Thanks for the reply John. Below are details from my log files. pointers to what I should be reading or exploring further are most welcome.
>>>>> Graham Williams wrote to debian-user on 22 Nov 1999 08:02:22 +1100: Graham> I just used "apt-get dist-upgrade" to move from a slink to Graham> a potato ... "pon" (as in pppd) is now failing ... Graham> chat[...]: Can't get terminal parameters: Input/output error. These are the messages I get: ======================================================================== Nov 22 21:00:33 inca pppd[254]: pppd 2.3.10 started by root, uid 0 Nov 22 21:00:34 inca chat[255]: Can't get terminal parameters: Input/output error Nov 22 21:00:34 inca pppd[254]: Connect script failed Nov 22 21:00:35 inca pppd[254]: Exit. ======================================================================== Below is a successful connection when I had slink installed a few days ago, followed by its termination. During this particular session I downloaded and installed potato and then tried to reconnect. ======================================================================== Nov 18 19:17:47 inca pppd[2947]: pppd 2.3.5 started by XXX, uid 1000 Nov 18 19:17:48 inca chat[2948]: abort on (BUSY) Nov 18 19:17:48 inca chat[2948]: abort on (NO CARRIER) Nov 18 19:17:48 inca chat[2948]: abort on (VOICE) Nov 18 19:17:48 inca chat[2948]: abort on (NO DIALTONE) Nov 18 19:17:48 inca chat[2948]: abort on (NO ANSWER) Nov 18 19:17:48 inca chat[2948]: send (ATZ^M) Nov 18 19:17:49 inca chat[2948]: expect (OK) Nov 18 19:17:49 inca chat[2948]: ATZ^M^M Nov 18 19:17:49 inca chat[2948]: OK Nov 18 19:17:49 inca chat[2948]: -- got it Nov 18 19:17:49 inca chat[2948]: send (ATDTXXXXXXXX^M) Nov 18 19:17:49 inca chat[2948]: expect (CONNECT) Nov 18 19:17:49 inca chat[2948]: ^M Nov 18 19:18:08 inca chat[2948]: ATDTXXXXXXXX^M^M Nov 18 19:18:08 inca chat[2948]: CONNECT Nov 18 19:18:08 inca chat[2948]: -- got it Nov 18 19:18:08 inca chat[2948]: send (\d) Nov 18 19:18:09 inca pppd[2947]: Serial connection established. Nov 18 19:18:10 inca pppd[2947]: Using interface ppp0 Nov 18 19:18:10 inca pppd[2947]: Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/modem Nov 18 19:18:18 inca pppd[2947]: Remote message: Nov 18 19:18:18 inca pppd[2947]: Cannot determine ethernet address for proxy ARP Nov 18 19:18:18 inca pppd[2947]: local IP address XXX.XX.X.XX Nov 18 19:18:18 inca pppd[2947]: remote IP address XXX.XX.X.X Nov 19 19:29:55 inca pppd[2947]: Terminating on signal 15. Nov 19 19:29:55 inca pppd[2947]: Connection terminated. Nov 19 19:29:55 inca pppd[2947]: Exit. Nov 19 20:17:13 inca pppd[29861]: pppd 2.3.10 started by root, uid 0 Nov 19 20:17:14 inca chat[29862]: Can't get terminal parameters: Input/output error Nov 19 20:17:14 inca pppd[29861]: Connect script failed Nov 19 20:17:15 inca pppd[29861]: Exit. ======================================================================== The following is from syslog for my current boot up. Some odd things are: The kernel ppp version is 2.3.7, but pppd is 2.3.10. Will this cause a problem? Previously I was using pppd version 2.3.5 (from slink). I don't know why I get the message about modprobe not being able to find module char-major-108? ======================================================================== Nov 22 21:00:15 inca syslogd 1.3-3#33: restart. Nov 22 21:00:15 inca kernel: klogd 1.3-3#33, log source = /proc/kmsg started. Nov 22 21:00:15 inca kernel: Inspecting /boot/System.map-2.2.12 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Loaded 8033 symbols from /boot/System.map-2.2.12. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Symbols match kernel version 2.2.12. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Loaded 12 symbols from 1 module. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Linux version 2.2.12 ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) (gcc version 2.95.2 19991109 (Debian GNU/Linux)) #1 SMP Sat Nov 20 21:47:44 EST 1999 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: mapped APIC to ffffe000 (00273000) Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: mapped IOAPIC to ffffd000 (00274000) Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Detected 300686087 Hz processor. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Console: colour VGA+ 80x25 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Calibrating delay loop... 299.83 BogoMIPS Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Memory: 127824k/131008k available (1112k kernel code, 424k reserved, 1588k data, 60k init) Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Checking 386/387 coupling... OK, FPU using exception 16 error reporting. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Checking 'hlt' instruction... OK. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: POSIX conformance testing by UNIFIX Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: per-CPU timeslice cutoff: 100.22 usecs. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: CPU0: Intel Pentium II (Deschutes) stepping 02 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: SMP motherboard not detected. Using dummy APIC emulation. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: PCI: PCI BIOS revision 2.10 entry at 0xfbcde Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: PCI: Using configuration type 1 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: PCI: Probing PCI hardware Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Linux NET4.0 for Linux 2.2 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Based upon Swansea University Computer Society NET3.039 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: NET4: Unix domain sockets 1.0 for Linux NET4.0. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: NET4: Linux TCP/IP 1.0 for NET4.0 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Starting kswapd v 1.5 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Detected PS/2 Mouse Port. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Serial driver version 4.27 with no serial options enabled Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ttyS00 at 0x03f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ttyS02 at 0x03e8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: pty: 256 Unix98 ptys configured Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: apm: BIOS version 1.2 Flags 0x03 (Driver version 1.9) Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Sound initialization started Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: <Sound Blaster Pro (8 BIT ONLY) (3.02)> at 0x220 irq 5 dma 0,5 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: This sound card may not be fully Sound Blaster Pro compatible. