Linux always did support internal modems, except software modems.
The PCTel Company has been offering drivers for linux to the OEMs to
which it sells its modems and chipsets. The drivers work at least as
well as the software drivers work for windows, which is at best
rather poor and a major annoyance to ISPs supplying 56K telephone
dialups.
In other words, these modem-like devices do not perform anywhere
close to true hardware modems. I have heard that the "Cooker" kernel
of linux did have them added at one time. Whether they are still
there, I do not know.
Even if Mandrake does not have the support (and there is some
question whether the official kernel will ever support these
ill-conceived devices) PCTel OR the manufactrer of the modem or
motherboard with the PCTel chipset should have the drivers, which can
be added in as a module.
So, if you have nothing better and cannot afford better, I would say
it is not difficult to use in linux and in Mandrake where just a few
months ago it was impossible. But if you can afford better, avoid
the software modem, and don't figure on performance from any but the
PCTel at this time. The linmodem project has a driver which seems to
support telephony with the Lucent software modem-like Chipset, but
use as a modem is still an unknown time away.
If I seem negative, it is because I live in an area where the 56K
service is a joke because the place is populated with Gateways which
all use cheap software modems amd most of them won't even connect to
the 56K V.90 lines, and the few that do are those I have basically
gimmicked to run at reduced speeds. And even then the things are a
nightmare to support, especially for the folks who are more than a
mile from the telephone cooperative. Naturally they all run windows,
which grates on me because I have to fight a bunch of stupid wizards
to set the things up.
Civileme
istiqfar wrote:
> I've heard, that linux is beginning to support internal modem, one
> of them is pctel chipset. Any body know, where I can find further
> information on this, and how is Mandrake support on pctel chip.
>
> thanks
>
> isa
