PCTel HSP MicroModem Configuration mini-HOWTO

Sayamindu Dasgupta

unmadindu@Softhome.net

Jan Stifter

j.stifter@medres.ch
Revision History                                                             
Revision 1.10                            2001-12-04                          
Cleaning up of sgml by Greg Ferguson, Relicensed under the GFDL, minor       
corrections                                                                  
Revision History                                                             
Revision 1.00                Nov 26th 2001                                   
First Release                                                                


The purpose of this document is to guide you to make your PCTel HSP
MicroModem work in linux.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
    1.1. Copyright Information
    1.2. Disclaimer
    1.3. New Versions
    1.4. Credits
    1.5. Feedback
    1.6. Translations
    1.7. Conventions used in this document
   
   
2. Purpose of the mini-HOWTO
3. Where to get the drivers
4. Choosing a suitable driver
5. Compiling and installing the drivers
    5.1. Installing the 2.2x drivers.
    5.2. Installing the pctel-2.4 and the pctel-2.4.7 drivers
    5.3. Installing the pctel-0.8.6 driver
   
   
6. Testing the drivers
7. A few other points that must be noted.
    7.1. Loading the modules at automatically
    7.2. Country codes
    7.3. Other options while loading the modules.
    7.4. The sequence of loading/unloading the modules.
    7.5. Bugs in the 2.4x versions.
    7.6. Directory of the kernel source files
    7.7. PnP BIOS issues
    7.8. AMR modems
   
   
8. FAQ/Troubleshooting
    8.1. Compiling Problems
    8.2. Problems while loading the modules.
    8.3. General modem based problems.
    8.4. I have a problem that is not listed in this section. What do I do?
   
   
9. Appendix
    9.1. A sample script file to load the modules.
    9.2. Web Resources
    9.3. Other drivers that are available
    9.4. Identifying the chip set of the modem
    9.5. GNU Free Documentation License
   
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Introduction

1.1. Copyright Information

    Copyright (c) 2001 Sayamindu Dasgupta, Jan Stifter. Permission is granted
    to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the
    GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version
    published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections ,
    with no Front-Cover Texts , and with no Back-Cover Texts . A copy of the
    license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation
    License".
   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2. Disclaimer

The methods described in this document might damage your data or your PC or
both. The authors will not be responsible for any damage that might arise out
of the use of this document. Use this document ENTIRELY at your own risk.

All copyrights are held by their respective owners, unless specifically noted
otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as affecting
the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.

You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before major
installation and backups at regular intervals.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.3. New Versions

The latest version of this mini-HOWTO will always be made available on my
home page, in a variety of formats:

*[http://sayamindu.topcities.com/pctel.html] HTML.
   
*[http://sayamindu.topcities.com/pctel.txt] plain text.
   
*[http://sayamindu.topcities.com/pctel.pdf] PDF.
   
*[http://sayamindu.topcities.com/pctel.rtf] RTF.
   
*compressed html (multiple pages format).
   
*[http://sayamindu.topcities.com/pctel.sgml] SGML source.
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4. Credits

I am extremely grateful to the howtos@kcircle.com list members for their
support, especially to [http://geocities.com/usmbish/] USM Bish.

The members of the discuss@linmodems.org list have been very helpful too,
specially in the initial phase of the howto-writing. I am also extremely
grateful to Phil Richard Burchill, Rajesh Fowkar, KV Pham and Andrew Kar
(akar) for their valuable suggestions.

The sgml-stuff has been done with the help of the template written by Stein
Gjoen, Gregory Leblanc and Greg Ferguson. I am also indebted to Greg Ferguson
for cleaning up the mess i had made with Docbook.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.5. Feedback

If you have any comments, criticisms, ideas, additions, corrections, then
please do mail them to <unmadindu@Softhome.net>. But for technical queries,
we suggest that you ask at the discuss@linmodems.org mailing list.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.6. Translations

*[www.domsilverio.com.br/phptest/pctel/] Portuguese Translation by Rafael
    Cardoso <rafamvc@yahoo.com.br>
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7. Conventions used in this document

We have used a number of special formatting to indicate warning messages,
commands, filenames, computer outputs etc.

