[SWLUG] External Modem

[Rhys Sage]

> I'm still thinking about that external modem of mine. It has a 9pin
> and 25pin connection. The 9 pin is a very sloppy fit and my Linux box
> won't take the 25pin (wrong gender). The 25pin fits snugly on my
> PC and Win 98 recognises what it is. Linux can't recognise it so I
> don't know whether the modem is stuffed or it's just the 9-pin plug
> that's stuffed. My laptop has the correct 25-pin port but as I'm
> running NT4 on the laptop, there's a severe driver problem. I learnt
> to let NT4 to do what it wants, when it wants - it's too stable to
> complain about its lack of drivers.

>um, the wrong gender 25-pin port on your computer - it's not the
>parallel port is it? The parallel port is a female connector, 25 pins
>and you most probably don't want to connect the modem up to this...

Hmm. Well, on my AT box I have two 25pin D sockets - one male, one female. I
plugged into the male and Win 98 told me what kind of modem I had. On my ATX
(Linux box) I have a 25 Pin female plus two 9 pin male sockets.

>How do you know that Linux won't pick up the modem? What have you done
>that gives you that impression? Have you sent it any AT commands or
>suchlike? There are a fair few things that it could be, if you can tell
>us what's not worked it'll help narrow things down considerably.

Well, I used the built-in SME Server Internet test. It failed. Although
today I noticed that modem lights were flashing on and off.

At the risk of sounding as though I haven't got the foggiest how to use
Linux, just how do I connect to the Internet using it? I can't find any menu
option relating to dialling-up in SME's menu so it has to be a command-line
thing.
Yours,

Rhys