RedHat + Compaq Modem = 0 ?

[michaelsanford]

I recently installed Shrike (RedHat 9) on a friend's Compaq (7485) and his modem isn't being recognized (when I try to add a Modem Connection it reports something like "No modem devices found").

I assume there's a kernel module I have to add to make it work ? I've never had to do something like this before and google wasn't helpful, what do I do short of reinstalling Windows ?

 

[davidbrit2]

The stuff I'm seeing seems to indicate that this particular model comes with a Winmodem (software modem). Your chance of getting these working well under anything but Windows is slim to none. Save yourself the headache and buy a proper 56k modem.

 

[michaelsanford]

That was my fear...

Any particular brand suggestions for me ?

 

[nixgeek]

There might still be some hope....check here:

http://www.linmodems.org/

Good luck.

 

[michaelsanford]

Wicked, thanks !

 

[Viro]

to get the type of modem:

a) Launch terminal
b) become root user
c) lspci -v (or -vv) to get details of all PCI devices attached to the computer. That should give you the modem chipset.
d) If it is a USB modem, do lsusb instead.
e) Once you have the modem chipset, look on www.linmodems.org to see if it's supported.
f) If it isn't supported, you might still want to check out Linuxant to see if they have some commercial drivers that support the modem. Don't worry, even though the drivers are commercial, you can still use them for free. You only get much lower speeds.

 

[michaelsanford]

Will this work if the modem isn't recognized though ? I just tried it on my Slackware box and it failed to list my modem (which I never use but was also never recognized).

Also I think his modem is an ISA (the thinner card with a break in the connector comb about 1/3 the way across) if that makes any difference. It's been a while since I played around with cards so you may want to ignore that ISA comment. I do know that my modem (from the Dell 200MHz) won't fit in his slot.

 

[Viro]

It should list everything connected via the PCI bus, even if it isn't recognized. I haven't used an ISA component in many many years, even before I got into Linux. Sorry, can't help you there if it really is ISA .

 

[nixgeek]

For the ISA bus, you have to use isapnptools. Check this site for more information. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as lspci, but it's an option.

http://www.roestock.demon.co.uk/isapnptools/index.html

Check first to make sure you already have it installed. Most probably you do.

 

[michaelsanford]

Thanks nixgeek I'll try too if lspci doesn't work.