Bash commands
    bash$ ls
   
Warnings
    WARNING
   
Filename/Directory
    /usr/src/linux/
   
Applications
    application
   
Computer Output
    no such file or directory
   
Codes/scripts
    #! /bin/bash                                                     
   
Large Computer Outputs
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |logfile begins                                                 |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Purpose of the mini-HOWTO

The purpose of this document is to guide you to make your PCTel HSP
MicroModem work in linux.

First let me explain what is so "special" about these PCTel modems that made
me write this guide.These modems fall in a special class of hardware,
specifically made for M$-Windows systems, and have device drivers which are
specific for M$-Windows ...These modems are also called "Winmodems" and are
one of the most troublesome pieces of hardwares for Linux. Most of the
winmodems do not work with linux (the manufacturers use patented technologies
and so drivers for these modems cannot be developed as Open Source). For a
few of these winmodems, drivers have been developed

The PCTel modems belong to this category and fall under linmodems.

NOTE: Though I am referring PCTel modems here, actually PCTel only
manufactures the chips for these modems, so if have say, XXX modem and you
get a

00:09.0 Communication controller: PCTel Inc HSP MicroModem 56 (rev 01)

when you issue the bash$ lspci command, then do not worry, you have what we
call a PCTel linmodem.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Where to get the drivers

Now let me come to the next obvious question, that is; Where are the
drivers??

Well, if you are impatient, then go to

[http://www.medres.ch/~jstifter/linux/pctel.html] http://www.medres.ch/
~jstifter/linux/pctel.html

But there are a number of drivers there, and you will definitely feel
confused..so read on.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Choosing a suitable driver

There are a number of drivers in [http://www.medres.ch/~jstifter/linux/
pctel.html] http://www.medres.ch/~jstifter/linux/pctel.html for modems with
PCTel chip sets. To know what driver to download, you will have to know what
kernel version you are running. To do that you will have to issue the command

bash$ uname -r

and that will give the version of your kernel.

If you have a 2.2.x kernel, you will have to use the pctel-2.2 drivers . For
kernels between 2.4.0 and 2.4.6, you can use the pctel-2.4 driver and for
kernel 2.4.7 and above, you can use the pctel-2.4.7 drivers.

But I personally recommend that you use the pctel-0.8.6 driver (the latest
version) which is a continuation of the drivers from PCTel with added
configure support and some bug fixes.

You may find some other drivers for PCTel based modems on the internet. See 
section 9.3 for more information regarding these drivers

NOTE: You will find that Jan's site also contain a number of other old
drivers. I recommend that you do not use them as they are very much outdated.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Compiling and installing the drivers

The first requisite for installation is that you have a kernel source in /usr
/src/linux/ (see section 7.6) and it must be configured, that is, you should
have done a bash$ make configure and bash$ make dep on it.

While doing these make sure that you have the source for your running
kernel...for example, if you are running kernel 2.4.8 and if you have the
source for kernel 2.4.9 in /usr/src/linux/, then the drivers would not work.

Moreover, you must configure the kernel with isapnp and pnp support and see
to the fact that you don't have a smp/uniprocessor mismatch ( that is,
running uniprocessor kernel but having a kernel source with smp support in /
usr/src/linux). Also, you will need a kernel which supports loadable modules.

And of course, you need to have gcc installed, check it by issuing the
command bash$ gcc -v . If you do not get any errors, the everything is all
right
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.1. Installing the 2.2x drivers.

Login as root.

Make sure that you have a 2.2.x kernel with the command bash$ uname -r

Check whether the downloaded files are in your current directory with the

bash$ ls

command. Then unpack the downloaded files with the command

bash$ tar -xzvf pctel-2.2.tar.gz

Once you have unpacked, you will be left with a ~/pctel directory.

Move into that directory with the command

bash$ cd pctel/

There is an (install.sh) installation script that makes the job easier from
now on.

