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Setting Up a Linux Modem

----------------------------------------------------------Permission is granted for the below article to forward,reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website,offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as longas no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and theresource box below is included.---------------------------------------------------------- Setting Up a Linux ModemBy Stephen BucaroAlmost all modems manufactured today are software modems,usually referred to as "winmodems". Even though we pay alot for a winmodem, they are cheap to manufacture becausethey use very little electronics. The functions thatshould be performed in hardware are emulated by software.This places an extra processing burden on your computer'sCPU. Winmodems will not work with Linux unless you canlocate a special "Linmodem" driver.A hardware modem contains its own on-board controller andDSP circuits. This takes a major processing load off yourcomputer's CPU. A hardware modem will make your dial-upconnection work much faster. Hardware modems are difficultto find and very expensive. Hardware modems will work withLinux.Some hardware modems known to work with Linux:Zoom 2920 Fax Modem 56K PCI $76.00Actiontec PCI56012-01CW 56K Voice Faxmodem PCI $75.00ActionTec PCIV921201CW Call Waiting Internal V.90/V.92 Modem $59.99On rare occasions Linux will locate and configure yourmodem during installation, but most likely you will haveto configure it manually. If your computer is plug-and-play(PnP) compatible, the BIOS should detect the modem onpower-up and allocate resources to it. To determine whichresources were allocated to the modem, log in as root andclick on the "Terminal emulation program" button on thetask bar. In the terminal window that appears, type thefollowing command:cat /proc/pciIn the screen output that results, locate the entry foryour modem. Below is a possible example:Bus 0, device 9, function 0:Unknown class: Lucent (ex-AT&T) MicroelectronicsUnknown device (rev 0).Vendor id=11c1. Device id=480.Medium devsel. Fast back-to-back capable. IRQ 11Master Capable. No bursts. Min Gnt=252. Max Lat=14Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x80100000 [0x8010000].I/O at 0xdc00 [0xdc01]I/O at 0xe000[0xe001]I/O at 0xe400[0xe401]Record the IRQ number and the first I/O address.Linux uses a dev

ice file to communicate with a modem.Device files are located in the /dev directory. A modemmust use one of the serial ports (/dev/ttyS0 - /dev/ttyS3).First determine which serial port to use for the modem.You should use ttyS1 because ttyS0 is usually assigned toa back panel connector.To configure the serial port, use the setserial commandwith the information that you recorded above. Using theexample values above, you would type the following intothe terminal window:setserial /dev/ttyS1 uart 16550A port 0xdc00 irq 11You can verify that the modem is working by sending it thecommand to dial. For example type the following into theterminal window:echo "atdt5555555" > /dev/ttyS1If you hear the modem dial, close the connection by typing:echo "atz" > /dev/ttyS1If you didn't hear the modem dial, make sure you have themodem speaker turned on by typing:echo "atv" > /dev/ttyS1Then try dialing again.To have Linux automatically configure your modem at boottime, add the setserial line that you used above to thefile /etc/rc.d/rc.localAssuming that you are using the GNOME window manager, clickon the "foot" icon on the taskbar to open the menu. Select"Programs" and open the "File Manager". In File Manager,navigate to the directory /etc/rc.d and right-click on thefile rc.local. Select "Open with..." in the popup menu. Inthe "gmc" dialog box, select "gnotepad+" and click on the"OK" button. At the bottom of the file, type the setserialcommand line and then save the file.For complete information about modems related to Linux,visit "Winmodems are not Modems" at:http://www.idir.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.htmlSometimes configuring a modem is not as easy in Linux asit is in Windows, but the alternative is to continue touse Windows and beg for Bill Gates permission to upgradeyour hardware (XP product activation).----------------------------------------------------------Resource Box:Copyright(C)2002 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintainyour computer and use it more effectively to design a Website and make money on the Web visithttp://bucarotechelp.comTo subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blankemail to bucarotechelp-subscribe@topica.com----------------------------------------------------------

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