This concerns me! The only line I suspect that could hang is line 60 of /usr/sbin/pmodemdiag. Please comment out that line and try again. If it still hangs, then find the /tmp directory of the name similar to the tar.gz file and make an archive of it to send me. I definitely do not want the tool to hang, so must find out why.pmodemdiag hung, never creating the file.
Re the ff business: I am not ready to deal with that at least until we get the original problem sorted out. I need to exhaust all the available possibilities before designing something new.
Richard