How to use dialup modem? (Solved)

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zippy12
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Joined: Wed 13 Jul 2016, 21:13

How to use dialup modem? (Solved)

#1 Post by zippy12 »

I am totally new to Linux.........I've been using Windows for many years..........I'm fascinated by PuppyLinux..........I ordered a live CD of Tarh Puppy , based on what I read about Puppy working with a dial up connection...........will it work ??
Any replies are appreciated.

purple379
Posts: 157
Joined: Sat 04 Oct 2014, 22:23

Use of Dial Up with Linux might be problematic

#2 Post by purple379 »

It might work right out of the box for you, with the very first attempt to dial up. The problem being, back in the day when Dial Up modems were common, many companies jumped into building Modems, with their own secret means of the Windows based software needed to work well.

Let me put that differently. Modems could be build with all the hardware inside the modem to work. We used to call them Hard modems, often referring to Serial Port Modems,. Now I have a hard modem which plugs into the USB port of my computers rather than the serial port. , but it has all the internal hardware to do what a dial up modem should do. Linux inherently having the software to interface with such modems. I think it was about forty dollars. They are often termed to be hard modems, meaning the modem does all its own work in the hardware. Hard modems always work with Linux.

Most of the modems from that generation used some part of the Windows system to do the work of the modem. These are often called soft modems. Some of those modems have software already installed in Puppy to work. Some other of those modems have software to interface with them easily available to work with Puppy. Although the software would have to be downloaded and installed. I am guessing that might be all a new comer to Linux would be willing to fool with. Altho one can use a wrapper (software), and use a soft modem with its windows driver.

The other option, would be to buy a dial up soft modem that is known to work with Linux. Or even better, a true hard modem from a sale somewhere.

Perhaps you can describe the computer you want to use Puppy on, and describe it, including the modem, and someone on the forum who is more experienced than I with dial up modems to give you some help. Might be useful to use an version of Puppy which has older modems- drivers for older hardware, although the Linux kernel might be very recent. If you think it will be useful, then post the need here. (I am guessing you are not in a situation where you can burn CD's or you would not be buying one) If anyone sends you a CD from the forum, I would think it would be free, as the only folks who are in a position to charge are some distributers, and if he still does it, Barry K himself.

I would also suggest, from my experience, look at using some extensions to the browser that block flash, and block Java Script. Flash and Java Script can be, interactively, selectively allowed. Flash pictures for advertising take a lot of time to load on dial up.

I would repeat, the problem is not Linux, it is that those who made soft modems, never intended them to be used with Linux, and often did not release the needed information to make it easy for some Linux person to create a Linux driver for that soft Modem. Also many companies used what they considered a clever name for their soft modems, which make it hard for the ordinary user to really know which modem is which. (Yeah, all the forum experts, there are ways around that, but not so easy for a new comer.)

zippy12
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed 13 Jul 2016, 21:13

Dial up connection

#3 Post by zippy12 »

:( thank for the reply........... I hope to install it in a Dell dimension PC that is running wWin XP Pro with an Intel modem..........I bought the CD from somebody on eBay who didn't seem to be a distributor , so who knows who he is.
I'm OK with doing a little bit of work to get it working though.

zippy12
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#4 Post by zippy12 »

That was supposed to be a smiling face.

starhawk
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#5 Post by starhawk »

Look at the largest chip on the modem card.

If it says Conexant on it, or has their logo -- you're screwed. You can communicate at 14.4kbps using their purposefully-hobbled free driver, or fork over $20 for the driver that actually works.

My suggestion -- recycle it, and get something older that works. RS-232 (COMport) and parallel (LPT) port modems do exist. (I had a parallel port model back in the early 90s myself. No idea who made it, it's long since been lost.)

US Robotics was amazing back in the day... don't know how they are now, though.

purple379
Posts: 157
Joined: Sat 04 Oct 2014, 22:23

While one can install Puppy Linux on the hard drive.