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: In many cases there is another way to configure OSS so that Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: it works properly with OSS (for example in 16 bit mode). Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Please ignore this message if you _really_ have a SB Pro. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Sound initialization complete Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: PIIX4: IDE controller on PCI bus 00 dev 39 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: PIIX4: not 100% native mode: will probe irqs later Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ide0: BM-DMA at 0xffa0-0xffa7, BIOS settings: hda:DMA, hdb:pio Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ide1: BM-DMA at 0xffa8-0xffaf, BIOS settings: hdc:DMA, hdd:pio Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: CMD646: IDE controller on PCI bus 01 dev 28 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: CMD646: 100% native mode on irq 10 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ide2: BM-DMA at 0xfcc0-0xfcc7, BIOS settings: hde:pio, hdf:pio Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ide3: BM-DMA at 0xfcc8-0xfccf, BIOS settings: hdg:pio, hdh:pio Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: hda: IBM-DADA-26480, ATA DISK drive Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: hdc: IBM-DADA-26480, ATA DISK drive Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: hde: TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-1802B, ATAPI CDROM drive Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ide0 at 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6 on irq 14 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ide1 at 0x170-0x177,0x376 on irq 15 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ide2 at 0xfcf8-0xfcff,0xfcf2 on irq 10 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: hda: IBM-DADA-26480, 6194MB w/460kB Cache, CHS=789/255/63, UDMA Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: hdc: IBM-DADA-26480, 6194MB w/460kB Cache, CHS=13424/15/63, UDMA Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: hde: ATAPI 24X CD-ROM drive, 128kB Cache Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Uniform CDROM driver Revision: 2.55 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Floppy drive(s): fd0 is 1.44M Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: FDC 0 is a post-1991 82077 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: scsi : 0 hosts. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: scsi : detected total. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: 3c59x.c:v0.99H 11/17/98 Donald Becker http://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/linux/drivers/vortex.html Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: eth0: 3Com 3c905 Boomerang 100baseTx at 0xfc80, 00:c0:4f:f7:02:bf, IRQ 10 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: 8K word-wide RAM 3:5 Rx:Tx split, autoselect/MII interface. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: MII transceiver found at address 24, status 7849. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Enabling bus-master transmits and whole-frame receives. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Partition check: Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: hda: hda1 hda2 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: hdc: [PTBL] [789/255/63] hdc1 hdc2 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: NTFS version 990411 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Freeing unused kernel memory: 60k freed Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Adding Swap: 128516k swap-space (priority -1) Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Linux PCMCIA Card Services 3.1.4 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: kernel build: 2.2.12 unknown Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: options: [pci] [cardbus] [apm] Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: Intel PCIC probe: Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: TI 1131 PCI-to-CardBus at bus 0 slot 3, mem 0x68000000, 2 sockets Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: host opts [0]: [ring] [pci + serial irq] [no pci irq] [lat 32/176] [bus 32/34] Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: host opts [1]: [ring] [pci + serial irq] [no pci irq] [lat 32/176] [bus 35/37] Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: ISA irqs (scanned) = 3,4,9 polling interval = 1000 ms Nov 22 21:00:16 inca cardmgr[120]: starting, version is 3.1.4 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca cardmgr[120]: watching 2 sockets Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: cs: IO port probe 0x1000-0x17ff: clean. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: cs: IO port probe 0x0100-0x04ff: excluding 0x210-0x217 0x290-0x297 0x378-0x37f 0x388-0x38f 0x4d0-0x4d7 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: cs: IO port probe 0x0a00-0x0aff: clean. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca cardmgr[120]: initializing socket 0 Nov 22 21:00:16 inca kernel: cs: memory probe 0xa0000000-0xa0ffffff: clean. Nov 22 21:00:16 inca cardmgr[120]: socket 0: Serial or Modem Nov 22 21:00:17 inca apmd[132]: Version 3.0beta9 (APM BIOS 1.2, Linux driver 1.9) Nov 22 21:00:17 inca cardmgr[120]: executing: 'insmod /lib/modules/2.2.12/pcmcia/serial_cs.o' Nov 22 21:00:17 inca kernel: tty01 at 0x13f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A Nov 22 21:00:17 inca cardmgr[120]: executing: './serial start ttyS1' Nov 22 21:00:17 inca apmd[132]: Battery: * * * (100% 4:18) Nov 22 21:00:22 inca /usr/sbin/cron[200]: (CRON) INFO (pidfile fd = 3) Nov 22 21:00:22 inca /usr/sbin/cron[201]: (CRON) STARTUP (fork ok) Nov 22 21:00:33 inca modprobe: modprobe: Can't locate module char-major-108 Nov 22 21:00:33 inca kernel: CSLIP: code copyright 1989 Regents of the University of California Nov 22 21:00:33 inca kernel: PPP: version 2.3.7 (demand dialling) Nov 22 21:00:33 inca kernel: PPP line discipline registered. Nov 22 21:00:33 inca kernel: registered device ppp0 Nov 22 21:00:33 inca pppd[254]: pppd 2.3.10 started by root, uid 0 Nov 22 21:00:34 inca chat[255]: Can't get terminal parameters: Input/output error Nov 22 21:00:34 inca pppd[254]: Connect script failed Nov 22 21:00:35 inca pppd[254]: Exit. ========================================================================