And VERY slow compared to Windoes XP. I think I am gonna stick to XP and check back on Linux a year from now...

Stef · Post by **Stef** » Sat Mar 23, 2002 12:58 pm

Originally posted by Bandit
No, I still can't get it to work. Why don't they do this when the OS is installed?? To tell you the truth I am very unimpressed so far. No modem, no printer, no sound card. And VERY slow compared to Windoes XP. I think I am gonna stick to XP and check back on Linux a year from now...

Well, they do assume that you do have a common understanding of UNIX network environments and a little common sense about configuring ppp

Not to mention that you should have realized that Windows reliant hardware isn't a good choice for a Linux system. But if you where to choose to configure that hardware under the Linux kernel you would need a little understanding of how Linux kernel drivers are loaded and properly configred.

Now you know how a Mac user feels when he or she try's to work with a Windows PC

With a little bit of reading you should be able to get your system fully operational within a day to a week. (Given that you'd have to reboot into Windows every now and then)

As for the speed situation, why would you choose RedHat as your first distro anyway? You should have realized that your being screwed when you'd have to pay for technical support and product updates on a free OS

Stef

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Sat Mar 23, 2002 2:43 pm

Okay, you said you didn't have a /usr/src/linux/, but you did have a /usr/src/redhat/. If this is the case, you probably opted not to install the kernel source during the install process. You need it installed to proceed. If you bought the box set, you can find the headers on CD 1:

/mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/kernel-headers-2.4.7-10.i386.rpm

And the source on CD 2 at:

/mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/kernel-source-2.4.7-10.i386.rpm

If you downloaded the iso, you should download the headers and source from a mirror. Here's what I would use to get them from kernel.org's mirror:

Code: Select all


ftp -n mirrors.kernel.org <<!

user anonymous [email]me@this.com[/email]
bin
hash
prompt
cd /redhat/redhat/linux/7.2/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS
mget kernel-headers-2.4.7-10.i386.rpm kernel-source-2.4.7-10.i386.rpm
bye

!

Once you have them, you can install them like so:

rpm -Uvh kernel-headers-2.4.7-10.i386.rpm kernel-source-2.4.7-10.i386.rpm

Then try making the modem drivers. If it doesn't work this time, post the exact error messages and/or consult the newsgroups (I would suggest comp.os.linux.redhat, linux.redhat.install, linux.redhat.ppp, and linux.redhat.misc). You are more apt to find someone using your modem on RedHat in the newsgroups than you will here.

As to the printer, have you tried installing it using printtool? Run `printtool`, then go to Help > Browse Help, read the help file and it will tell you how to install the printer.

As to the sound card, try running `sndconfig`, it should be able to install the right drivers (provided you aren't using "on board" sound).

As for the speed situation, why would you choose RedHat as your first distro anyway? You should have realized that your being screwed when you'd have to pay for technical support and product updates on a free OS

Stef, Stef, Stef... RedHat and Mandrake are probably the best distros around for the brand-newbian. There is plenty of support available via the newsgroups and product updates are free (you can pay for priority updates, which places a higher priority on you when the update servers are getting a high volume of requests--there is also an enterprise type of service you can pay for that lets you update a whole network of RedHat machines from one workstation).