Linmodems Mailing list Archives

Mailing-List: contact discuss-help@linmodems.org; run by ezmlm
Sender: marv
Message-ID: <3B539687.65EC0F9C@rcn.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 20:36:07 -0500
From: Marvin Stodolsky <stodolsk@rcn.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: Mack Stevenson <mackstevenson@hotmail.com>
CC: discuss@linmodems.org
Subject: Re: Persistent problem with MiniPCI Lucent winmodem in a Thinkpad T21
References: <F20o95EFk2H3b98Ktdh000051ef@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Mack

RE:
=======
Inspite of all this - and perhaps only to drive me crazy! :-) -, the
modem has always worked occasionally: perhaps 3 out of 10 times might be
a correct statistic...
=======
shows your modem + ppp setup per se is OK.
The failures indicate something sporadic is occurring.

Suggestions:
 
0) Use AT &F (hard reset) before other Init strings

Simplify your System as much as possible by:
$ ifconfig eth0 down 
$ rmmod ModuleNames
$  /etc/init.d/pcmcia stop
Stop as many running programs as you can
Stop sound support
Check /etc/cron/*  for any periodic actions, such as "rmmod -a"
which might interfere with modem function.
Then check if modem stability improves.  If so, judiciouly add functions
back to identify onset of the conflict.

2) If not already, upgrade your PPP to at least version 2.4

3) Look through your /var/log/messages sections representing successes
and failures and try to identify the differences.

MarvS


> Stevenson wrote:
> 
> Dear list members,
> 
> First, let me apologize for the length of this message. I only hope you
> regard it as a testament to my effort in getting this piece of hardware
> _working_! :-)
> 
> I am running Slackware 8 with a 2.4.6 kernel installed. My laptop is a
> Thinkpad T21 (2648-8AU) with a built-in MiniPCI "combo card" with a Intel
> NIC and a Xircom winmodem. At least three persons with the same computer and
> combo card, using 2.4.x kernels and the same driver, reported successfully
> using their winmodems under Linux when I asked for help in the
> linux-thinkpad mailing-list a few months ago.
> 
> I have successfully compiled the driver ltmodem-5.99b, without any
> unresolved symbols. I installed it and created the /dev/ttyLT0 device node
> using the scripts provided in the package.
> 
> I have since long made the script /etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia unexecutable, so that
> I am sure that pcmcia-cs isn't causing any problems.
> 
> I am used to run wvdial to handle the PPP connection to my ISP, so I
> downloaded the latest version (1.42) and, after running
> 
> # modprobe lt_serial
> 
> , ran
> 
> # wvdialconf /etc/wvdialconf
> 
> . Before doing so, I created a symlink from /dev/ttyLT0 to /dev/ttyS14. The
> modem was detected correctly, and I filled in the correct details in the
> wvdial configuration file.
> 
> If I run 'wvdial', everything goes fine until the modem "handshake" (I think
> that is the correct name when referring to the "noisy" period after the
> number has been dialed). Then, wvdial stops waiting for a carrier, and
> outputs lots of garbage to the screen. In the middle of that garbage, the
> line
> 
> Carrier detected. Waiting for login prompt...
> 
> can be found. This line is followed by yet more garbage until I kill the
> process with Ctrl-C.
> 
> I have a PCMCIA modem, which, if I enable pcmcia-cs at boot time, can be
> used by wvdial without any problems at all, using the same phone line/socket
> and ISP account. When I use that modem, no "garbage" is output and a
> connection is successfully established. So I am pretty sure that this
> problem hasn't got to do with either my ISP's login procedure or phone line.
> (I also tried appending "stupid mode=yes" in the wvdial configuration file,
> but this just results in pppd being started, and no IP address is given to
> my computer by the peer. After a while, the connection is dropped.)
> 
> [I don't try to use the winmodem after having used the PCMCIA one - I reboot
> to make sure that the PCMCIA subsystem is completely "off".]
> 
> Today I noticed that 'cat /proc/interrupts' showed, after wvdial had dialed
> the number and "handshaked", that the 'ltmodem' was sharing a PCI IRQ with
> the USB subsystem. So, hopeful that this might help, I changed the IRQ
> settings in the laptop's BIOS, so that all four PCI interrupts used
> different IRQs. After rebooting, 'cat /proc/interrupts' showed ltmodem and
> the USB subsystem using different IRQs, as I expected. Yet, the problem
> persists.
> 
> Inspite of all this - and perhaps only to drive me crazy! :-) -, the modem
> has always worked occasionally: perhaps 3 out of 10 times might be a correct
> statistic...
> 
> This also happened with the same driver (and an older one, 5.78x) with a
> 2.2.19 kernel on the same laptop, but it didn't bother me because I could
> always use the PCMCIA modem. Unfortunately, now I need the two PCMCIA
> sockets for something else... :-(
> 
> I have also tried running the modem with the driver for the built-in NIC
> (eepro100) (a)compiled into the kernel, (b) as a loadable module and (c)
> without having it compiled, at all; but this didn't change anything.
> 
> Can any of the more knowledgeable ltmodem users offer any advice to this
> desperate fellow-traveller?
> 
> Thank you very much for any input on this issue.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Mack Stevenson
> _________________________________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
Webmaster: Russell Nelson
Last modified: Wed Jul 30 11:02:43 EDT 2003