#6 Post by purple379 »

You will find it is possible to create a save file on the hard drive to keep your options and settings, which is much smaller than the entire hard drive. This is pretty neat in that one can more easily use different versions of Puppy. or Other versions of Linux on Live CD.

I feel it is obvious that starhawk has much more knowledge of dial up modems than I do. Plus I have only been on broadband for many years. I do not even have a dial up phone.

I should throw in, Linux universally works quite well on any broadband, high speed connection. Well, some Internet Service Providers can make it harder than it would seem necessary to connect to their service with names and Passwords, protocols I am not familiar with.

If your Dial Up gives you trouble, you could walk into a local computer store, which repairs computers, Not a sales mostly store (Staples being a mostly sales store - comes to mind.) Then tell the folks there you need a dial up modem that easily works with Linux. I would bet that local store has at least one Linux freak there, and they can sell you a modem to fit into your computer for very little (not too many folks need them any more) Without a doubt, if you have a few extra dollars, find a true hard modem. You might find one a church sale for a dollar. Wherever, with a true hard modem, you do not have to fool with this nonsense any more.

EDIT. If that computer still runs Windows, you might get a copy of Belarc, and run it to find the specific hardware that you have in the Dell.

starhawk
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#7 Post by starhawk »

I don't know squat about modems beyond what I posted and a bunch of boring dusty old historical crap that (a) nobody cares about anymore and (b) nobody needs to care about if their computer was built after roughly 1991.

I'm on a cell tower network myself... protip to you, zippy -- wherever you are, if you can get Verizon, don't. Their signal is borderline usable outside of city center, regardless of what they brag -- and they are the epitome of the stereotype of the greedy uncaring corporate black hole. I've written their CEO twice, now... the second time (and the reason why I've given up on that part of humanity) -- their defense was, "but, hey, you're paying us!". I wish that last one was a lie, but it's not...

tempestuous
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#8 Post by tempestuous »

No one mentioned Wary?
Since 2009 or so, Wary has been the go-to Puppy version for dialup modem support. Wary was last updated in 2013 to version 5.5. Funny how such information seems to seep away over time.
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/wary-5.5/

zippy12
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Dial up connection

#9 Post by zippy12 »

That wary does it............now I hope my burner can do an iso CD.

starhawk
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#10 Post by starhawk »

zippy, if I may ask, where are you in the world that you're still stuck on dialup...?

zippy12
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My reply

#11 Post by zippy12 »

I'm residing in the USA on planet EARTH..............Im NOT "stuck" on dial up!
I use dial up because I CHOSE TO .
Does that answer your inquiry? :o

starhawk
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#12 Post by starhawk »

"I now have additional questions..."

Well, one, anyhow. Why the heck would anyone WANT dial-up...? It's soooo sloooow.

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rerwin
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#13 Post by rerwin »

zippy12,
Another puppy that supports the Intel modems is Lucid Puppy 5.2.8.7. Precise pup may handle them if their drivers get installed. If you are interested, I can probably find how to get the driver, so as to instruct you. (I developed Puppy's support for the intel536 and 537 drivers. I hope yours is a 536.)

For newer puppies, you need a USB hardware modem (as described above), which uses a driver (cdc_acm) built into the newer kernels (3.x, at least). Mine is a Rosewill RNX-56USB. I see them on ebay for $12 used and $15 used on Amazon -- no need to pay more.
Richard

zippy12
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Much appreciated

#14 Post by zippy12 »

Thank you for the decent reply and information...............I appreciate a mature responce. :)

starhawk
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#15 Post by starhawk »

zippy, what's "immature" about asking questions?

EDIT: more to the point.

