set up US Robotics sportster 56k external under debian linux

[GeminiDaddy]

The exact model number is 005686-03. Can't seem to tell if this modem will work or not, was not able to find documentation referencing it directly.

This modem is serial, and is plugged into ttyS0. I turned it on, and sent the test command echo 5551212>/dev/ttyS0, and it just sits there.

So now what? any sort of help would be much appreciated.

strong mind, strong body and vice versa

 

[Trevoke]

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/howtos.html

Look for 'modem' you should find your happiness in there.

-Haben sie fosforos?
-No tiengo caballero, but I have un briquet.

 

[LawnBoy]

That should be "ATDT5551212"

 

[GeminiDaddy]

yes, ATDT5551212 - i did do that, just forgot to write it here in this post.

strong mind, strong body and vice versa

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

Try minicom to see if you can talk to it with that.
You don't say what you want to do with it but I assume you want to use it for a dialup internet connection.
I use RedHat and under that there is a GUI network setup tool that handles most of the nasty stuff for you.


Trojan.

 

[GeminiDaddy]

Hi Troj,

I've read about minicom, but I don't know what it is or how to get it - I tried the command directly, did an apt-get minicom, but it didn't like that either.

I also unsuccessfully tried pppconfig. Although it did nothing, it seemed to be telling me that it doesn't see the modem. There is a screen that is supposed to automatically detect any modem on any serial port, but it comes up empty, and asks me to specify explicitly. I can do so, but it still doesn't work

2 things

1. How do I find out if my modem is even compatible with Linux - from what I've read it may not be, and I may be just wasting time

2. My modem is not connected to the phone line, but that shouldn't matter right? At this time I'm only trying to see if the computer can talk to the peripheral. I should still be able to hear it dial successfully, to know I've at least gotten that far, shouldn't I?







strong mind, strong body and vice versa

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

Minicom is a comms package that comes with (at least RedHat) linux.

Point 1. Your modem IS compatible. I use one and generally anything that is external serial works fine (unless it's broken!).
Point 2. The modem will NOT dial if it doesnt detect a dialtone so it DOES matter. You can, however, talk to the modem using "AT" commands with minicom even if there is no dialtone. Indeed, the modem will even report that back to you.
On my RedHat system, minicom is "/usr/bin/minicom". You might like to try "locate" or even "find" to see if it's hiding on your machine already.


Trojan.

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

If you can't find minicom, look here



Trojan.

 

[GeminiDaddy]

very cool Trojan, thanks

I was able to get minicom working!

can you tell me more about your below comment

You can, however, talk to the modem using "AT" commands with minicom even if there is no dialtone. Indeed, the modem will even report that back to you.

and thanks for the tips on the modem and the dial tone. I trust this will help my troubleshooting.

so I've fooled with minicom a little bit, but I am unable to decipher what linux is telling me about the port configuration, i.e. on which port if any, it's detecting the modem. Does it even see the ports at all? does it see the modem at all?


strong mind, strong body and vice versa

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

You said in your first post that the modem is plugged into ttyS0 so your device is /dev/ttyS0.
If you set minicom up to use that port and 8n1 data/parity/stop and maybe 115K baud then you should be fine.
When you get a connection to the modem simply type "AT" and press return and is should come back and say "OK".
If you type "ATD" (followed by a telephone number), the modem will try to dial it and report "no dialtone" if you are not connected.


Trojan.

 

[GeminiDaddy]

signs of life! i really appreciate the help

if i type "minicom", I get a screen that says "initializing modem", which then disappears - does that mean anything? When I exit, it says "hanging up - resetting modem"

In minicom, I went to "O" for cOnfigure Minicom, and then went into serial port setup. My serial device is set to /dev/ttySO.

My modem is plugged into serial port 1 on the actual physical machine - so i'm thinking that part must be correct

and 8n1 data/parity/stop
I set the Bps/Par/Bits to 115200, 8N1 - is ths what you are referring to??

I'm still losing you here
When you get a connection to the modem simply type "AT" and press return and is should come back and say "OK".
If you type "ATD" (followed by a telephone number), the modem will try to dial it and report "no dialtone" if you are not connected.

where do i do this? the only commands minicom seems to recognize are the ones presented on the menu.


strong mind, strong body and vice versa

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

minicom -s" to setup connection.
8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, 115,200 baud.

Then exit setup mode and it should give you a terminal screen.
In there you can type "AT" and get "OK". You may not see the "AT" if echo is off but you should see the "OK" from the modem.


Trojan.

 

[GeminiDaddy]

hmm - when i'm in the minicom terminal mode, i typed AT but it didn't do anything. I turned the echo on, typed AT, and it just sat there.

to confirm, you do have to go into BIOS and take the serial port off of AUTO mode, don't you?

strong mind, strong body and vice versa

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

You shouldn't need to touch the BIOS.
To ensure you're using the right serial port type "statserial /dev/ttyS0" as root. You should get a nice little display of the control lines on the serial port. If you switch your modem off and on you should see the states of some of the lines change. That will prove that you are looking at the right device.
Your serial port could, of course, be ttyS1 but now you have the tools to check that with.


Trojan.

 

[stefanwagner]

Might it be he needs a module like generic-serial?


seeking a job as java-programmer in Berlin:

http://home.arcor.de/hirnstrom/bewerbung

 

[pansophic]

In your second to last post, you listed your device as being '/dev/ttySO' but in earlier posts you correctly listed /dev/ttyS0 (zero rather than capital oh). You might want to double check that.

You may also want to double check your BIOS configuration. Just to make sure that your on-board serial port is enabled and set to be COM1 (address 3F8, IRQ 4).


pansophic

 

[GeminiDaddy]

Just to make sure that your on-board serial port is enabled and set to be COM1 (address 3F8, IRQ 4). "

I've tried to check this before, but could find no place that showed any address or IRQ information - let me try
statserial, and I will post back.

and yes, to be sure, '/dev/ttySO' is a only a typo. I am being very careful to type '/dev/ttyS0' (zero). Thank you for your careful read of my post.


strong mind, strong body and vice versa

 

[stefanwagner]

You could try some other serial-hardware like old-fashioned mice, to check, whether the hardware is ok and the kernel is build with serial-support.

While some modern computers come without serial-port, I don't guess that there are vanilla-kernels, build without serial-support.
You didn't build the kernel on your own?

seeking a job as java-programmer in Berlin:

http://home.arcor.de/hirnstrom/bewerbung

 

[GeminiDaddy]

You didn't build the kernel on your own?

there's no way i know enough about linux to do that. All I did was install it with CD images from the debian site.

strong mind, strong body and vice versa