Make this script executable with the command

bash$ chmod +x install.sh

Then, just run the script

bash$ ./install.sh

You will see a number of messages fly by as the appropriate device files/
nodes are made in the /dev/ directory, the driver files are unpacked and then
compiled and loaded into the memory.

Once the process is complete without any error messages (if you get any
errors, proceed to the Troubleshooting section), you will find that a new
directory called lib/ has been created under directory ~/pctel/. This ~/pctel
/lib/ directory contains the drivers/modules that can be loaded into the
kernel.

If you move into the ~/pctel/lib/ directory with

bash$ cd ~/pctel/lib/

and do a bash$ ls, you will find two files there, one called pctel.o and the
other ptserial.o

These are the two modules that are to be loaded to make the modem work.

To load the modules, you will have to issue the commands

bash$ insmod pctel.o

bash$ insmod ptserial.o

from the ~/pctel/lib/ directory.

(The install.sh script automatically does this, so you don't need to do the
insmod part after running the script, but once you reboot, you will have to
load the modules by

bash$ cd `your pctel directory`/lib/

bash$ insmod pctel.o

bash$ insmod ptserial.o )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.2. Installing the pctel-2.4 and the pctel-2.4.7 drivers

The 2.4 driver works for kernel 2.4.0 to kernel 2.4.6 and the 2.4.7 driver
works for kernel 2.4.7 upwards. But the methods of installation for both are
the same, and so I put the instructions under one section. Make sure that you
have the appropriate kernel with the command bash$ uname -r

.

Unpack the downloaded files with the commands

bash$ tar -xzvf `the filename`.tar.gz

You will be now left with a pctel-2.4 or a pctel-2.4.7 directory..move into
that with the command

bash$ cd pctel-2.4/(pctel-2.4.7/ if needed);

Compile the drivers with the command

bash$ make

The next steps require you to be logged in as root.To do so use the command

bash$ su

If you do not get any error messages from the bash$ make, then install the
drivers by the command

bash$ make install

Now you just have to load the drivers (which are in /lib/modules/`your kernel
version`/misc/) with the commands

bash$ insmod pctel

bash$ insmod ptserial

(these can be issued from any directory as the insmod program will
automatically find the drivers pctel.o and ptserial.o in /lib/modules/`your
kernel version`/misc/ )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.3. Installing the pctel-0.8.6 driver

Make sure that you have kernel 2.4.0 or greater by the command

bash$ uname -r

Unpack the downloaded files with the commands

bash$ tar -xzvf 0.8.6.tar

Now you will have a pctel-0.8.6 directory

cd into that with the command

bash$ cd pctel-0.8.6/

Now comes the complicated part.

To proceed further you will have to know what chip set your modem has.See
section 9.4 for more information on this.

Once you have got the name of the chip set, just type one of the following
commands (depending on the chip set)

If you have a PCT 789 chip set,

bash$ ./configure --with-hal=pct789

If you have a CM8738 chip set,

bash$ ./configure -with-hal=cm8738

If you have a chip set integrated with an Intel 810 chip set based
motherboard from Intel,

bash$ ./configure --with-hal=i810intel

If you have a chip set integrated with an Intel 810 chip set based
motherboard from SIS,

bash$ ./configure --with-hal=i810sis

If you have a chip set integrated with an VIA 686a chip set based motherboard
,

bash$ ./configure --with-hal=via686a

The configure script will run and a number of messages will fly past. Check
for any error messages that may fly past. When you have the prompt again,
(and if you have not got any errors), compile the drivers with the command

bash$ make

Then if you do not get any error messages, install the drivers with the
command

bash$ make install

(You will have to be logged in as root for performing the last step)

Then just load the drivers with the commands

bash$ insmod pctel

bash$ insmod ptserial

(these too, like in the case of the pctel-2.4x drivers, can be issued from
any directory as the insmod program will automatically find the drivers 
pctel.o and ptserial.o in /lib/modules/`your kernel version`/misc/ )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Testing the drivers

