Dell 4500 modem issues on RedHat9

[Koba 0]

Hi

 

A couple of months ago I decided I had had enough of Windows and wanted to progress onto Linux. I have since downloaded RedHat9 and today I finally installed it.

 

The installation process went smoothly and when I saw all the GNU packages I regularly use under Cygwin installed automatically, I realised that I should have installed linux years ago.:x

 

The problem I have is my inability to establish an internet connection. It could be wrong settings for my ISP but the fact Linux didn't detect my modem and I get no dialtone suggests it is the modem. I am using a dell 4500 pc and the modem is Conexant HSF V92 RTAD Speakerphone PCI Modem. It also runs on Windows default drivers. I have no idea what settings to apply to the generic modem settings in RedHat. I had to reinstall windows to submit this post and I would be really gutted I have to revert permanently just for an internet connection.

 

Could anyone please, please help me?

 

Thank you

 

Koba

 

P.S> I've just realise this should be under hardware (I found a post relating to dell 4500 pcs off google and pressed "Post Topic".) I apologise for any inconveniance caused.

 

 

[Dapper Dan 0]

You can get drivers for your modem at the Linuxant site. They offer a "half" driver, meaning it will work half as well so you can determine if it works with your hardware. The "full" driver costs. I never had any luck with the Linuxant drivers with 56k modems, though some here have had luck with other drivers they offer for other hardware. If you can't get it working the way you want, I'm a big fan of the Actiontec 56k V92 external modem. It performs extremely well under Linux, and if you buy one, you'll notice a connection improvement under Windows as well.

[Koba 0]

Hi

 

Thank you so much for your reply. Over the past two days I've been constantly installing and reinstalling Linux and Windows. I first had to install linux, find the kernel version, reinstall windows, download the driver version I thought was correct, reinstall linux, only to find I lost the floppy disk! (God knows where),then reinstalled windows, redownload the package, went back to linux (only to find the rpm doesn't work)and now I am back on windows! I think my hard drive has had quite enough but it isn't finished yet.

 

I understand my Red Hat kernel version is 2.4.20-8 but the nearest linuxant package is for 2.4.20-8-1. Maybe I have done something wrong but I think this means the package for my kernel is unavailable.

 

I'll be going back to linux for a second attempt tonight along with the generic drivers. This involves compiling source so I am not overly optimistic. The alternative is to update my Red Hat kernel (surely I don't need to download all of Red Hat again??!!).

 

As far as I can tell I need the HSF drivers for Red Hat i386 kernel 2.4.20-8 (if any of this is wrong I am simply going to get nowhere).

 

Thank you for your reply. I am willing to buy the full driver (they aren't too expensive) and I will make sure the laptop I am saving for is 100% linux compatible!

 

Any more advice please?

 

Koba

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dapper Dan 0]

 

I wish I could help you with those Linuxant drivers but as I say, I had no luck with them.

I honestly don't think compiling kernels is something you'll want to get involved with right now. I would download the driver, or as we say in Linux, the "module" that will best suit whichever kernel you may be using, and try that. If it becomes too involved, you will save yourself a world of headaches by getting a Linux compatible modem.

 

I'll be very honest with you. When you first take it on, Linux can be extremely frustrating. At times, you'll want to put a fist through a wall and say to hell with it. Hardware incompatibilities and permissions are two of the most annoying issues that drive users back to Windows. I know all of this installing and re-installing is a real bummer right now, but I'm afraid it's just part of the whole process of learning the OS.

 

DONT GIVE UP!! In the end, when you get to where you know Linux a little better, you'll be very glad you did, and will be proud of yourself for being one of the few who stuck it out and didn't go back. If you are persistent and more importantly, patient, you'll get something working for you before you know it. If I can learn Linux, anyone can! Let me know if I can help further. Good Luck.

