Modem Trouble

[severance]

well, this is my first time to ever use linux. so i got it installed and everything, and after that, i went to set up a modem and a dial up connection. I found two modems under "Network Cards" and it said they were already configured, but i couldnt use them, so i went to set up the modem, made a custom ISP, and i set my modem device to ttySO. and when i view the log for the dialer, i get this error message : pppd[0] died: connect script failed (exit code

and from here, i am stumped.

any answers to this would be greatly appriciated.

and like i said, im a noob at linux, so if anything is hard to understand, just let me know.

[Dapper Dan]

We need to know what modem(s) we are dealing with here. If they are pci modems, open a terminal and type in:

lspci

If you get a "command not found," do instead:

/sbin/lspci

...as I can't remember which it is in SuSE. Whichever one give you a return of information, find the line regarding your modem, write that line down or copy and paste it here if you can. You might also try ttyS1, ttyS2 etc. and /dev/modem. When I was using SuSE, it found my dial up modem at ttyS14!

[severance]

allright ill get that back to you as soon as possible.

im pretty sure i tried ttyS1, and S2, and dev/modem. when i chose some of these devices, it didnt even try to connect. i forgot what the error message was on those devices.

it will be tomarrow before i get back to you, but i will try this as soon as possible.

thanks

[severance]

i got "command not found" for the first one

so i used /sbin/lspci and i got this error message

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82815 815 Chipset Host Bridge and Memory Controller Hub (rev 04)
0000:00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corp. 82815 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] (rev 04)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 11)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BA ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 11)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801BA IDE U100 (rev 11)
0000:00:1f.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801BA/BAM USB (Hub #1) (rev 11)
0000:00:1f.4 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801BA/BAM USB (Hub #2) (rev 11)
0000:00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801BA/BAM AC'97 Audio (rev 11)
0000:01:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4211 iLine10 HomePNA 2.0 + V.90 56k modem
0000:01:0b.1 Computer telephony device: Broadcom Corporation BCM4212 v.90 56k modem
0000:01:0d.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
0000:01:0e.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB12LV26 IEEE-1394 Controller (Link)
Caleb@linux:~>

[Dapper Dan]

Yikes! Both are Broadcom who has not had an altogether very good reputation for supporting Linux. At least you have a RealTec 8139 NIC which will work fine with high speed.

There may be a way to get your modem(s) working under Linux, but if there is, I don't know the process. Even if there is, you're likely going to run into difficulties which I think most new users would wish to avoid at the beginning of their journey with Linux.

If it is an option, an external serial modem will deliver great service for you under Linux and Windows. External modems generally outperform internal pci modems anyway. Two that come to mind are the Actiontec 56k serial modem, and the Best Data 56k external modem. Both are reasonably priced, and will provide dependable 56k connectivity. At least they did the last time I used them. I have the Actiontec which I bought back in 2002. I got it out a few weeks ago and it still runs like a champ.

[MikeTbob]

I'd try to download and install this scanmodem tool. A Linmodems support page
It may be helpful if you can get it to install and print out a report, it's supposed to tell you which driver you need, although I have never used it.

[severance]

well actually, i dont have high speed at all, all i can get in my area, (in the middle of the boondocks) is dial up. but for some reason, the modem installs a high speed device on there too.

ill take a look at the external modems.

but if you find out anything about this modem, let me know.

i may just switch to fedora. i like it a little better than Suse Linux.

what would you say about fedora? good go?

[Dapper Dan]

Fedora is not by any means an "easy" distro. In my mind, it's a little harder overall than SuSE. But if you like it, then that's what matters.

[severance]

You think it would be any easier with the modems?

and how would i go about removing linux?

[Dapper Dan]

You think it would be any easier with the modems?

Both at their core are Linux although configured a little differently and with different utilities. For me, the easiest "GUI" dialer is Kppp which is a part of the KDE collection of utilities and applications. From the command line, I like wvdial which should be installable with both.

...and how would i go about removing linux?

There really is no need to "remove" Linux, you just install the next distro over the previous one making sure to format the partitions with the file system of your choice. For instance, if in your previous installation, you installed your root partition to sda1 and your home partition to sda2, you format both partitions with the file system of your choice, be it ext3, reiserfs, xfs etc., then install root to sda1 and home to sda2 and both will be written over with the new install. Most Linux installations will ask you if you want to format chosen partitions deleting all data on them.