There is only one way to check whether the drivers are working or not. You
will have to see if your modem is recognized or not. The driver makes a node
for your modem at /dev/ttyS15 , no matter what com port it may be in in M$DOS
/M$ Windows. /dev/ttyS15 is symlinked to /dev/modem and as most programs
search for a modem at /dev/modem first, you will not have to fiddle with the
settings/configs of those programs. The program that I use to test my modem
in linux is minicom. If you have minicom installed, what you have to do is
type

bash$ minicom

in a shell prompt or in a terminal emulator window. If everything is all
right, you will see a Initializing modem message for a few seconds and then a
screen with a blinking cursor. Just type in ATZ in that screen and hit the
enter key. If you see a OK message, then, congratulations, your modem is
working in linux. Type in ATI 3 and hit enter and you will see a PCtel HSP56
MicroModem output. If you get a error message, proceed to the troubleshooting
section. If everything is all right up to now, you can go ahead to configure
your dialer software and connect to the internet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. A few other points that must be noted.

Here are a few more points you might find to be of interest/useful.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.1. Loading the modules at automatically

Well, if you have the pctel.o and ptserial.o files in /lib/modules/`your
kernel version`/misc/ , you can just add these lines to your /etc/
modules.conf file
                                                                             
# for pctel modem                                                            
                                                                             
                                                                             
alias char-major-62 ptserial                                                 
                                                                             
                                                                             
below ptserial pctel                                                         
                                                                             
                                                                             
# country code for pctel modem                                               
                                                                             
options ptserial country_code=1                                              

Run

bash$ depmod -a

after modifying your /etc/modules.conf .

In this case, running ppp would automatically load these modules. You can
also write up some shell-script and put them in your /usr/bin/ directory (I
have a sample of such a script in the appendix section)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.2. Country codes

The ptserial.o driver also lets you specify the country code, though for most
situations, the default of USA is all right. If you still want to specify the
country code, load the ptserial.o module with the command

bash$ insmod ptserial country_code=x

(where x is the country code you want) The list of country codes with the
corresponding country names is listed below.

country_code  country name                                                   
                                                                             
1            USA                                                             
                                                                             
2            FRANCE                                                          
                                                                             
3            GERMANY                                                         
                                                                             
4            ITALY                                                           
                                                                             
5            SWEDEN                                                          
                                                                             
6            UK                                                              
                                                                             
7            JAPAN                                                           
                                                                             
8            AUSTRALIA                                                       
                                                                             
9            SPAIN                                                           
                                                                             
10           TAIWAN                                                          
                                                                             
11           SINGAPORE                                                       
                                                                             
12           KOREA                                                           
                                                                             
13           SWITZERLAND                                                     
                                                                             
14           NORWAY                                                          
                                                                             
15           NETHERLANDS                                                     
                                                                             
16           BELGIUM                                                         
                                                                             
17           CANADA                                                          
                                                                             
18           IRELAND                                                         
                                                                             
19           PORTUGAL                                                        
                                                                             
20           POLAND                                                          
                                                                             
21           HUNGARY                                                         
                                                                             
22           FINLAND                                                         
                                                                             
23           DENMARK                                                         
                                                                             
24           AUSTRIA                                                         
                                                                             
25           S.AFRICA                                                        
                                                                             
26           CTR21 COUNTRIES                                                 
                                                                             
27           CHINA                                                           
                                                                             
28           MALAYSIA                                                        
                                                                             
29           LUXUMBURG                                                       
                                                                             
30           GREECE                                                          
                                                                             
31           ICELAND                                                         
                                                                             
32           NEW ZEALAND                                                     
                                                                             
33           BRAZIL                                                          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.3. Other options while loading the modules.

The other options that you may want to use while loading ptserial.o are:

For all HALs :

- irq: Force to using irq #.

- iobase: Force to use iobase for modem detection.

Only for I810/VAI686A HALs:

- iobase1: Force the iobase 1

NOTE: if you want to set iobase or iobase1, you should use

irq/iobase/iobase1 at same time.

