marc wrote:

> The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
> out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
>
> I've tried both wvdial and KPPP in KDE. When I boot into XP, the modem
> connects successfully 100% of the time - so the wiring, hardware and ISP
> are fine.
>
> I read somewhere that nic interrupts might clash, so I've ifdown'd that,
> and I've also tried lowering the line speed don to 9600.
>
> Any suggestions on how to improve things?
>
> I'm on 2.3.13 etch.
>
Hardware please -- and do you load a module for the modem? If you do a clean
boot without loading the nic module, do you get better results? Sounds like
an iffy driver, so give us the modem hardware and driver.

Maybe you could tell us what kind of modem you've got...

The last time I used my modem is almost a year ago. I got it to work by
using its ALSA driver, but I think I remember that I experienced
problems with wvdial. Some carrier detect problem, badly documented
somewhere on the insane wvdial homepage. I think I got around it by just
using 'ppp on' or something like that. But all of this may not apply to
your modem, of course.

Koen

On Sun, 2005-10-16 at 19:06 +0100, marc wrote:
> The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
> out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
>
> I've tried both wvdial and KPPP in KDE. When I boot into XP, the modem
> connects successfully 100% of the time - so the wiring, hardware and ISP
> are fine.
>
> I read somewhere that nic interrupts might clash, so I've ifdown'd that,
> and I've also tried lowering the line speed don to 9600.
>
> Any suggestions on how to improve things?
>
> I'm on 2.3.13 etch.
>
> --
> Best,
> Marc
>
>


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Have you tried different kernels?

--- Koen Vermeer wrote:

> Maybe you could tell us what kind of modem you've got...
>
> The last time I used my modem is almost a year ago. I got it to work by
> using its ALSA driver, but I think I remember that I experienced
> problems with wvdial. Some carrier detect problem, badly documented
> somewhere on the insane wvdial homepage. I think I got around it by just
> using 'ppp on' or something like that. But all of this may not apply to
> your modem, of course.
>
> Koen
>
> On Sun, 2005-10-16 at 19:06 +0100, marc wrote:
> > The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
> > out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
> >
> > I've tried both wvdial and KPPP in KDE. When I boot into XP, the modem
> > connects successfully 100% of the time - so the wiring, hardware and ISP
>
> > are fine.
> >
> > I read somewhere that nic interrupts might clash, so I've ifdown'd that,
>
> > and I've also tried lowering the line speed don to 9600.
> >
> > Any suggestions on how to improve things?
> >
> > I'm on 2.3.13 etch.
> >
> > --
> > Best,
> > Marc
> >
> >
>
>
> --
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> listmaster@lists.debian.org
>
>


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Ralph Bacolod said...

> --- Koen Vermeer wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 2005-10-16 at 19:06 +0100, marc wrote:
> > > The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
> > > out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
> > >
> > > I've tried both wvdial and KPPP in KDE. When I boot into XP, the modem
> > > connects successfully 100% of the time - so the wiring, hardware and ISP
> >
> > > are fine.
> > >
> > > I read somewhere that nic interrupts might clash, so I've ifdown'd that,
> >
> > > and I've also tried lowering the line speed don to 9600.
> > >
> > > Any suggestions on how to improve things?
> > >
> > > I'm on 2.3.13 etch.
>
> > Maybe you could tell us what kind of modem you've got...
> >
> > The last time I used my modem is almost a year ago. I got it to work by
> > using its ALSA driver, but I think I remember that I experienced
> > problems with wvdial. Some carrier detect problem, badly documented
> > somewhere on the insane wvdial homepage. I think I got around it by just
> > using 'ppp on' or something like that. But all of this may not apply to
> > your modem, of course.
>
> Have you tried different kernels?

No. I'm not keen to do so either. In any case, which one?

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Koen Vermeer said...

