How do I configure my dial-up modem?

Michael W · #1 23rd February 2009, 09:46 PM

My brother installed Fedora 8 on my 2004 Dell Inspiron 1000 laptop with a 56k MDC modem. I cannot figure out how to get the dial modem to work! Modem Device?, Baud Rate?, Flow Control?, Modem Volume? Looking for easy to follow instructions. Thanks.

PatMcLJr · #2 23rd February 2009, 11:29 PM

is that an on board modem?
It's probably a "Win modem"
those and be difficult if they work at all with Linux

Got an old external modem or USB modem? The serial kind is more likely to work easily, if you can call it that.

like this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16825115001
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16825115115

If you have to buy one, read up on it first. Modems and Linux, can be a difficult thing to get going.

If you want to send a fax, efax-gtk can help. But you have to down load and compile it your self. It's not to hard and works well for a work station.

Best of Luck,
Pat Jr.

jkohler2 · #3 2nd December 2011, 03:10 AM

I have a US Robotics usb 56k modem (model 5637). It worked fine under the "Gnome-ppp' version of "wvdial" before I deleted Ubuntu, when it discontinued Gnome. I have installed Fedora 14 and looked in vain for a modem driver that would work with this external modem. I have avoided, and will avoid software driven modems.

I cannot find a Fedora compatible dial up modem driver!

Any help is gratefully appreciated.

John

'

PabloTwo · #4 2nd December 2011, 03:25 AM

According to my notes, that modem should be supported by Fedora Linux, without having to add any extra drivers. With the modem plugged in to a USB port, do you see any /dev/ttyUSBn file, where "n" is a number, probably 0 ?

In Fedora, dial up modems are easiest to setup using "network". "NetworkManager" is fairly useless for setting up dial up. If that isn't already installed on your system, then do:

Code:

su -c 'yum install system-config-network'

If you use the network service, ,then you'll want to disable the NetworkManager service.

marko · #5 2nd December 2011, 03:36 AM

I'd install these 3 packages

system-config-network wvdial kdenetwork-kppp

that 3rd one I threw in in case you're using KDE and want to use one of its dialers (called kppp)

then run system-config-network as root, hit the "New" button, select the "Modem Connection" in the list on the left, hit the "Forward" button and go from there. It should be pretty self explanatory from that point on.

as far as a driver, I think it's already in the kernel some where since this page:

http://www.usr.com/products/modem/mo...cs&sku=USR5637

says it's compatible with " Linux 2.4.20 kernel or higher" which is way far back so the current kernel should have it..
Notice here on the support page that Linux is marked as supported but they have no driver to download, that implies it's in the OS already. The module should load when the usb system sees the modem plugged in. I think it might be "cdc-acm"

jkohler2 · #6 2nd December 2011, 03:55 AM

Thanks, Mark and Pablo Two! I did find that wvdial is part of Fedora 14. Nevertheless I installed (with yum) as root....system-config-network.noarch 0:1.6.2-1.fc14 successfully.

Now, can I pull down a menu from the desktop and use dial up? Or, do I need to open a terminal window and
call up a file where I can add an ISP phone, my ID and password?

I was really comfortable with Gnome-ppp which was a graphic program under Ubuntu.

John

PabloTwo · #7 2nd December 2011, 03:08 PM

system-config-network (network) has a graphical user interface. You can bring it up from your applications menu (possibly Administration > Network), or call it as root from the command line:

Code:

su -c 'system-config-network'

When you bring it up from the applications menu, you should be prompted to enter roots password. You have not said if you have already gone into system-config-network and tried configuring a new modem connection or not. Everything is there in the Network application to do that, including entering your ISP username and password.

Setltings under the Device and Hardware tabs are all that you probably need to deal with. Use the Edit button for each of the above to configure your settings once you have Added a new modem (dialup) device. You'll also need to Save the settings once configured.

Please confirm what /dev/?????? you see in the /dev folder that corresponds to the USB modem, and use that as the "Modem device:" when editing under the Hardware tab. Also be sure check the box on the left column of Profile for the modem to make that device usable. Also in the configuration setup, be sure to uncheck the box that says "Controlled by NetworkManager" and check the box that says "Allow all users to enable and disable the device".

