MINICOM "NO CARRIER" message

[MacDuff]

I have a USB Robotics modem that I have been trying to get working using the GNOME Dialup Tool because this will be on a system whose owner is completely computer illiterate, even worse than I am.

I realize that this posting is not exactly on topic but close, and I am desperate, so here is hoping ...

The modem powers up and the data light comes on but the connection attempt fails part way through the login because the log reports:
Unable to run /usr/sbin/pppd
Check permissions, or spedify a "PPPD Path" option in wvdial.conf.

I tried the connection method you outline above and when I enter "wvdial" the terminal reports:
WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.60
Cannot open /dev/ttyACMO: No such file or directory

Can you shed some light on this and can you tell me how to get GNOME Dialup tool to work because as I say, the ultimate user needs something really simple to use.

Thanx

[ModelM]

What is the model number of the modem?

[MacDuff]

It is a USR Model 5637, and is supposed to support Linux.

[ModelM]

I tried the connection method you outline above and when I enter "wvdial" the terminal reports:
WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.60
Cannot open /dev/ttyACMO: No such file or directory

The last character of the device name should be the digit zero, not the letter O.

[MacDuff]

What a good eye you have! Great catch, my bad.

I think I got a connection after editing the conf file. Here is the output:

mac@T-61:~$ sudo wvdial
[sudo] password for mac:
--> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.60
--> Cannot get information for serial port.
--> Initializing modem.
--> Sending: ATZ
ATZ
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Sending: ATDT250 388 5747
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT250 388 5747
CONNECT 48000/ARQ/V90/LAPM/V42BIS
--> Carrier detected. Starting PPP immediately.
--> Starting pppd at Fri Sep 26 20:53:23 2008
--> Pid of pppd: 16576
--> Using interface ppp0
--> local IP address 207.102.100.151
--> remote IP address 207.102.100.3
--> primary DNS address 204.174.64.1
--> secondary DNS address 204.174.65.1

Does the above look right to you or should there be more data?

Now the (silly) question is, how do I work with that. I tried to run Firefox but pages were not found.

I assume that the connection must be converted into a network connection so that Kmail and Firefox can use the connection. With Windows dialers the procedure was to create a dial-up network connection that, once it connected to the ISP, started the network automatically and away we went. With linux there is obviously more involved.

Could you explain the rest of the procedure to me please so I can set up GNOME ppp so my friend can use email and web browsing?

Mac

[ModelM]

The dialog from wvdial you have posted looks ideal. You have received an IP address & the DNS server addresses. You have connected to your ISP.

Make sure that no other type of networking (ethernet, wireless) is enabled, that might be why Firefox failed to connect. The other types of networking, being faster, will take priority.

[MacDuff]

ModelM, I thank you.

Yes, I have a lan on all my computers and wireless lan on the laptop that I was using to test the modem for my friend. I turned off the wireless but did not think to disable the network settings.

When I have time later today, I will try that and it sounds like this problem is solved.

I may, however still have a problem with permissions using GNOME ppp. I seem to recall that you do not use that so I may have to create another thread to deal with that.

Anyway, you have been a BIG help to get me this far.

Mac

[ModelM]

I'd also recommend changing the init string to "ATZ4" in order to ensure hardware handshaking.

In this modem the init string "ATZ" might result in hardware handshaking being enabled or it might not. The result is dependent on other settings in the modem (check out "ATY" & "ATZ" in the reference section of the user guide at the USR website) .

An init string of "ATZ4", however, will always set the modem for hardware handshaking.

[MacDuff]

Yes I noticed that the log says it is sending ATZ but the wvdial.conf has ATZ4 as the command.

Can you explain why this would be? It looks as though there may be another conf file somewhere.

When I do get a connection, I cannot use Firefox because it does not find a network connection, I have played around with network connections [System] [Administration] [Network] and tried to create new settings for point to point connections but the settings do not stick.

There are several confusing things about this:
On the General Tab,
Connection type offers only "Serial Modem" or PPPoE or GPRS/UMTS
I would not have thought that a USB modem would fit any of these categories. Am I wrong?
If I select Serial modem the system does not seem to find it
If I select PPPoE the modem tab shows eth0 as the only choice.

I am really getting confused. Should things be this difficult? I am not the most brilliant man on earth but I do quite well with DOS and Windows OS.

I only have a couple of days to solve this and if I cannot I will have to re-install a Windows OS on my friend's computer and eat a heck of a lot of crow.

[ModelM]

The setting "serial modem" would be correct. You may need to:

sudo ln -s /dev/modem /dev/ttyACM0

to put a link to the modem in a place where the dialer will look for it.