 

 

[danleff 0]

Originally posted by Koba:

Quote:

Thank you so much for your reply. Over the past two days I've been constantly installing and reinstalling Linux and Windows. I first had to install linux, find the kernel version, reinstall windows, download the driver version I thought was correct, reinstall linux, only to find I lost the floppy disk! (God knows where),then reinstalled windows, redownload the package, went back to linux (only to find the rpm doesn't work)and now I am back on windows! I think my hard drive has had quite enough but it isn't finished yet.

 

I understand my Red Hat kernel version is 2.4.20-8 but the nearest linuxant package is for 2.4.20-8-1. Maybe I have done something wrong but I think this means the package for my kernel is unavailable.

 

I'll be going back to linux for a second attempt tonight along with the generic drivers. This involves compiling source so I am not overly optimistic. The alternative is to update my Red Hat kernel (surely I don't need to download all of Red Hat again??!!).

 

As far as I can tell I need the HSF drivers for Red Hat i386 kernel 2.4.20-8 (if any of this is wrong I am simply going to get nowhere).

 

If I were you, I would take DapperDan's advice and get the Actiontec serial modem. It will save a lot of headaches.

 

Let me ask, why are you installing and re-installing Windows and Linux?

 

What version of Windows are you using?

 

You should be able to boot Windows and RedHat in a dual boot senario.

 

DapperDan has extensive experience with RedHat 9 and can assist in this regard.

 

The Linuxant version that you are downloading is correct - notice on the download page that it states "2.4.20-8" on the far left. The 1rh just referes to the file version for the driver.

 

What happens when you install the driver that makes it not able to work? Installing the actual driver, or post-install?

[Dapper Dan 0]

daleff, I missed that. It does sound as if Koba is going through a lot on unnecessary installing and re-installing. Koba, danleff and I will be glad to assist you in a dual boot setup like he mentioned. It's really not that difficult. Let us know..

[Koba 0]

Hoorah for Linux!

 

I knew all those reinstallations were unneccessary when I first saw the GRUB. I was not thinking straight and was messing up all my partitions. When I got my head together, I used Windows to delete all existing partitions and formated half my hard drive leaving the rest as unpartitioned space. I installed Windows in the partition I created and then installed linux in the unpartitioned space. I now have a dual boot system!

 

I hope that doing this without any help shows I'm not too much of an idiot!

 

I'm afraid getting a new modem is out the question for now. I will be saving up for a laptop when I got to uni in a couple of months time so upgrading the modem on my home pc would be a bit of a waste. As I said before, when I buy a laptop, I want it 100% linux compatible.

 

I know Linux is great and having completely self-taught myself computers I know things will go wrong and require a lot of patience to fix. I can already see that Linux is designed for efficient, uncluttered working and is an excellent GNU development environment. Due to the nature of my interests (3DCG) most of my tools will run on linux (Blender, Wings, yafray etc) but I will still need windows to run everything else. Is there a windows emulator on linux? My aim in any case is to get a multi-boot system. Any suggestions?

 

I'll have another go with those drivers. If I can't get it to work, I'll have to look into having a multi-boot system with a single common data partiton. If I can download on windows and quickly switch to Linux, I'll be happy.

 

I found some information on multiboot systems here:http://www.trombettworks.com/multi-boot.htm#desired . Is this of any use?

 

You guys have been incredibly helpful. There is no way I would have got this level of support from Microsoft! Looking forward to your reply.

 

Koba

[Koba 0]

Hi

 

Here is the error from the Terminal:

 

[luke@localhost luke]$ rpm -i hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04051300full_k2.4.20_8-1rh.i386.rpm

warning: hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04051300full_k2.4.20_8-1rh.i386.rpm: V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 5dfbf7dc

error: cannot get exclusive lock on /var/lib/rpm/Packages

error: cannot open Packages index using db3 - Operation not permitted (1)

error: cannot open Packages database in /var/lib/rpm

 

Any ideas of what is going wrong?

 

Koba

[danleff 0]

You need to install as root user.

 

when you set up RedHat, you should have been asked for a user and root user password.

 

At the terminal, type;

 

su

 

hit the enter key;

 

then input the root password when prompted, hit the enter key.

 

After this try the install.

