What win-modems are supported by pclos 'out of the box' for a newb?

[lexrexus]

I have an older box and an Intel 536ep dial-up winmodem.
[A search 'dial-up modems' here yielded 4 chatty threads...  .]

Cannot dial-up-download your os, where can I order a cd to be mailed to me (if modem compatible)?


Thank you!!

[Texstar]

None and you are posting in tips and tricks.

[rubentje1991]

Where do you live (and no, we don't have some official CD-service....)? => maybe some user on the forums can help you to get one;
or you can take a look at Distrowatch if they still sell CDs for all distro's (I don't visit that site many times anymore...)
=> you'll have to choose some light edition of PCLinuxOS...

And how are you going to stay 'current' (updates requires much downloads sometimes)... [this is some kind of rolling-release, thus....]?

[kjpetrie]

No serial devices are supported out of the box because serial ports are not enabled by default.

There is information on enabling serial ports in Tips and Tricks. However, you would still need a Linux driver for your Winmodem which might or might not exist and might or might not compile with the current kernel.

It is generally easier to find a hardware modem or find another method to connect than it is to get a Winmodem working.

[btrussell]

It is generally easier to find a hardware modem or find another method to connect than it is to get a Winmodem working.

I just noticed yesterday that my netgear RP614v2 router will use PPPoe protocol to mimic a dial-up connection.

I haven't used/tried it, but sounds like it might be the work-around needed. May still need an ethernet card.

[bicol_willem]

There was once (maybe still somewhere) a PCI win-modem "Smartlink" with a certain Smartlink chip "768" (also seen at PCTel modems) that worked out of the box with Linux. I have used several of them way back in time...They became too soon hard to find as producers changed often chipsets, even on the "same" model modem. Then Smartlink went out of the modem biz in 2006. I think gobbled up by Connexant. But if you are lucky you can find one, either new or (more likely) used. I also remember LT modems that had Linux drivers and Connexant brought out proprietary Linux drivers for some of their win-modems (thank you Smartlink?).

Otherwise you might still find usable info here: http://linmodems.org/

Then this could be "encouraging"

Winmodems were one of these never really solved problems. Not only for that reason everybody should be happy that they are gone..... (So slow!).

Don't you have wireless there? USB modems (Dongle's) for WiFi work as a charm under Linux. You would appreciate the extra speed as well. Depending on where you are, do not expect too much! Where I live the systems are generally heavily overloaded and so I do see every now and then the past back in the form of "dial-up speeds" (where ever that stands for).

[kjpetrie]

I've just spotted the chipset in your first post. I have used that one with pclos in the past, myself, so it might be possible. I had to search the Internet for a driver though, and you would have to enable serial ports before attempting to compile the driver yourself, which is not supported here.

Not really a task for a newcomer, I'm afraid.

[lexrexus]

I've just spotted the chipset in your first post. I have used that one with pclos in the past, myself, so it might be possible. I had to search the Internet for a driver though, and you would have to enable serial ports before attempting to compile the driver yourself, which is not supported here.
Not really a task for a newcomer, I'm afraid.

Would pclos use the same linux kernel as some other os's, or are kernels always different?  Pardon any stupid questions, please.
Steven Pinker, google groups, puts out and updates drivers for my modem as new kernels come out for another distro - any hope there?

I just noticed yesterday that my netgear RP614v2 router will use PPPoe protocol to mimic a dial-up connection.
I haven't used/tried it, but sounds like it might be the work-around needed. May still need an ethernet card.

Over my head, Greek to me.  Um, don't have a router?

No serial devices are supported out of the box because serial ports are not enabled by default.
There is information on enabling serial ports in Tips and Tricks. However, you would still need a Linux driver for your Winmodem which might or might not exist and might or might not compile with the current kernel.
It is generally easier to find a hardware modem or find another method to connect than it is to get a Winmodem working.

My Intel 536ep plugs into a pci thingy, not a serial cable -
I guess since I don't have a hardware modem, let alone an internal one (not needing a serial port?), I had better stay with another distro until i can get a better modem. 

Where do you live (and no, we don't have some official CD-service....)? => maybe some user on the forums can help you to get one;
or you can take a look at Distrowatch if they still sell CDs for all distro's (I don't visit that site many times anymore...)
=> you'll have to choose some light edition of PCLinuxOS...
And how are you going to stay 'current' (updates requires much downloads sometimes)... [this is some kind of rolling-release, thus....]?

If updates are sometimes big, that's a problem, too.  Distrowatch has cds of your os;  and this site had this version:  http://www.pctech101.com/pclinuxos-mini-me-live.html  -  ?        A comment on that version would be appreciated      :  ]       Other sources for Linux cds, please if anyone else has input...  .

Oh, and I'm sorry I posted in the wrong place    :  {



Thank you all for your input!!

[kjpetrie]

Although in plugs into PCI, it looks to the computer like a serial port card, and therefore needs serial port support enabled. It provides a serial port with loopback which produces two interfaces. You need to select the working interface at run time, as the system can't distinguish between them and only one of them will actually work.

All Linux kernels are basically the same, but different distributions patch them to suit their needs, and the kernel evolves over time. The 536ep driver will work if serial ports are enabled and it is then compiled for the specific kernel in use. This is best done on the system itself to ensure it is right. If the module is supplied in source code it will probably work when compiled on your machine - if it will compile. If it is supplied pre-compiled for the other distribution's kernel it won't work.

Compiling drivers is not supported on this forum though, and although there is an advanced users' section, I doubt enough people use dial-up modems with pclos to be able to help you.

Pclos is a "dynamic distribution" which means it changes frequently and continuously and needs to be kept up-to-date at least fortnightly. Downloads will typically be between 50-100MB and sometimes bigger, which isn't suited to dial-up speeds. You might be better off with a distribution which requires a single annual download and re-install for dial-up use.

[lexrexus]

Ok, thank you - That pretty much does it (in)!

Thank you for your patience and time!