> On Sun, 2005-10-16 at 19:06 +0100, marc wrote:
> > The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
> > out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
> >
> > I've tried both wvdial and KPPP in KDE. When I boot into XP, the modem
> > connects successfully 100% of the time - so the wiring, hardware and ISP
> > are fine.
> >
> > I read somewhere that nic interrupts might clash, so I've ifdown'd that,
> > and I've also tried lowering the line speed don to 9600.
> >
> > Any suggestions on how to improve things?
> >
> > I'm on 2.3.13 etch.

> Maybe you could tell us what kind of modem you've got...

Sorry, I posted before disappearing for the night, and realised I should
have provided more info.

The modem is:

0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6
Family) AC'97Modem Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI]: Unknown device 007a
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
I/O ports at e200 [size=256]
I/O ports at e300 [size=128]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

PCI id:
0000:00:1e.3 0703: 8086:266d (rev 04)

(which is supported here, as an alternative,
http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hsf/index.php
I haven't tried the free version yet, though, because although the docs
mention Debian, there isn't a package, only the sources.)

I'm using sl-modem-daemon. My location is the UK, which is what I have
selected in the sl-modem-daemon configuration.

> The last time I used my modem is almost a year ago. I got it to work by
> using its ALSA driver, but I think I remember that I experienced
> problems with wvdial. Some carrier detect problem, badly documented
> somewhere on the insane wvdial homepage. I think I got around it by just
> using 'ppp on' or something like that. But all of this may not apply to
> your modem, of course.

Yeah, it's a shame. It's just a lot easier to go into XP! wvdial is
okay, but ppp looks horribly complicated - with no guarantee that things
will work. (I'm going to try using pppconfig that someone suggested on
the .user list.) But this is just a carrier detect problem - hardly
modem rocket science. Everything else works, and we know that all the
hardware works.

Is there a "carrier sniffer" out there? Since modems have been around
since the beginning of time, it would seem an obvious diagnostic tool to
have been developed. After all, there is a carrier there. Heck, the
software has even found it a few times.

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Marc


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Try using kppp. It is a lot easier to use and configure since it is
graphical.

On Mon, 2005-10-17 at 14:18 +0100, marc wrote:
> Koen Vermeer said...
>
> > On Sun, 2005-10-16 at 19:06 +0100, marc wrote:
> > > The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
> > > out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
> > >
> > > I've tried both wvdial and KPPP in KDE. When I boot into XP, the modem
> > > connects successfully 100% of the time - so the wiring, hardware and ISP
> > > are fine.
> > >
> > > I read somewhere that nic interrupts might clash, so I've ifdown'd that,
> > > and I've also tried lowering the line speed don to 9600.
> > >
> > > Any suggestions on how to improve things?
> > >
> > > I'm on 2.3.13 etch.
>
> > Maybe you could tell us what kind of modem you've got...
>
> Sorry, I posted before disappearing for the night, and realised I should
> have provided more info.
>
> The modem is:
>
> 0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6
> Family) AC'97Modem Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI]: Unknown device 007a
> Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
> I/O ports at e200 [size=256]
> I/O ports at e300 [size=128]
> Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
>
> PCI id:
> 0000:00:1e.3 0703: 8086:266d (rev 04)
>
> (which is supported here, as an alternative,
> http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hsf/index.php
> I haven't tried the free version yet, though, because although the docs
> mention Debian, there isn't a package, only the sources.)
>
> I'm using sl-modem-daemon. My location is the UK, which is what I have
> selected in the sl-modem-daemon configuration.
>
> > The last time I used my modem is almost a year ago. I got it to work by
> > using its ALSA driver, but I think I remember that I experienced
> > problems with wvdial. Some carrier detect problem, badly documented
> > somewhere on the insane wvdial homepage. I think I got around it by just
> > using 'ppp on' or something like that. But all of this may not apply to
> > your modem, of course.
>
> Yeah, it's a shame. It's just a lot easier to go into XP! wvdial is
> okay, but ppp looks horribly complicated - with no guarantee that things
> will work. (I'm going to try using pppconfig that someone suggested on
> the .user list.) But this is just a carrier detect problem - hardly
> modem rocket science. Everything else works, and we know that all the
> hardware works.
Try using kppp. It is a lot easier to use and configure since it is
graphical.
>
> Is there a "carrier sniffer" out there? Since modems have been around
> since the beginning of time, it would seem an obvious diagnostic tool to
> have been developed. After all, there is a carrier there. Heck, the
> software has even found it a few times.
>
I would try connecting to the same ISP from the same machine running
windows to eliminate the modem drivers if you have a dual boot. I would
try connecting to a different ISP from linux if there is any you can
try. Those would be the first 2 tests I tried.
> --
> Best,
> Marc
>
>


