Puppy 5.5 can't connect via dial-up

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kevhaw
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Joined: Sun 13 Apr 2014, 05:11

Puppy 5.5 can't connect via dial-up

#1 Post by kevhaw »

I had my computer repair guy wipe windows xp off of my old Dell Inspiron 1100 and install wary puppy 5.5. I am basically computer illiterate but have decided to try my hand at learning about Linux.
In the analog dial-up connection box, the modem was autodetected. At first when I tried to connect to the internet, I was receiving the No Dial-tone message. I read the info in the help box and unchecked the dialtone check box. I was then able to dial out, but I keep getting:
ATX3DT9056851008
NO ANSWER
unknown dial response string
I'd appreciate any advice that I can get to resolve this. Again, I am an old XP user and have no experience with Linux. I'd be very happy just to be able to connect to the internet and learn the hard way about Linux but first I have to connect.

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nic007
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Re: Newbie Can't Connect via dial-up

#2 Post by nic007 »

kevhaw wrote:I had my computer repair guy wipe windows xp off of my old Dell Inspiron 1100 and install wary puppy 5.5. I am basically computer illiterate but have decided to try my hand at learning about Linux.
In the analog dial-up connection box, the modem was autodetected. At first when I tried to connect to the internet, I was receiving the No Dial-tone message. I read the info in the help box and unchecked the dialtone check box. I was then able to dial out, but I keep getting:
ATX3DT9056851008
NO ANSWER
unknown dial response string
I'd appreciate any advice that I can get to resolve this. Again, I am an old XP user and have no experience with Linux. I'd be very happy just to be able to connect to the internet and learn the hard way about Linux but first I have to connect.
What sort of modem are you using? Landline or cellphone?

kevhaw
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#3 Post by kevhaw »

I'm using the Dell's own built-in soft modem. I have a landline Bell Canada phone line, and it's a low-speed 28kbps connection.

kevhaw
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#4 Post by kevhaw »

I just tried again and am still having the same issue. When I set up the connect wizard and chose analog dialup, the screen that came up next asked for my password and username but not for the DNS number of my ISP. I can't figure out how to enter this info anywhere. Isn't the DNS number something the system needs to connect to my ISP via dial-up?

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nic007
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#5 Post by nic007 »

I'm using dial-up connection for my cellphone modem and did a very long time ago use an external modem so don't know if I can help you much but let's see. Wary Puppy uses wvdial as it's dial-up program and wvdial.conf is its configuration file. This file can be accessed and be edited and is found in /etc/x11. That's just for information. I see your connection is very slow, so you can try changing the baud rate to 9600. I remember once with my old external modem that I could not connect when I used another telephone line. The reason for this was because that line was a pulse line and not a tone line and the check tone box had to be unticked, but I see you have already figured that out. I've just checked my current settings and see that the carrier check box is also unticked, something you can try. I know some telephone companies require an addiitional AT initialization string to connect, so maybe check that with the phone company. And then of course check if your dial number, username and password are correct. Wary Puppy should be working with old stuff but just on the sideline, you may be wanting to try an older puppy to see if your setup works. I'm using Puppy 412 on a daily basis. Good luck.

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Moat
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#6 Post by Moat »

I'm going from memory, but this should be pretty close...

Re-run the Connection Wizard, selecting analog/dialup modem - hopefully Puppy identified a modem at boot, and should ask something like "would you like to test now?" or "probe" or whatnot - and go ahead and click "OK" through those few windows that pop up, letting Puppy probe/test/re-write the ATZ string/re-configure the wvdial.conf file.

Eventually, it should lead to the larger main PupDial window. There, in the proper spaces, you should only have to enter your ISP's dial-up phone number, user name and password. All of the other checkmarked/numbered areas should, for the time being, be fine as is. Maybe. Hopefully. You can play around with those settings later, if need be.

Then click on "connect", and see what happens...

Bob

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Moat
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#7 Post by Moat »

kevhaw wrote:... the screen that came up next asked for my password and username but not for the DNS number of my ISP. I can't figure out how to enter this info anywhere. Isn't the DNS number something the system needs to connect to my ISP via dial-up?
Just the dial-up phone number is needed - not a DNS number (they're two different things) - and there should be a space in the PupDial window to enter the phone number... at least there has been on all of the Pups I've tried...?

The above said - getting an onboard analog (soft)modem working fully in Linux can be a real bear - Puppy being one of the best at driver support, in that regard - but still pretty "iffy". I've had much better luck, myself, using an outboard USB modem (Trendnet TFM-561U, in my case - about 20$ online or @ Bestbuy) - pretty much plug-n-play.