[Koba 0]

Still no luck. There was an original error message upon installation but I can't replicate it. Now all I get is what I would call a contradiction .

 

[luke@localhost luke]$ su

Password:

 

[root@localhost luke]# rpm -e hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04051300full_k2.4.20_8-1rh.i386.rpm

error: package hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04051300full_k2.4.20_8-1rh.i386.rpm is not installed

 

[root@localhost luke]# rpm -i hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04051300full_k2.4.20_8-1rh.i386.rpm

warning: hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04051300full_k2.4.20_8-1rh.i386.rpm: V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 5dfbf7dc

package hsfmodem-6.03.00lnxt04051300full_k2.4.20_8-1rh is already installed.

 

Koba.

 

 

[Dapper Dan 0]

I've run into that before. The best way to un-install packages that you know are installed is through apt-get rpm.

 

If you're using Red Hat/Fedora, apt-get RPM will make your life MUCH easier. It works off the same principle as apt-get for Debian.

 

Go here download and install the first and last .rpm as root. They will install without complaints. You can install them together thusly:

 

# rpm -ivh apt-0.5.5cnc6-fr1.i386.rpm apt-devel-0.5.5cnc6-fr1.i386.rpm [enter]

 

Once these are installed go:

 

apt-get update [enter]

 

Do the above again.

 

Then do:

 

apt-get install synaptic [enter]

 

Then:

 

synaptic [enter]

 

You now will have the Synaptic front end for apt-get. In the search box in the upper right hand side, type in the name of the package you want to un-install and it should come up. Then un-install it. It's pretty easy to figure out.

 

Apt-get will also assist you in installing lots of other packages, and will solve the dependency problems for you!

 

 

 

What Windows apps are you needing to run? Some of them may run in Linux using one of the various versions of Wine.

Also, which version of Windows are you using? You can access your Windows partition from Linux but not the other way around.

[Koba 0]

Hi

 

Thanks again for your reply.

 

Again, it might not have been through my own stupid fault. I assumed I was using i386 seeing that the names of the cds set by the downloaded iso files are along the lines of "Red Hat Linux_i3". I assumed i3 meant I was using i386 and so downloaded the corresponding drivers.

 

Just now I booted up and noticed something rather important: "Lernel 2.4.20-8 on an i686". That is a very good reason for the drivers not working so far. That's what learning curves are about I guess. . Time for another go.

 

Anyway, I'm running Windows XP Home edition at the moment. The windows applications that are most important to me are Adobe Photoshop (out of habit more than not wanting to learn how to use the GIMP ), MSN messenger and Skype (so I can talk to my family while at university). I am happy running any pc games as well as Microsoft Office on windows.

 

Could you please tell me how to access my windows data partition from Linux? I don't mind not being able to do it the other way round.

 

I haven't downloaded apt-get yet but I will do soon, even if I successfully install the correct rpm this time.

 

Thanks

 

Koba

[Dapper Dan 0]

i386 apps will work fine on i686 kernels. I run i686 and use i386 apps all the time including apt.

 

For those Windows apps you need:

 

You can run Photoshop under linux with CrossoverOffice (wine). If you're not doing any major work, the Gimp is really handy, capable and easy to learn.

For MSN you can use GAIM, which is included in your distro. If it is not installed, run redhat-config-packages and install it from the cd, OR you can install it with apt-get RPM once you have that installed.

I'm not familiar with "Skype" but there should be a Linux equivaleant.

Games can be run using Transgaming technologies Winex3. I use it to run Half-Life and any of it's mods which all run 99.9% perfectly. You can use it for HL online shoot'emups like Team Fortress and Counter-Strike. I run Starcraft, Trespasser, and a host of other games with Winex3 which you can "rent" for a very nominal fee. Check this list for how well your particular games might run with Winex3.

You can run Microsoft Office under Crossover Office, but I don't know of much that MSoffice can do that OpenOffice can't.

[Koba 0]

Hi

 

This is all good advice to get me started by my primary concern is establishing an internet connection with my current modem (if at all possible).