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Robert Goley said...

> On Mon, 2005-10-17 at 14:18 +0100, marc wrote:
> > Koen Vermeer said...
> >
> > > On Sun, 2005-10-16 at 19:06 +0100, marc wrote:
> > > > The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
> > > > out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
> > > >
> > > > I've tried both wvdial and KPPP in KDE. When I boot into XP, the modem
> > > > connects successfully 100% of the time - so the wiring, hardware and ISP
> > > > are fine.
> > > >
> > > > I read somewhere that nic interrupts might clash, so I've ifdown'd that,
> > > > and I've also tried lowering the line speed don to 9600.
> > > >
> > > > Any suggestions on how to improve things?
> > > >
> > > > I'm on 2.3.13 etch.
> >
> > > Maybe you could tell us what kind of modem you've got...
> >
> > Sorry, I posted before disappearing for the night, and realised I should
> > have provided more info.
> >
> > The modem is:
> >
> > 0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6
> > Family) AC'97Modem Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
> > Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI]: Unknown device 007a
> > Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
> > I/O ports at e200 [size=256]
> > I/O ports at e300 [size=128]
> > Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
> >
> > PCI id:
> > 0000:00:1e.3 0703: 8086:266d (rev 04)
> >
> > (which is supported here, as an alternative,
> > http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hsf/index.php
> > I haven't tried the free version yet, though, because although the docs
> > mention Debian, there isn't a package, only the sources.)
> >
> > I'm using sl-modem-daemon. My location is the UK, which is what I have
> > selected in the sl-modem-daemon configuration.
> >
> > > The last time I used my modem is almost a year ago. I got it to work by
> > > using its ALSA driver, but I think I remember that I experienced
> > > problems with wvdial. Some carrier detect problem, badly documented
> > > somewhere on the insane wvdial homepage. I think I got around it by just
> > > using 'ppp on' or something like that. But all of this may not apply to
> > > your modem, of course.
> >
> > Yeah, it's a shame. It's just a lot easier to go into XP! wvdial is
> > okay, but ppp looks horribly complicated - with no guarantee that things
> > will work. (I'm going to try using pppconfig that someone suggested on
> > the .user list.) But this is just a carrier detect problem - hardly
> > modem rocket science. Everything else works, and we know that all the
> > hardware works.

> Try using kppp. It is a lot easier to use and configure since it is
> graphical.

Yes, I mentioned above that I had tried KPPP.

> > Is there a "carrier sniffer" out there? Since modems have been around
> > since the beginning of time, it would seem an obvious diagnostic tool to
> > have been developed. After all, there is a carrier there. Heck, the
> > software has even found it a few times.
> >
> I would try connecting to the same ISP from the same machine running
> windows to eliminate the modem drivers if you have a dual boot. I would
> try connecting to a different ISP from linux if there is any you can
> try. Those would be the first 2 tests I tried.

Yup, done both. 100% success in XP, two connects in about 100 tries in
Linux. I've also configured pppd via pppconfig and I'm still failing.