Only for CM8738/PCT789 HALs:

- vendor_id: vendor ID of the modem

- device_id: device ID of the modem.

NOTE: vendor_id and device_id should be used at the same time,

but you cannot combinate this two options with

iobase, iobase prevail to (vendor/device)_id detection.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.4. The sequence of loading/unloading the modules.

When you load the modules, you must load the pctel.o module at first

bash$ insmod pctel

and then the ptserial.o

bash$ insmod ptserial

While unloading, the sequence is reversed,

bash$ rmmod ptserial

bash$ rmmod pctel
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.5. Bugs in the 2.4x versions.

> There is a serious bug in the drivers for the kernel 2.4x The modem often
seems to stop working/hang while dialing out, and you get nothing but a
beeeeeeeeee... sound from the modem speaker and later, the dialer gives a
message No Carrier and disconnects.

This problem has no real workaround , but sometimes unloading and reloading
of the modules work.For that the commands will be (assuming that you have the
modules in /lib/modules/'your kernel version`/misc/ )

bash$ rmmod ptserial

bash$ rmmod pctel

bash$ insmod pctel

bash$ insmod ptserial

NOTE:You must exit from your dialer before trying to unload the drivers,
otherwise you will get a device or resource busy error.

When the problems become too acute, the only solution seems to be rebooting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.6. Directory of the kernel source files

> If you get an error saying /usr/src/linux/include/linux/modversions.h : no
such file or directory, look in your /usr/src directory for the kernel
source. The default location is /usr/src/linux/ but some distributions may
install the files somewhere else.

If you find that the files are somewhere else, say in the directory, /usr/src
/myspecialsource/ , do not try to move the files, just create a symbolic link
with the command

bash$ ln -s /usr/src/myspecialdirectory/ /usr/src/linux/

NOTE: In case of the PCTel-0.8.6 drivers you can also specify the location of
your kernel source by using the option

bash$ --with-kernel-includes=your kernel source directory

during running the configure script.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.7. PnP BIOS issues

As most computers are designed for M$-Windows operating systems, the BIOS of
the computer assumes that you have a what it calls a "PnP OS installed". This
may cause trouble with these types of modems in linux (specially if you have
resource conflicts) and so the best bet is to change the option "PnP OS
installed" to "No". To do these, you have to perform the following steps:

During startup, when you see "Memory Test" messages, CPU information, BIOS
information, just press the DEL key (if that does not work, usually one of
the Function (Fx) keys work..check your manual).

You will be presented with the BIOS configuration menu. Enter the "PNP/PCI
Configuration" section and set the option for "PNP OS Installed" to "NO".
Save the changes you have made, and then reboot.

NOTE: This is not applicable to all BIOSs, and you are advised to consult
your PC documentation if you have a different kind of BIOS configuration
menu.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.8. AMR modems

There are certain PCTel chip set based internal modems that go into AMR slots
instead of the normal PCI slots. Linux support for these types of modems is
not very well developed, though the upcoming drivers may support them. They
are usually identified as HSP MR by the bash$ lspci command.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. FAQ/Troubleshooting

Here is a set of common problems that you may face, along with their possible
solutions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.1. Compiling Problems

8.1.1. I get a /usr/src/linux/include/linux/modversions.h : no such file or
    directory
8.1.2. I get a permission denied error while running bash$ make install

8.1.1. I get a /usr/src/linux/include/linux/modversions.h : no such file or
directory

You need to have your kernel source installed under /usr/src/linux/

If you have the kernel source installed somewhere else, just make the
appropriate symlink. (see section 7.6 for more information) If you have that
installed under /usr/src/linux/ , run

bash$ make config

bash$ make dep

in /usr/src/linux/

8.1.2. I get a permission denied error while running bash$ make install

You need to be logged in as root while doing bash$ make install
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.2. Problems while loading the modules.

8.2.1. I get unresolved symbols.... messages while loading the modules
8.2.2. I get an Operation not permitted error while trying to load the
    drivers

8.2.1. I get unresolved symbols.... messages while loading the modules

Firstly, check that you are loading ptserial.o only after loading pctel.o.

