Puppy, HSF Winmodem, Swap file & Other distro (Mepis)(SOLVED

[craftybytes]

As can be seen by my 'signature' info at the bottom of my posts - I currently run 2 x Linux distro's (Puppy 2.13 & MEPIS v3.4-3) multi-booted with Windoze XP (...huh, huh .. ) ...

I'm not quite sure but I think there may be a residual problem that occurs when one boots up ..

Let me explain :- If I boot into MEPIS, then go online (dial-up) using Conexant HSF 56k Softmodem (winmodem) and Kppp and surf the web (Opera) - everything works fine - can be online without dropouts for several hours (if I need to) ...

If after I have been up on MEPIS - I then reboot into Puppy - when I then go online (dial-up) using Conexant HSF 56k Softmodem (winmodem) and Gkdial and surf the web (Opera) - everything works ok - EXCEPT - the max time I have been able to stay online is no more than 35 minutes or so - then dropout occurs (the shortest time has been 2 minutes (or thereabouts) - now if I redial and get back on - the time before dropout drops markedly - then redial - time drops even less ...

Weirdly though - if the first time I boot up for the day (or if my machine has been powered off for an hour or so) - and I then boot-up into Puppy first - then if I go online (dial-up) using Conexant HSF 56k Softmodem and Gkdial and surf the web (Opera & Seamonkey) - I can stay online for - well this is the first time I've actually achieved this - so far present online time has been - 3 hrs 34 mins - and no probs with file downloads and general surfing speeds ...

Anybody else who is also using another Linux distro as well as Puppy to boot between and go online via dial-up having the same problems with dropouts if you boot the other distro first then switch to Puppy ..??

Interested to find out if there may be a 'hidden' problem ..!!

Have read in other forums (Debian / Suse) that the bigger distro's 'tag' the swap partition (identity) - which when one reboots into the likes of Puppy - tends to have possible 'interference' to the proper running of Puppy especially for the correct operation of peripherals such as modems (dial-up or broadband) and some ethernet cards and wifi cards/services ..

If this is so - what can we do to fix this ..?

I do a fair bit of switching between my two distros (Puppy & MEPIS) during a normal day's hacking on my computer - and have been frustrated many a time when in Puppy I get online ONLY to have it dropout a few minutes later - AND - till now have not been able to suss out the cause of the problem - so maybe this 'interference' with the swap partition is a possibility ..?

Today has been the first time I have actually been online for what I call a 'long' time (a few hours plus) without dropouts whilst in Puppy - I can only guess at why - as I have not yet run my MEPIS today - maybe there is something in this 'swap' bizzo ..

Me thinks this is worth some further research - just to make sure that us Puppyites who are currently on dial-up - aren't getting the short end of the stick ..

TIA

[john biles]

Hello craftybytes,
I also have Mepis 3.4-3, Puppy 2.10 and XP on my computer.
I use an LT internal Winmodem (Mar's chip set) and find Mepis to be the slowest on downloading and general net surfing.
I've found with Mepis that the download speed increases when I turn off the firewall etc.
I have found Puppy to be the most reliable and the connection didn't even drop out when my wife made a phone call by mistake, even Windows drops out when she's done that in the past.
I have even downloaded 400mb iso's with Puppy with no problems.

I've found that while one version of Linux seems to suit one PC another version may not.
I'd try say Puppy 2.10 and see if the problem is still there.
You most likely found out that Mepis 6.0 has trouble connecting to the net on dial-up as I did and that's why your still using Mepis 3.4-3.

[ezeze5000]

Are you doing warm boots between distros?

If so try doing a cold boot between distros.


Could be a hardware problem with the modem not being completly released during a warm boot.

I have run into this problem before.

I hope this helps.

[EdFromHouston]

I have a HSF modem in my laptop. In order for you to run that modem at 56K in Puppy 2.13, you have to pay Linuxant 20 bucks unless you want to use the free version limited to 14.4K or hack it with a hex editor. I think this modem is the worst modem to use with the linux 2.6* kernel.

I use Puppy 1.09CE with this modem on my laptop. It has the 2.4 kernel and the modem works much better with kernel 2.4, no more disconnects for me. There is also a dotpup for the modem driver that is unrestricted.

I do have to agree you should hard boot in order to make sure the modem is disconnecting and there is no other software conflict going on if you are not already doing so. I have found this modem very sensitive to static in the lines

Hope this helps