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Marc


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On Mon, 2005-10-17 at 22:42 +0100, marc wrote:

> > > Sorry, I posted before disappearing for the night, and realised I should
> > > have provided more info.
> > >
> > > The modem is:
> > >
> > > 0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6
> > > Family) AC'97Modem Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
> > > Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI]: Unknown device 007a
> > > Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
> > > I/O ports at e200 [size=256]
> > > I/O ports at e300 [size=128]
> > > Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
> > >
> > > PCI id:
> > > 0000:00:1e.3 0703: 8086:266d (rev 04)

> > > the .user list.) But this is just a carrier detect problem - hardly
> > > modem rocket science. Everything else works, and we know that all the
> > > hardware works.
>
> > Try using kppp. It is a lot easier to use and configure since it is
> > graphical.
>
> Yes, I mentioned above that I had tried KPPP.

>
> Yup, done both. 100% success in XP, two connects in about 100 tries in
> Linux. I've also configured pppd via pppconfig and I'm still failing.

I see the same problem on a HP nx6120 laptop I was setting up for my
parents at the weekend.

I listened to it dial from another phone this morning, and the system at
the other end picked up OK and they tried and failed to negotiate.
Using the same parameters with a pcmcia modem worked fine.

So, you aren't alone, but I can't offer a solution to the problem :-(

Regards,
Andrew McMillan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew @ Catalyst .Net .NZ Ltd, PO Box 11-053, Manners St, Wellington
WEB: http://catalyst.net.nz/ PHYS: Level 2, 150-154 Willis St
DDI: +64(4)803-2201 MOB: +64(272)DEBIAN OFFICE: +64(4)499-2267
BOFH excuse #237:
Plate voltage too low on demodulator tube
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


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(second try to post this)

marc wrote:
:
:> > The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
:> > out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
:> >
:> > I'm on 2.3.13 etch.

I guess you mean 2.6.13... kernel version is quite important,
see below.

:
: Sorry, I posted before disappearing for the night, and realised I should
: have provided more info.
:
: The modem is:
:
: 0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6
: Family) AC'97Modem Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
: Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI]: Unknown device 007a

Ok, Intel AC97 modem. I guess you are using the snd-intel-8x0m kernel
module (or whatever it's called, I don't have access to my laptop ATM).

:
: I'm using sl-modem-daemon. My location is the UK, which is what I have
: selected in the sl-modem-daemon configuration.

I assume you use the ALSA method of the sl-modem-daemon. In this case,
the reason for your failures might be that the modem is not "off the
hook". See, the kernel/ALSA developers decided to add an additional
"off-hook" mixer control to the modem driver. This appeared in kernel
2.6.12. By default, this mixer control is muted which means that the
modem will just not work. You first have to take the modem "off the
hook", e.g. by running

alsamixer -D hw:1

If this shows an "off-hook" control, press "M" to unmute the control
and exit alsamixer. Afterwards, your modem should be able to connect.

At least this solution worked for me on an IBM ThinkPad R32 (2658BQG).
If you want to automate this, you can put a call to amixer into your
dial-scripts, or into the slmodem-startup-scripts... but I forgot the
exact syntax. Might be "amixer -D hw:1 sset Off-hook unmute".

Good luck,
Frank


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Frank Otto said...
> (second try to post this)
>
> marc wrote:
> :
> :> > The laptop modem is dialing and exchanging with the ISP. Then, 24 times
> :> > out of 25, all I get is 'NO CARRIER'. Very occasionally, I connect
> :> >
> :> > I'm on 2.3.13 etch.
>
> I guess you mean 2.6.13... kernel version is quite important,
> see below.

Oops! Yes, 2.6.13

> : Sorry, I posted before disappearing for the night, and realised I should
> : have provided more info.
> :
> : The modem is:
> :
> : 0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6
> : Family) AC'97Modem Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
> : Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI]: Unknown device 007a
>
> Ok, Intel AC97 modem. I guess you are using the snd-intel-8x0m kernel
> module (or whatever it's called, I don't have access to my laptop ATM).