Bob

kevhaw
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#8 Post by kevhaw »

Thanks for the advice guys! Yes I did correctly enter my ISP dialup number, the password and user ID I use with my ISP is correct also. I did the tests and probes. The modem was recognized and I got the string of letters/numbers. At least I now know that I don't have to enter my DNS number anywhere. I have the info that came from my ISP when I signed up. It has diagrams showing how to setup dial-up with xp and the systems that were out before xp, but nothing for Linux.

kevhaw
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#9 Post by kevhaw »

Moat wrote:I'm going from memory, but this should be pretty close...

Re-run the Connection Wizard, selecting analog/dialup modem - hopefully Puppy identified a modem at boot, and should ask something like "would you like to test now?" or "probe" or whatnot - and go ahead and click "OK" through those few windows that pop up, letting Puppy probe/test/re-write the ATZ string/re-configure the wvdial.conf file.

Eventually, it should lead to the larger main PupDial window. There, in the proper spaces, you should only have to enter your ISP's dial-up phone number, user name and password. All of the other checkmarked/numbered areas should, for the time being, be fine as is. Maybe. Hopefully. You can play around with those settings later, if need be.

Then click on "connect", and see what happens...

Bob
Hi, Moat!
Yes I carried out the above instructions to the letter and still keep getting the unknown dial response error.
Too bad as it would be fun to play around with puppy Linux and see what I can learn.
As usual, I made the error of having the computer tech fully remove windows xp. I figured it would be fun to just have Linux on there and forget about xp. I do have two other laptops that use windows 7 and I operate them with a telus internet key dongle gizmo. I don't think the gizmo will work with the old Dell laptop though, but I am not sure. I wanted to make use of the ISP I have that's costing me $20.95 a month. Ha ha!
Again thanks for the advice guys!

Kevin

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Moat
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#10 Post by Moat »

Well, I suppose from there you could play around with checking/unchecking the boxes for "carrier check", "stupid mode", etc., and see if that gets you anywhere. As a last resort, maybe Google around for recommended initialization strings that are specific to your hardware. I recall chasing down those numbers for my gear here a few years ago, to no real success. But who knows - the magic number just might be out there, somewhere. :)

Did the same computer dial out successfully under XP? If so, then that might narrow it down to something in the init string, I'm thinking...

Bob

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nic007
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#11 Post by nic007 »

Try Puppy 412. If that puppy does not work, I don't have much hope. Never a good idea to get rid of windows XP, it leaves you with problems like this. Re-install windows xp if you can't get it going.

kevhaw
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#12 Post by kevhaw »

nic007 wrote:Try Puppy 412. If that puppy does not work, I don't have much hope. Never a good idea to get rid of windows XP, it leaves you with problems like this. Re-install windows xp if you can't get it going.
Thanks, yeah I will reinstall XP. I have the cd and kit at home so it should be easy enough.

kevhaw
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#13 Post by kevhaw »

Moat wrote:Well, I suppose from there you could play around with checking/unchecking the boxes for "carrier check", "stupid mode", etc., and see if that gets you anywhere. As a last resort, maybe Google around for recommended initialization strings that are specific to your hardware. I recall chasing down those numbers for my gear here a few years ago, to no real success. But who knows - the magic number just might be out there, somewhere. :)

Did the same computer dial out successfully under XP? If so, then that might narrow it down to something in the init string, I'm thinking...

Bob
Hi, yes I used the computer for about a decade with dialup via XP. It was that April 8 cutoff date for support that got me thinking Linux. I don't really need the old Dell inspiron but I hate to see it collecting dust unused. I've been interested in Linux for awhile and just wanted to experiment as a pastime.
Thanks for the advice guys!
Kevin

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nic007
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#14 Post by nic007 »

kevhaw wrote:
nic007 wrote:Try Puppy 412. If that puppy does not work, I don't have much hope. Never a good idea to get rid of windows XP, it leaves you with problems like this. Re-install windows xp if you can't get it going.
Thanks, yeah I will reinstall XP. I have the cd and kit at home so it should be easy enough.
Yes, do that but don't that this one "bad" experience with puppy put you off. It's a nice little system to play around with. Best is to try puppy on CD or to use frugal installs. I have 5 operating systems on my old computer and I use them all by way of dual-booting. I have Windows XP Pro on my ntfs partition (that's my main system) and Windows 98 SE, Puppy 412, Puppy 431, Wary Puppy 539 on the FAT partition. All the Puppies are frugal installs.