 

I support all GNU projects on principle that most software should be free (moneywise and in terms of source code) and that open-source projects result in communities developing software quickly with the end-users in mind for the benefit of everyone eg http://www.blender.org. To me spending money for Linux software seems to miss the point (apart from cases were there is a clear, unavoidable, legal reason such as patenting for the software not to be free as with the Linuxant drivers).

 

This is why I will be downloading Wine and not CrossoverOffice (which appears to be a paying product). I am starting to use the GIMP more now anyway and if I can get it to work with the linux Wacom drivers, then I won't need Photoshop.

 

If I can get the internet to work with Linux, then I can start downloading my favorite applications and really start using Red Hat. Till then I can't do anything and will be stuck with Windows.

 

If I can't get an internet connection going, a common data drive (or accessing windows data from linux) and/or a multi-boot system with quick switching between windows and linux would be great.

 

I tried installing apt-get but got the following error:

 

[root@localhost luke]# apt-get install synaptic

Reading Package Lists... Done

Building Dependency Tree... Done

E: Couldn't find package synaptic

[root@localhost luke]# synaptic

bash: synaptic: command not found

 

Can you help? I really appreciate your help but first things first please

 

Thanks

 

Koba

[Dapper Dan 0]

Yes, it makes sense. Apt-get will not work unless their is an Internet Connection present. Once you have it, begin at where I've written:

 

apt-get update [enter]

 

I'm afraid you're on your own with the Linuxant drivers, unless someone here knows more than I do about how to install and configure them. Good Luck!

[Koba 0]

Typical ;(

 

Its the chicken and the egg situation again. I'll reinstall linux to try one last time. Maybe someone would be kind enough to guide me to some documentation about compiling the generic drivers. It would also be nice if someone could help me find out how to access windows data from linux.

 

You can just send me to the documentation: you guys have helped me out quite enough already.

 

Koba

[Koba 0]

Partial success

 

I reinstalled linux and tried to install the modem drivers correctly first time round. It seems to have worked: there didn't seem to be any errors to me. Even better, the modem is no listed in the hardware browser and has drivers associated with it.

 

The problem is if I try to establish an internet connection, the modem still isn't found. I'm working with the "network configuration" panel. Any ideas? This is the most hopeful I have been in a while.

 

Koba

[Dapper Dan 0]

Did you use Kppp to configure your connection? You would want to dial up with a ppp frontend. Kppp is the standard. Check to see if it is installed. As root,

 

# kppp [enter]

 

If it comes up, it's pretty easy to configure your connection.

 

If you don't have it installed, do:

 

redhat-config-packages [enter]

 

I'm not sure if it's under the KDE section or the Internet section.

 

To access Windows from Linux, (and presuming your Windows partition is hda1), do as root:

 

mkdir /mnt/windows [enter]

 

Then:

 

mount /dev/hda1 mnt/windows [enter]

 

You should be able to access windows with Nautilus or konqueror by going into /mnt/windows. If you see your Windows folders in there, then you have been sucessful.

 

If your Windows is on fat32 file system, you will be able to read/write to it as root. If it is an NTFS file system, you will be able to read and copy files over to Linux, but cannot write to Windows from Linux.

 

 

 

 

[Koba 0]

 

 

Thank you SO much!!!

 

Needless to say I've got it working and needless to say I am now typing in Mozilla on Red Hat!

 

The connection speed for browsing seems quite acceptable for the moment but I think I will purchase the complete drivers so I can start really working on linux. I don't think I will feel like going back to windows for a long long time.

 

The level of support I have got here has been incredible. I think I've just become a real fan of this site.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Now to sort out some Wacom drivers, my scanner and some music (can't seem to be able to play any music though the cd drive and sound card seem to be working... :x )

 

 

Should I start a new thread for these new queries?

 

Koba

[Koba 0]

I've just bought the full drivers. I am quite happy with them as now I can use the internet at full speed.

 

Koba

[danleff 0]

I bought the full drivers for my wireless D-Link PCMCIA network card and am very happy with them. Good to see that you got it going!!