If that does not solve the problem, then probably you have compiled your
modules for the wrong kernel version. Check your kernel version with the
command

bash$ uname -r

and then verify if you have the right files in /usr/src/linux .

Moreover, if you have a running kernel for a uniprocessor machine and have
kernel source in /usr/src/linux/ that is configured for smp support, then you
will get unresolved symbols. A method to check whether you have a smp
supporting source is by running bash$ make menuconfig in /usr/src/linux/ and
seeing whether smp support is selected.

Another way to get rid of the unresolved symbols problem is to use the
fixscript package from [http://www.medres.ch/~jstifter/linux/fixscript.gz]
http://www.medres.ch/~jstifter/linux/fixscript.gz

The procedure is to:

Unpack the downloaded file with

bash$ gzip -d fixscript.gz

Make it executable with

bash$ chmod +x fixscript

Run it with

bash$ ./fixscript old_module.o new_module.o

This will create the new module, which you can try to load with

bash$ insmod new_module.o

If fixscript reports an error like

objcopy: --redefine-sym: Symbol x is target of more than one redefinition

then, fixscript can not help you.

The best method is of course, to fix your kernel source and recompile the
drivers.

Make sure that you do a

bash$ make clean

before recompiling.

8.2.2. I get an Operation not permitted error while trying to load the
drivers

You will have to be logged in as root to load the drivers, otherwise, you can
also type in the

bash$ su

command and then load the drivers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.3. General modem based problems.

8.3.1. I get a /dev/modem no such device error.
8.3.2. My dialer gives a No Carrier error
8.3.3. I get a No Dialtone message.
8.3.4. I get a Modem Busy error.

8.3.1. I get a /dev/modem no such device error.

First of all, check if you really have the drivers loaded. You can do this by
the command

bash$ lsmod

This command lists all the modules that you have loaded, and if you see
something like

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Module                  Size  Used by                                      |
|ptserial               47472   0 (unused)                                  |
|pctel                1211808   0 [ptserial]                                |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

then, the modules are correctly loaded.

If not, just load them and retry.

Also check whether the file /dev/modem is symlinked to /dev/ttyS15

Remember, even if msdos or Microsoft Windows tells you that the modem is in
com 3 or com 4, in linux the driver makes it appear in /dev/ttyS15 (the
Microsoft equivalent of which will be com 16!!)

If you are in doubt, I suggest that you re-create the device files by the
commands

bash$ rmmod ptserial

bash$ rmmod pctel

bash$ rm /dev/ttyS15 /dev/modem

bash$ mknod /dev/ttyS15 c 62 79

NOTE: the numbers after /devttyS15 are distribution specific, and the c 62 79
works for Red Hat Linux. If you have any other distribution, please check
your documentations.

bash$ chgrp uucp /dev/ttyS15

bash$ chmod 666 /dev/ttyS15

bash$ ln -s /dev/ttyS15 /dev/modem

8.3.2. My dialer gives a No Carrier error

This is a bug with the drivers for the kernel 2.4x series

Refer to section 7.5 for more information.

8.3.3. I get a No Dialtone message.

This is usually solved by adding ATX3 to your modem init strings.

8.3.4. I get a Modem Busy error.

First of all, check if the drivers are loaded or not and then see, if any
program is using the modem. If everything seems to be all right, try to find
out the irq of your modem with the command

bash$ lspci -v

If the irq listed is obviously incorrect (like 0) (or does not tally with
your M$-Windows configuration) then either use the setserial command

bash$ setserial /dev/ttyS15 irq * (where * is the irq of your modem)

or fiddle with the BIOS settings (see section 7.7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.4. I have a problem that is not listed in this section. What do I do?