Yes, it loads snd_intel8x0m

> : I'm using sl-modem-daemon. My location is the UK, which is what I have
> : selected in the sl-modem-daemon configuration.
>
> I assume you use the ALSA method of the sl-modem-daemon.

I installed the package, but the only option was country selection.

The brief readme is rather unclear, but I think that the package
defaults to ALSA. Since I haven't done anything else with it, I presume
that's what it's using.

As I mentioned, I have managed to connect - twice in a few hundred
attempts - so it works of a fashion, albeit a useless one.

> In this case,
> the reason for your failures might be that the modem is not "off the
> hook".

> See, the kernel/ALSA developers decided

Uh oh...

> to add an additional
> "off-hook" mixer control to the modem driver. This appeared in kernel
> 2.6.12. By default, this mixer control is muted which means that the
> modem will just not work. You first have to take the modem "off the
> hook", e.g. by running
>
> alsamixer -D hw:1

At first I thought that was a very silly idea, but from what you say, it
looks like "off hook " was added to fix a problem with modems that don't
automatically activate the line - perhaps only in some countries.

My modem "off hooks" quite happily when I ATDT

BTW, I see that ALSA devices can be found by:
# cat /proc/asound/cards
The numbers at the left hand side are the card numbers so you can get to
the modem "soundcard" via:
# alsamixer -c 1
(the regular soundcard being 0)

> If this shows an "off-hook" control

Yes, it does.

> press "M" to unmute the control and exit alsamixer.

> Afterwards, your modem should be able to connect.

The modem has always been able to dial, and the ISP answers, it's after
that that things go pear shaped.

In any case, what I found with "off hook" is that it does exactly that -
it activates the line and so removes the dial tone. Thus, when I try to
pon, the script fails due to the lack of dial tone.

In fact, if I leave alsamixer open, and let the modem dial normally -
starting with "off hook" muted - I can watch "off hook" unmute as the
modem activates the line, them mute again when it fails to connect.
While that's precisely what I'd expect to see, I was surprised to see
alsamixer do this.

> At least this solution worked for me on an IBM ThinkPad R32 (2658BQG).
> If you want to automate this, you can put a call to amixer into your
> dial-scripts, or into the slmodem-startup-scripts... but I forgot the
> exact syntax. Might be "amixer -D hw:1 sset Off-hook unmute".

I'd certainly like to know why the driver doesn't produce any sound -
now that I through the modem's speaker.

Thanks for the info, Frank. That's certainly uncovered a whole new bunch
of stuff that I didn't know existed. Why they have made it so obscure is
another question!

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Marc


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On 10/19/05, marc wrote:

> The modem has always been able to dial, and the ISP answers, it's after
> that that things go pear shaped.
>
> In any case, what I found with "off hook" is that it does exactly that -
> it activates the line and so removes the dial tone. Thus, when I try to
> pon, the script fails due to the lack of dial tone.
To avoid dilatone problem add x1 to your modem init string.
--
L.V.Gandhi
http://lvgandhi.tripod.com/
linux user No.205042

L.V.Gandhi said...
> On 10/19/05, marc wrote:
>
> > The modem has always been able to dial, and the ISP answers, it's after
> > that that things go pear shaped.
> >
> > In any case, what I found with "off hook" is that it does exactly that -
> > it activates the line and so removes the dial tone. Thus, when I try to
> > pon, the script fails due to the lack of dial tone.

> To avoid dilatone problem add x1 to your modem init string.

Er, not in this case, since the modem shouldn't grab the line until
asked. There is no need to disable dial tone detection - it won't make
any difference. The problem is not the dial tone, but the fact that the
dial tone has "expired", because no dialing has taken place during the
POTS dial period. This problem is caused by ALSA. More specifically with
ALSA startup when KDE starts.

--
Best,
Marc


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