kevhaw
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#15 Post by kevhaw »

Yes, do that but don't that this one "bad" experience with puppy put you off. It's a nice little system to play around with. Best is to try puppy on CD or to use frugal installs. I have 5 operating systems on my old computer and I use them all by way of dual-booting. I have Windows XP Pro on my ntfs partition (that's my main system) and Windows 98 SE, Puppy 412, Puppy 431, Wary Puppy 539 on the FAT partition. All the Puppies are frugal installs.[/quote]

I knew going into this that there may be an issue of connecting via a soft modem. I had hoped when I saw that the auto-detect did recognize my modem that I was in luck but that's how the cookie crumbles. I won't give up just yet. I'll keep digging and use my other laptop to do the research.
Thanks again.

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nic007
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#16 Post by nic007 »

kevhaw wrote:Yes, do that but don't that this one "bad" experience with puppy put you off. It's a nice little system to play around with. Best is to try puppy on CD or to use frugal installs. I have 5 operating systems on my old computer and I use them all by way of dual-booting. I have Windows XP Pro on my ntfs partition (that's my main system) and Windows 98 SE, Puppy 412, Puppy 431, Wary Puppy 539 on the FAT partition. All the Puppies are frugal installs.
I knew going into this that there may be an issue of connecting via a soft modem. I had hoped when I saw that the auto-detect did recognize my modem that I was in luck but that's how the cookie crumbles. I won't give up just yet. I'll keep digging and use my other laptop to do the research.
Thanks again.[/quote]

I recommend that you try Puppy 412 first. Definitely worthwhile

cthisbear
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#17 Post by cthisbear »

kevhaw:

Barry Kauler creator of Puppy lived in outback Western Australia

and only had dialup.

To upload his various Puppies he had to drive to Perth
and back to Penjori....370kms each way.

So if anyone in Linux had dialup support...it was Barry.

Try something like Puppy 4.31 etc.

Get back to us mate....whether it is a good or bad result.

Sure you can install XP. But maybe enjoy puppy.

Chris.

kevhaw
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#18 Post by kevhaw »

cthisbear wrote:kevhaw:

Barry Kauler creator of Puppy lived in outback Western Australia

and only had dialup.

To upload his various Puppies he had to drive to Perth
and back to Penjori....370kms each way.

So if anyone in Linux had dialup support...it was Barry.

Try something like Puppy 4.31 etc.

Get back to us mate....whether it is a good or bad result.

Sure you can install XP. But maybe enjoy puppy.

Chris.
Barry sounds like a heroic person in my opinion. I will try my luck with the external USB Modem that moat recommended in an earlier post.
My problem is I have had no formal education in computers. I do catch on fast and am a little intuitive so I can get by usually.
I'll post my results with the external modem after I get my hands on one.
Again, thanks for advice/replies.
Kevin

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nic007
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#19 Post by nic007 »

Hi, Kevhaw. Once you have that dail-up connection working on either windows or a puppy, you should seriously consider using Opera Mini Browser as your browser with that slow connection. It's fast and saves massively on bandwidth/data usage. It's of course a mobile application but you can run it on a desktop/laptop. You will need to install Java Runtime Environment, Microemulator and the Opera Mini files to get it to work. I actually use this as my day to day browser and it's great.

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Moat
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#20 Post by Moat »

kevhaw wrote:I'll post my results with the external modem after I get my hands on one.
I hope it works out well for you, as it has for me on the four different computers I've tried it on. Another plus is that it has worked for me on a few other Linux distros, as well (Mint, Lubuntu, Xubuntu) - distros that have virtually no onboard modem driver support at all (that I could reasonably find). Fortunately, though, those distros did have available the needed dialup tools - wvdial and gnomePPP... which took a little work (setting permissions, mainly) to sort it all out - but ended up working great with the USB modem.

And anyways, from what I've gathered - if your onboard modem's chipset is a Conexant, the Puppy driver is based on the free Linuxant driver - which is purposely crippled to a lower transfer rate by Linuxant. If you buy the un-crippled version - for about 20$ US, IIRC (i.e. about the cost of a USB modem) - you then still have to jump through the hoops to attempt to get the driver installed and functioning properly on your system.

Instead, I just went ahead and bought the little Trendnet USB modem - and haven't looked back. :)

Good luck - keep us posted.

Bob

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