USB DSl modem- Lucid Puppy 528- kernel version ?

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of networking hardware.
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jaydee
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 18 Apr 2012, 10:20

USB DSl modem- Lucid Puppy 528- kernel version ?

#1 Post by jaydee »

I have been using an DSL usb soft modem - Baudtec C802 USB(Conexant)- ,a throwback really from my Win days, for connecting on the internet with success on a number of Ubuntu-based distros, specifically 10.10 and 11.04, as well as Bodhi 1.3(which is a 10.04 Lucid fork) .
Given the problematic support of USB soft modems in Linux (at least to my limited understanding), the process required some work, but was straight-forward. I will describe it here to make my issue clearer, and in case any one might need it.

.Obtain the relevant cxacru-fw.bin
.Copy the file at /lib/firmware/2.6.30.5
with cp cxacru-fw.bin /lib/firmware/$(uname -r) and reboot
.connect usb modem and create config file at
/etc/ppp/peers/"nameofprovider" with following info

lcp-echo-failure 3
noipdefault
defaultroute
user "username"
noauth
noaccomp
nopcomp
noccp
novj
holdoff 4
persist
maxfail 25
updetach
usepeerdns
plugin pppoatm.so
8.35

and append username password details at /etc/ppp/pap-secrets.

.use pon poff in console to connect/disconnect.

I made several attempts and this process does not seem to work in Lucid Puppy 528;
the following are just initial observations, and my knowledge does not allow me to understand their significance :
a folder with the kernel version does not exist in lib/firmware

pon/poff are not included in the distro.

after consulting relevant forum posts i installed
ppp_2.4.5-4_i386.deb and pppoeconf_1.19_all.deb which provided the pon/poff shell commands

upon executing pon "ISPname", the message returns:
socket() failed: Address family not supported by protocol.

Now, I understand that USB soft modems are a fringe issue; most users have move on to routers etc, while others stick to analogs(hence the wary popularity), and as much as i would love a solution, i get how this does not affect a lot users.
Yet, if any glaring mistakes /omissions on my part jump out, please let us know.


i would like some help figuring out the reasons behind the incompatibility.
in forum discussions kernel incompatibility (newer versions do not support old drivers) is cited most often as the reason of lack of support of usb dsl modems, but it does not seem to be the case here?


Any useful feedback would be much appreciated.
thanks

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#2 Post by tempestuous »

You have the type of ADSL modem which requires "PPP over ATM" kernel support, which Puppy has never had.
Bear in mind that Puppy is a minimal Linux distribution, and Barry's choice of which drivers to include in the standard Puppy releases has generally worked out well. In the 7 years that I have been on this forum, you are only the 2nd person to ask about ATM-compatible modem drivers.

... but I just compiled the ADSL USB modem drivers for Lucid now, and posted them here -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 210#621210
Your driver is probably cxacru, which should automatically load at boot up.

pon/poff should not be necessary ... this command should work just as well -

Code: Select all

pppd call "nameofprovider"
"nameofprovider" will reference the configuration file you created in /etc/ppp/peers/

jaydee
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed 18 Apr 2012, 10:20

#3 Post by jaydee »

And lo and behold, lucid puppy supports USB DSL modems using PPPoA protocol.
All thanks to tempestuous for compiling the pet packages (at record time too!!).

I know this is how forums work, but i am always in awe of other people's knowledge and expertise. Thank you

and since tempestuous did all the actual hard work , the least i can do is go over the process in detail, for any fellow luddites (or cheapskates, i am personally fine with either/both).

obtain the cxacru-fw.bin ( the baudtec c802 and crypto F200 modems share the same firmware) and copy to /lib/firmware.

install the 2 pet packages graciously provided by tempestuous and mentioned above. reboot.

using a text editor (i used nano, a .pet package for which can be found here ), create the following file, to be placed in /etc/ppp/peers. (Filename can be anything, i use my ISP's name for ease)

lcp-echo-failure 3
noipdefault
defaultroute
user "username"
noauth
noaccomp
nopcomp
noccp
novj
holdoff 4
persist
maxfail 25
updetach
usepeerdns
plugin pppoatm.so
8.35

-substitute "username" with your ISP username;keep the quotes. save file.

create another text file , to be placed in /etc/ppp , and this one needs to be named pap-secrets.

all it should contain is the following line:

"username" "*" "password"

where username is the same username you used above and password is your of course your isp account password. save file and close.
open console and give the command:

pppd call "the name of the file in /etc/ppp/peers- no quotes"

e.g. pppd call verizon

to disconnect you type again "pppd" or "killall pppd"

that is it .
i think you may want to/should change the permissions of the pap-secrets file , by typing in your console :

chmod 740 /etc/ppp/pap-secrets

Not sure about that last one, use caution and read around on file permissions.

Big thanks to tempestuous again for the solution.
Go puppy

cthisbear
Posts: 4422
Joined: Sun 29 Jan 2006, 22:07
Location: Sydney Australia

#4 Post by cthisbear »

" Big thanks to tempestuous again for the solution.
Go puppy "

And a big thanks for reporting back to us.

And your further testing and solutions that worked.

Enjoy Puppy...and welcome jaydee.

Chris.

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