Need some help with 3Com (NON-Winmodem) problem

[Jito463]

Ok, here's the deal. I've been trying to get my 3Com/USR modem to work under Mandrake 8.1. It has built in support for model 5610, but I've got model 5613. There are beta drivers on USR's website, but I can't seem to get them to work. I contacted USR and they replied with some instructions on how to install the modem, but they're not working. Here are the instructions they gave me (just the commands as I'm sure you know what they do already):

rm /dev/modem
cd /proc
cat pci
setserial /dev/ttyS1 irq # port 0x#### autoconfig
ln /dev/ttyS1 /dev/modem


Alright, now, most of that works UNTIL I attempt to link my modem to /dev/modem. I had to alter that to ttyS3 as the other ports were already in use, but every time I try to link it says Operation is not allowed. Also, and I don't know if this is important or not, but it listed my I/O as 0xa400 [0xa407]. Note the second address. Here's the log from my terminal session:

[root@localhost proc]# setserial /dev/ttyS1 irq 10 port 0xa400 autoconfig Cannot set serial info: Address already in use
[root@localhost proc]# setserial /dev/ttyS4 irq 10 port 0xa400 autoconfig Cannot set serial info: Address already in use
[root@localhost proc]# setserial /dev/ttyS3 irq 10 port 0xa400 autoconfig
[root@localhost proc]# ln /dev/ttyS3 /dev/modem
ln: creating hard link `/dev/modem' to `/dev/ttyS3': Operation not permitted
[root@localhost proc]# rm /dev/modem
rm: cannot remove `/dev/modem': No such file or directory
[root@localhost proc]# setserial /dev/ttyS3 irq 10 port 0xa400 autoconfig
[root@localhost proc]# ln /dev/ttyS3 /dev/modem
ln: creating hard link `/dev/modem' to `/dev/ttyS3': Operation not permitted
[root@localhost proc]# setserial /dev/ttyS2 irq 10 port 0xa400 autoconfig
Cannot set serial info: Address already in use
[root@localhost proc]# setserial /dev/ttyS5 irq 10 port 0xa400 autoconfig
/dev/ttyS5: No such file or directory
[root@localhost proc]# setserial /dev/ttyS4 irq 10 port 0xa400 autoconfig
Cannot set serial info: Address already in use
[root@localhost proc]# setserial /dev/ttyS3 irq 10 port 0xa400 autoconfig
[root@localhost proc]# rm /dev/modem
rm: cannot remove `/dev/modem': No such file or directory
[root@localhost proc]# rm /dev/modem/
rm: cannot remove `/dev/modem': No such file or directory
[root@localhost proc]# cd /dev/modem
bash: cd: /dev/modem: No such file or directory
[root@localhost proc]# ln /dev/ttyS3 /dev/modem
ln: creating hard link `/dev/modem/ttyS3' to `/dev/ttyS3': Operation not permitted
[root@localhost proc]#

Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I currently am trying to get my sound card and modem to work under Linux, but my modem is the most important. If I can't get it to work under Linux, it's bye-bye Linux. And no, I'm not going to buy another modem, as that one cost me $100 (and it's well worth it too, I might add) and works just fine (except under Linux of course). Thanks in advance.

[ 06 March 2002: Message edited by: Jito463 ]

[Jito463]

Ok, thought of something else that could be part of the problem. My modem is on a shared slot with the onboard Promise controller on my mobo. This is the only slot I can get it working properly in without conflicting with my sound card (possibly a power issue, but that's unrelated to this problem). Could this cause a problem with Linux recognizing it? Thanks in advance.

[mdwatts]

If the modem is sharing a irq with another slot, then if possible, try moving to another one.

With all these 'Operation not permitted" and 'No such file or directory' errors, are you doing all this as root?

I just looked over your question again...

Try a softlink instead of a hard.

ln -s /dev/ttyS1 /dev/modem

[bugfix]

Run as root. Might help.

[Jito463]

Thanks for the replies. If you looked at the log I posted, I did run this as root. I also tried running it from a user account, and as root from a user account. Same problem. I will attempt the softlink suggestion to see if that helps. And as far as moving it goes, the reason it's in the spot it's in, is because when I move it to one of my other 2 open slots closer to my sound card, they tend to cancel each other out (like I said, I believe this is an issue with my power supply, but as I got it working where it is I just haven't taken the time to track it down further). I'll let you know if the softlink works, though. Thanks.

[Jito463]

Ok, I attempted to do a softlink, and unfortunately it still wouldn't work. It allowed me to make the link doing it that way, but the modem still wouldn't work properly. I attempted to move my modem, and the previous problems I had been referring to popped back up. Random non-detection of my sound card and modem (mostly modem). The error I'm getting is almost like what happens when you use the wrong drivers in Windows. It sees there's a modem there, but doesn't know how to communicate with it. I'm about 2 steps away from fdisking and creating about 10GB more space for Winblows. Anyone else have a suggestion?

[ 08 March 2002: Message edited by: Jito463 ]

[mdwatts]

If the symlink now works, which one of those above steps is failing?

Now this is a 3Com/USR modem that is known to work in Linux?