[lug] Xircom RealPort Modem/Redhat 8.0

[D. Stimits]

Douglas Ohlhorst wrote:

> > I'm curious if this was completed/fixed? If not, whether you know
> > which modules are required for the particular modem?
>
>
> > D. Stimits, stimits AT attbi DOT com
>
>
> I am currently still working on this problem, I've been trying to track
> down the module to use on the Internet with out any luck so far. Do you
> have any ideas on this one? I'm running out of ideas, thought still
> looking. Please let me know if you need any more information, or if you
> know a path that I can investigate next, thank you for your time.


If you are positive the modem is not a winmodem, then it should work 
(some winmodems work these days too). I'd start by making sure your 
basic support modules are there...ppp support like the compression 
module. Serial support for the typical 16550A UART...I think this is 
just plain old "serial support" in kernel compilation. If you use a 
stock kernel from RH (or many other distros) you'll have serial support 
already. [NOTE: It will have a serial UART, and is almost guaranteed to 
be a 16550 family, even if it is a winmodem]

You can use lsmod to see what modules are currently loaded. You can also 
use insmod or rmmod to manually load and unload modules. Keep in mind 
that sometimes one module depends on another, so order might matter. 
While doing the insmod, run "tail -f /var/log/messages", and view the 
log output for clues.

If you want to view serial port settings, you can run "setserial -a" 
naming the port, e.g., "setserial -a /dev/ttyS3" would be the COM4 port, 
telling you all about the current serial settings. I think finding clues 
by poking around on the system will probably be valuable.

Also, I don't know how you are testing the modem. I strongly suggest 
wvdial or minicom (actually, both) to experiment with on the modem.

I recall this was a hot-plug device, either USB or one of the laptop 
plugin types, and that it looked like the device was properly detecting 
plugin and removal, but it didn't know what module to use. Therefore, 
plug in the hardware, solve the "getting it to work manually" problems 
first, and then work on the USB or other hotplug stuff...this should be 
easy once you know what modules are involved and what parameters they take.

I'm not familiar with hotplug modems, but someone might be able to 
verify some info about it if they knew what chipset is in it. The 
manufacturer's website might help here, or just info that came with the 
modem.

D. Stimits, stimits AT attbi DOT com