Linux might not be for this Newbie

[Sonuby]

How do you find out all the info you need to know for the downloading of the drivers and how do you install them from, im assuming a floppy,since im still accessing the internet with windows. This modem stuff is really kicking my a%#. I think I'm in over my head. Ive never taken a computer class and Ive never done anything with Dos :confused:
Maybe I should just buy an external modem , but I dont know if that would be easier or not. If it would be could you recommend one and how to install it.

[buster65]

I would suggest going to mandrake's web site and look at the hardware compatabiltie(sp?) list and choose a modem from there. i've read a few things about winmodems in linux and it doesn't sound like it would be much fun.

[2damncommon]

I fooled with my Winmodem for a month or two before I even knew the fact it WAS a Winmodem was why it wouldn't work.
I was internetless on Linux for a few more months.
Finally got a USR external modem, ran setup and was online in minutes.
Don't become too frustrated when things need some work.
Good Luck.

[urinal cake]

If you're in a hurry, give up now.

If you're willing to invest some time and reap huge rewards, soldier on.

[fancypiper]

I especially like external modems for Windows as it has such a sucky net monitor. I can watch the lights and tell what's going on.

I get better connect speeds on our lousy ISP service with an external modem as well. Check pricewatch.com (try a 'linux modem' search) and computergeeks.com for cheapies.

The only fault I can find is the wall wart.

[Loki3]

Most of the advice seems to encourage you to buy an external modem, however, my linux computer was set up three weeks ago and I got my WinModem to work. It took almost all of that time, however. The bottom line is if you're one of those do it yourself, stubborn bastards like me try the WinModem first. If you want your computer to work right now(and there's nothing wrong with that) go out and buy a new modem. It just depends on what you want and how much time your willing to invest. The problem with WinModems is you can invest lots of time and still fail, and then go out and have to spend money, but that's life. I'm pulling for you...

_Loki

[mdwatts]

One of my personal computers at work has a GVC winmodem in it and since we are all ethernet, I really had no use for the modem.

Due to all the threads I've seen here on getting winmodems to work, I decided to give it a try.

I found it uses the Lucent chipset, so I just downloaded the latest drivers, extracted the package, read the instructions and had the modem up and running in five minutes.

The scripts included with the Lucent drivers also added all the necessary stuff to /etc/modules.conf for the modem.

Very easy IMHO...

The 5 minutes didn't include the time I spent recompiling the kernel to enable ppp etc.

[Sonuby]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. A little update Micro Centers let me down on the external modem, so after reading countless web pages Im relatively sure I have the right binary drivers for my kernel 2.4.18 my computer I think i586 (the only comands i could get to work in the linux command line were uname -a ect.
just a hint to how much of a newbie i am)anyway i586 was listed. My modem chips are Lucent 1646T00 and Lucent 1034AH-J which I believe one of the web pages said would work.So I loaded the "ltmodem-kv 2.4.18 6mdk(some of the them had smp after mdk but i didnt know what that was)8.22a4-1.i586.rpm.
Now the question:It was actually answered once bfore but i didnt know how to do what was instructed:
I have a Lucent I56LVP.
Download the lucent drivers from www.linmodems.org
do tar xzvf ltmodem<version>.tar.gz
cd to the directory and you can either do ./build_rpm or ./build_module
I will explain build module because thats what i did.
the process is simple .. you just have to hit enter a couple of times.
./ltinst and ./autoload
In slackware even though i ran autoload i still had to manually add modprobe -v lt_serial
to my rc.modules.
If that was successful just symlink /dev/ttyLT0 to your modem port
com3 /dev/ttyS2 in my case

and it should work out...

I hope i have helped
How do you "do" tar xzvf ect. or cd to a directory ,I think thats change directory. I never could figure out what port my modems on , although i know its com.2 in windows so i think its going to be ttyS2?
I have looked at alot of web pages to try to find out but with not much luck. If someone could give me the run down or direct me to an Idiot newbie explination ,help get me off my recent asprin addiction I would appreciate it thanks

[windoze killa]

do tar xzvf ltmodem<version>.tar.gz

means type "tar xzvf ltmodem<version>.tar.gz" without the quotes

cd does mean change directory

You would cd to the directory that "tar xzvf ltmodem<version>.tar.gz" unpacked to. (Whatever that is)

com2 in windows would be ttyS1 in linux as it starts from ttyS0

Hope that helps a little.

[Sonuby]

Ok where do i type it? and is <version> replaced with something like kernel number or modem number?
Do i just load the floppy that i downloaded the drivers to and it will prompt me for the info described in the earlier post?

[windoze killa]

If "ltmodem-kv 2.4.18 6mdk 8.22a4-1.i586.rpm" is the driver file you downloaded then it can be installed using the package manager for Mandrake which I assume is the Linux you are using because that is the driver file you downloaded. Thats what the mdk means in the filename. I am not familiar with Mandrake so I can't help you there but I am sure someone else here will be able to.

[Sonuby]

Got the modem up and running ,the input from the members really helped thanx again.

[windoze killa]

Just curious but what did you do to get it going?

[Sonuby]

Just curious but what did you do to get it going?

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Basically I just kinda put 2n2 Together when you said the file manager would install the program and another reply said it was easy to insall. So I bit the bullet and just through the floppy in and it pretty much installed itself and in all my searching a found a page that told me what files to clean should the install go bad. That and i remembereed one of the reasons i wanted to try linux its stability.
But as my other post shows im not out of the woods yet although i think its an easy fix if i could just get the command right.