The purpose of my questions is not to irritate or otherwise haggle you -- and please do accept my humblest apologies if that's what's actually happening. I'm trying to /understand/ you. Yes, I do tend to phrase things in a somewhat casual manner -- that's part of who I am as a person -- but I assure you that I'm not trying to be immature or troll you or be otherwise bothersome to you. I just don't understand why you are saying what you're saying, and I want to figure that out.

zippy12
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More info

#16 Post by zippy12 »

Retain.
My Intel modem is a 573 and its not being found by Wary.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

starhawk
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#17 Post by starhawk »

zippy, I feel compelled to remind you that this forum is a place where you are asking for help.

Sending very rude PMs to members here will not get you that.

I won't post what you wrote -- it's a PM, it's not meant for that -- but I will say that continuing to be rude to me -- or being rude to anyone else -- has an approximately 100% chance of getting you reported to our resident moderator, with a recommendation to move you along to somewhere more suitable to your temperament.

If you can't be nice to people, you probably shouldn't be here...

tempestuous
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#18 Post by tempestuous »

zippy, it's not necessary in many/most instances to send personal messages to us. Your PM's of thanks to me are not necessary, and don't advance the forum's informational content.

I think that what starhawk has been trying to say, albeit a little undiplomatically, is that you could consider not limiting your internet connectivity options to landline dialup.
Even if you DO wish to stick with dialup, rerwin has suggested that there are more Linux-friendly modems available than Dell/Intel internal models. My personal choice would be the USRobotics 56K V.92 Message Modem - an external full hardware-modem which plugs into a serial port.

Notwithstanding, I will offer some suggestions/solutions based on your existing hardware.
zippy12 wrote:My Intel modem is a 573
I'm guessing what you really have is Intel 537, and the following assumes this to be the case; some years ago Intel provided proprietary driver source code for the 536 & 537 modems, but it's difficult to compile these drivers against modern Linux kernels.
And I see now that Wary's extensive modem support DOES NOT extend to these Intel 536/537 drivers, which certainly explains why Wary does not detect your modem.
zippy12 wrote:Any suggestions would be appreciated.
rerwin's last post is your best option, let me recap;
the most recent Puppy versions with the 536/537 drivers available appear to be
- Puppy 4.3.1 (the "SCSI-Intel-modems" version)
- LupuSuper2-5.2.8.7
- Precise-5.7.1-retro

But I just checked now, and it appears to me that LupuSuper and Precise-retro do contain the 536/537 utilities, but NOT the actual drivers.
rerwin, can you please clarify? Do the drivers need to be downloaded separately?

zippy, if you're keen to proceed without waiting for rerwin to reply, you can certainly go ahead and try Puppy 4.3.1 - it definitely contains the 537 driver. You must use this version -
http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pu ... modems.iso
Once booted to this CD, go to -
Menu > Network > PupDial modem dialup

zippy12
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Modem

#19 Post by zippy12 »

I discovered that I misread my Intel PCI modem as being a 573 , but its actually a 537.
Nonetheless , I found a USB modem in my parts that I've had for YEARS , hooked it up , booted Wary Puppy and was on the internet at a good speed , in just a few minutes..
Thanks for all the good suggestions.
I might go back to Ubuntu though.

starhawk
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#20 Post by starhawk »

tempestuous wrote:albeit a little undiplomatically
I asked two questions, and I would like to think I was rather polite in each case.

The first response was oddly indignant. The second response was no-holds-barred rude and was followed by The Silent Treatment.

I don't think I'm the one being "undiplomatic" here, and I have to say, I resent that comment a little bit. Yes, I have Asperger's Syndrome, which is at root a communicative disorder. No, I don't talk about it much. I'm not proud of it. I don't wear it like a crutch, it's not made for that. Yes, it does disorder my communications so that I'm not well understood sometimes. This is especially true when the medium is text-based. There is so much more to communication than simple words.

But I do have my full wits about me, and I know when I'm being snubbed.

zippy is the one who is being immature, not me, and I rather think we all know it -- whether or not we say so "out loud".

So: zippy, I put to you a challenge. Respond, in a mature way, to my remaining question: what is it, to you, that is preferable about dialup?

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