(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

I have failed to make the internal Winmodem of my Dell laptop work with Puppy Linux; the modem wizard tells me it is successful in installing dev/ttySLO (going by memory) but with no IRQ, but it will not dial out. Hence I am considering buying a modem.

However, it seems to me that there is a danger of acquiring another Winmodem. How can one identify, from the box in the shop, whether a modem is a full hardware one or a Winmodem? I am guessing, but it's no more than a guess, that if the box mentions other operating systems than versions of Windows, then probably it will work with Puppy, or putting it the other way, if the box only mentions Windows operating systems, it is to be avoided. Can anyone confirm or contradict this? I found a little USB modem for only about $30 that was attractive, but it only mentioned Windows OS. I also found that in CompUSA at least, there were no PCMCIA modems on display.

Incidentally, my computer does not have a serial port, so I cannot buy a serial external modem.

Kenneth Gundry

Kenneth Gundry wrote:I have failed to make the internal Winmodem of my Dell laptop work with Puppy Linux; the modem wizard tells me it is successful in installing dev/ttySLO (going by memory) but with no IRQ, but it will not dial out. Hence I am considering buying a modem.

However, it seems to me that there is a danger of acquiring another Winmodem. How can one identify, from the box in the shop, whether a modem is a full hardware one or a Winmodem? I am guessing, but it's no more than a guess, that if the box mentions other operating systems than versions of Windows, then probably it will work with Puppy, or putting it the other way, if the box only mentions Windows operating systems, it is to be avoided. Can anyone confirm or contradict this? I found a little USB modem for only about $30 that was attractive, but it only mentioned Windows OS. I also found that in CompUSA at least, there were no PCMCIA modems on display.

Incidentally, my computer does not have a serial port, so I cannot buy a serial external modem.

Kenneth Gundry

I am sure not having any luck with PCMCIA but any modem that mentions working with DOS or win3.1 has to be hardware modem as those operating systems dont support winmodems. Course we are now so far away from DOS/3.1 days that modem might not mention it even if it was a hardware modem. If it just says linux that doesnt mean much as it may have some half assed linmodem driver. May or may not work under puppy. There are usb adapters for serial modems available. I dont have any experience with them though. Apparently they are an option on newer computers without a serial port.

Kenneth Gundry wrote:...How can one identify, from the box in the shop, whether a modem is a full hardware one or a Winmodem?

Take your laptop with you and tell a salesman you will buy whichever modem you can get online with, dialing your ISP from the store. I bet you he'll let you try as many modems as it takes.

check out http://start.at/modem

also check http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html to see if/how anybody has your configuration working successfully

Hi Ken- couple more thoughts...

Dell has been slipping lately, but they used to have top-notch tech support. If you call or email them, especially if you have any warranty left, they might be able to help. They support Red Hat after all.

Second, Dell lists a Linux US Robotics PCMCIA modem here:
http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?sub ... op&x=0&y=0

Third, don't forget eBay

Zoom Telephonics has a few modems that they list to work with Linux. I have never used one personally but it may be a start. I found the best price at Staples.

Many thanks, everyone. I would of course prefer to make the existing internal modem work, rather than resort to a different one. I have made some progress. I revised the initializing string from the incorrect one that Gkdial imposes, and now in Cutecom, I can enter AT and get the correct response OK from the internal softmodem. However, if I enter ATDT followed by a telephone number, I get the response "No carrier". I think that is what you would expect with a functioning modem but no telephone line plugged in .... but there is a line, and the modem works with XP. Any suggestions? I think I found somewhere a message from someone who had the same problem, but I cannot find it again, and I don't know that it was resolved.

Ken Gundry

Further to my message of a few minutes ago, I realize that there is a distinction between "no carrier" and "no dialtone", and therefore the former is not necessarily merely an indication of no telephone line.

Ken Gundry

ken,

not sure if this pertains to your situation but i've had puppy on 2 different partitions, one with working lucent winmodem. when i try & install on the other, modem wizard correctly ID's it, but can't allocate an IRQ. to get the second partition to see the winmodem I have to erase it from the first partition.

this was also the situation when i had a windows & a puppy partition.

Try to start the modem init string with AT X0 . This should tell the modem to ignore the dialtone and go on with dialing. Make sure that you don't have other X setting in the string (ie X1, X2 etc), otherwise the last one will override the first.

Depending on your location you can also experiment with X1, X2 and X3, which allow for different line signals to be recognized, for example I have to use X3 to make analog modems work over Italian dialtones. This is sligthly better than X0, because you get a "busy" answer when the line is busy (as opposite to "can't dial").

Thank you for the suggestions.

The laptop only has the one partition, on which XP is installed. Puppy runs in a ramdisk, loaded from the CDrom, using the one NTFS file PUP001 to store settings and additional programs. Thus the main partition is not accessible (or if it could be, I have not tried to make it so so far). Hence I don't think the problem can be anything to do with partitions.

I tried various ATXx initializations, in vain, but I think the problem comes even sooner than that, because if I understand the function of ATX commands, they affect how the modem responds to dialtone, busy signals and the like. At present, the modem doesn't seem to care even whether there is a telephone line plugged in (even though it works correctly under XP).

Other ideas would be welcome!

Ken Gundry

but would not any sieral modem work with puppy
here is a example of what I mean
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... &CatId=564

Hi friendly dogs out there,

I've had plenty of problems with winmodems in various laptops, and one bugger I just couldn't get to work under any flavour of Linux is the internal Lucent modem built into several older IBM notebooks, 11c1:0448.

So I finally gave up trying & bought an inexpensive used Xircom CBEMG-100 modem/Lan cardbus card from epay. Comes in handy, since the Thinkpad 570E I'm using doesn't have a LAN adapter.

I booted into Puppy Linux v. 1.0.5, ran the modem wizard from setup, ignored the Lucent modem that the wizard had discovered, clicked on ttyS4, which the wizard found immediately, set up my internet provider with Gkdial from the "Network" menu - and I'm online! Using this modem right now. That was the easiest modem setup under Linux ever. Great job, keep the little dog barking!

Hope this helps & good luck,

- joecool

I just installed Puppy Linux and my External Best Data 56K modem works fine.

After seeing all the interest in this topic just thought I'd add my two cents. Back seven months ago when I made my foray into Linux I ran into the winmodem wall and after much research and frustration I realized that the quickest and best way for me to get access via dialup was to get an external/hardware modem. The prices varied from approx $15 to $80. I bought the following and it worked great. Puppy was off and running.

http://www.gearxs.com/gearxs/product_in ... ts_id=3464

I might add that I've used this modem successfully with DSL, Knoppix, Sam, and Mepis. Today I have DSL for $14.95/mo. and use Puppy to do all my surfing.

p.s. If you do opt to buy this particular modem from this site the only option you need is the "upgrade to retail box" as it has everything.

It's been extremely difficult to persuade folks to switch to external modems, even though Barry gave the same advice some while ago. Equally difficult to convince folk just how universal, adaptable and portable such a device can be. It is possible to buy a D9 switch box for peanuts and switch the same, single modem between all your machines.