Winmodems with Linux

[ChrisUlrich]

A Winmodem, like other modems, is used to access phone, BBS, Internet, fax, etc. It is connected to a telephone line and is characterized by its speed.

These are Winmodem. Ie they need Windows to run. Why? They need a special program, a driver, to fully accomplish their task. Who said that program operating system (OS), and drivers are included in modems, 99%, exclusively for the platform Windows. With the democratization of Linux, various manufacturers, such as LT or Motorola, resolute to make driver for their modems. But they have not internalized the philosophy Linux drivers they provide are of course proprietary, closed source. They are free, but is not licensed under the GPL. This means that their sources are not available.

That is why some "hackers" have decided to make a pilot open source. But they do not know much about their modems because the manufacturers do not want to disclose the specifications of their modems. Thus open source drivers are often in alpha or beta.

[ChrisUlrich]

1. Try to name the serial port to which the modem is connected (Windows or MS DOS, for example: COM1, COM2, and so on). The name of your modem under Linux is / dev / ttyS x, where x is the number of serial port in DOS minus 1.

• Example 1: DOS, Linux equivalent to COM1 ttyS x, with x = 1-1 or ttyS0.
• Example 2: DOS, Linux equivalent to COM3 ttyS2 and so on.

2. Create a symlink from / dev / x ttyS to / dev / modem by typing:

rm-f / dev / modem <p>
 ln-s / dev / ttyS x / dev / modem

3. Download and install the minicom package. Then run minicom-s. Choose Serial port configuration, type A in the serial port option, delete the entire line and type "/ dev / modem". Confirm with Enter. Press Esc., Select Save Config. as dfl, then choose Exit. Wait a moment, then type AT. If the modem responds OK, so you do not have a Winmodem, but a modem... If initialization takes too long because you have a Winmodem. Then use this document to try to make it usable. Log on as administrator.

4. Exit from Minicom by typing CTRL + A and then X.

[ChrisUlrich]

Well, you have a Winmodem...But there are two types of Winmodems: ISA or PCI. To make things even more complicated, both interfaces are quite different. We will now test if you have an ISA or PCI modem. First, you have to configure your kernel. During setup (with make * config), you should answer yes to the following questions:

1. In Loadable module support:

• (CONFIG_MODULES) to enable module support
• (CONFIG_MODVERSIONS) to set version info.

2. In General setup:

• PCI support (CONFIG_PCI)
• PCI Access Mode (CONFIG_PCI_GOBIOS) → select Any
• PCI quirks (CONFIG_PCI_QUIRKS)
• Backward-compatible / proc / pci (CONFIG_PCI_OLD_PROC)

If you have never compiled your kernel, maybe that your distribution already contains these options. If you want to recompile and you've never actually read the Guide to Kernel. Now we find that your new kernel is installed. Run 'cat / proc / pci ". If you see the name of your modem lines displayed by the command while you have a PCI Winmodem. Go to the 'Install Driver'.