The output of the command

bash$ tail /var/log/messages 

will give you a lot of information if anything goes wrong The normal output
should be something like this

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Nov 26 13:19:31 madcow kernel: PCTel device[00:09.0](0x48) found "PCTel Inc HSP MicroModem 56 (rev 01)", iobase=0xe400, irq=12.                                    |
|Nov 26 13:19:31 madcow kernel: PCTel driver version 0.8.9 [5.05c-4.27.215 (09-14-2001)] (PCT789) (2001-09-07) with MANY_PORTS SHARE_IRQ SERIAL_PCI ISAPNP enabled. |
|Nov 26 13:19:31 madcow kernel: PCTel driver built on [Linux 2.4.14 i686 unknown "2.4.14 <132110>"] with gcc-2.96.                                                  |
|Nov 26 13:19:31 madcow kernel: ttyS15 at 0xe400 (irq = 12) is a PCTel                                                                                              |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Mail the output you get to the <discuss@linmodems.org> list( more on this in
section 9.2.2), and wait for a reply.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9. Appendix

9.1. A sample script file to load the modules.

#! /bin/bash                                                                 
                                                                             
/sbin/insmod /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc/pctel.o                            
                                                                             
/sbin/insmod /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc/ptserial.o                         
                                                                             
# end file                                                                   

You can save this file as modemon and then isuue the commands

bash$ chmod 700 modemon

bash$ cp modemon /usr/bin/modemon

Now, whenever you type in the command bash$ modemon , the modules will get
loaded automatically
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9.2. Web Resources

There are a number of websites, mailing lists that may help you while you try
to configure your modem.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9.2.1. Web sites

The unofficial pctel linux driver site at [http://www.medres.ch/~jstifter/
linux/pctel.html] http://www.medres.ch/~jstifter/linux/pctel.html

The linmodem site (the mother page of all linmodem projets) at [http://
www.linmodems.org] http://www.linmodems.org

A huge lists of lin/winmodems at [ http://www.idir.net/~gromitkc/
winmodem.html ] http://www.idir.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html

A list of AT commands from PCTel at [http://www.pctel.com/atcommands_dev.htm]
http://www.pctel.com/atcommands_dev.htm

The linmodem-howto is available at [http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/
Linmodem-HOWTO.html] http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Linmodem-HOWTO.html.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9.2.2. Mailing lists

> The most important mailing list for linmodems is

<discuss@linmodems.org>

You can subscribe to that list by going to 

[http://www.linmodems.org] http://www.linmodems.org or by sending a blank
e-mail to <discuss-subscribe@linmodems.org> .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9.3. Other drivers that are available

I have seen a number of modem manufacturers (Dax, Zoltrix, Lectron, Tiacom
etc) providing linux drivers for their modems that have PCTel chip sets.

Actually most (if not all) of these drivers are slightly modified form of the
drivers at Jan's site, and so, in most cases, there is no point in
downloading them.

Moreover, in the early days of 2.4x kernels, Thomas Wright had made a PCTel
driver and you can find it in his website at [http://www.geocities.com/
tom_in_rc/] http://www.geocities.com/tom_in_rc/.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9.4. Identifying the chip set of the modem

Well, the best way to identify the chip set of your modem is to open up the
cabinet of the machine., gently pull out the modem from it's slot (only if it
is not integrated into your motherboard), and see the name printed on the
black chip on the modem. (be very very careful while doing these, and make
sure that all power supplies to the system is disconnected, and touch the
ground/a metallic surface before handling any of the circuitry/wires in the
machine). But sometimes, this is not possible and so you will have to adopt
other methods.

The next best method is to run the command

bash$ lspci -n

This command will give you the numeric PCI id of your modem (you may have to
run bash$ lspci to crosscheck the device id) and you will have to submit the
number at [http://www.yourvote.com/pci/ ] http://www.yourvote.com/pci/ Here
you may or may not get the exact name of the chip set you have.

If you do not get the name, you can go through the database at [ http://
www.idir.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html#drivers] http://www.idir.net/~gromitkc/
winmodem.html#drivers and search for an entry on your modem.

You can also ask at the local LUGs or ask your friends or even (a bad way, no
doubt), ask the support personnel of your modem manufacturer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9.5. GNU Free Documentation License

Version 1.1, March 2000

   
    Copyright (C) 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place, Suite
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