You setup your ISP information under the "Provider" tab while editing the "Device" tab. Whenever you click on "Edit", be sure the new modem device you created is highlighted in the list of devices. You can use the "Activate" and "Deactivate" buttons in the Network configuration dialog to dial or hang up the modem. You can also just call it up from the command line:

ifup ppp0
ifdown ppp0

In both Gnome and XFCE, there is a panel applet called ModemLights you can use to dial up/hang up.

---------- Post added at 09:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:10 AM ----------

From the command line, to turn off and disable (won't start at boot) NetworkManager and to start and enable Network, issue these commands as root:

Code:

service NetworkManager stop
chkconfig NetworkManager off
service netowrk start
chkconfig --level 345 network on

Anytime you make changes to your network devices, including the dialup modem, you should restart the Network service to make the changes current:

Code:

su -c 'service network restart'

---------- Post added at 10:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

Be sure and note my edits to the chkconfig commands... I was giving systemd type arguments (F16) instead of the correct ones (enable/disable vs on/off).

jkohler2 · #8 3rd December 2011, 05:10 AM

This is my attempt at system-config-network;

[jkohler@localhost ~]$ su =c system-config-network
su: user =c does not exist
[jkohler@localhost ~]$ su
Password:
[root@localhost jkohler]# -c system-config-network
bash: -c: command not found...
[root@localhost jkohler]#

---------- Post added at 09:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 PM ----------

When you bring it up from the applications menu, you should be prompted to enter roots password. You have not said if you have already gone into system-config-network and tried configuring a new modem connection or not. Everything is there in the Network application to do that, including entering your ISP username and password.

I had created, a system-config-network, but haven't been able to get to it via the command line or one of the
gnome graphic pull-down menus. I remember seeing that file under Ubuntu and seeing my username and password there,
when I signed in as root.

John

---------- Post added at 09:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 PM ----------

I don't know what device name is there now. Under "Gnome-PPP" as root in ubuntu, the device name for the usb 56k nodem (usr 5637) was "ACM0"

Also, I could not bring up sys-config under the applications menue. I could not find a tab for it.

John

PabloTwo · #9 3rd December 2011, 02:40 PM

The command I gave was

Code:

su -c 'system-config-network'

That assumed you were still regular user and not root.
Your first attempt used an equal sign instead of a hyphen.
Your second attempt left off the leading su.

When you switched to root using just "su", then entering roots password, then you just type the name of the command (system-config-network) without anything in front.

Please check your /dev/ directory to see if the USB modem is setup as ttyUSBn or ttyACMn. I said in my original response:

Quote:

Please confirm what /dev/?????? you see in the /dev folder that corresponds to the USB modem, and use that as the "Modem device:"

If it shows up as /dev/ttyACM0 in Ubuntu, then that's probably also how it appears in Fedora.

In the applications menu, system-config-network shows up as "network".

jkohler2 · #10 6th December 2011, 07:03 PM

I finally found the Network Configuration window by doing as you said: System>Administration>Network.
With that window on screen, I have tried unsuccessfully to edit it. Right now it shows Status as inactive, Device as ppp0 Nickname as my ISP (Coastside.net) and Type as Modem The Profile is checked.

Should I try to uncheck Profile to edit that screen?

John

PabloTwo · #11 6th December 2011, 07:45 PM

No, you can leave the check mark in the Profile column for the Modem checked to do any editing.
I am assuming you have also clicked on the Hardware tab and then done the Edit's there for the modem as well.... that's where you need to set which "Modem Device:". it is... probably /dev/ttyACM0. But you still haven't said what /dev/ttyxxxx you find in /dev/ for your modem.

I initially assigned the network name of "Atlantic.net" when setting up my dial-up account in Network. For some reason, it didn't seem to work with that name. I renamed it, taking out the period, to "AtlanticNet", and all was good. That's another thing you could try.

If everything is setup correctly, then simply hitting the green Activate button at the top right should start it dialing out.