On Thu May 28 1998, John C Cusick wrote:
> Recently I decided to upgrade/change to the RedHat 5.0
> distribution. Naturally I saved/backed up software, but only
> the source code distributions of the software that that was
> not included with RedHat that I wanted to continue to use.
> Since I heard great things about RedHat setup I did not save
> basic canned scripts, etc.
Good - no, EXCELLENT - move (from slugware to redhat)!
> Now here is the problem: When I start minicom (for example) it
> takes forever to communicate with the modem. The modem init
> string takes about 10 to 15 seconds to appear on the screen and
> then creeps across one or two commands at a time. I get no OK
> when I type in AT. For that matter it takes 5 to 10 seconds before
> AT even appears on the screen and another 5 to 10 seconds before
> the line feed occurs, and then still no OK from the modem. I know
> the modem works as I pulled it and put it into another intel box, not
> to mention :-) that It worked fine ten minutes before I installed the
> RedHat system.
It's not a distribution problem, but a configuration one.
Check your IRQ settings (setterm) and where /dev/modem points to (ie, to
the correct /dev/ttyS? device where your modem lives).
What you are seeing is exactly a sympton of this sort of mis-configuration
(I know... I've seen it often enough! :-)
(And btw, use the /dev/ttyS? devices for your modem, NOT the /dev/cua?
devices - they both point to the same hardware devices, but there subtle
differences in the way the kernel handles them).
You might need to add some setterm commands to your /etc/rc.d/rc.local
file. (Beware that redhat uses a *real* SysV bootup, not a broken one like
slugware uses).
> The same scenario occurrs with seyon under X.
> I've completely lost my ISP service since ppp doesn't want to
> work either and although the RedHat setup appears to be very
> simple,
It is simple, but if you haven't got the basics set up correctly, then
nothing will work no matter how much you otherwise try! :-)
> without a doubt the ppp scripts are the most confusing
> thing I've run into on a Linux box yet.
Using *scripts* to start up the pppd daemon is just bullshit!
Everything that needs to be done can - AND SHOULD - be done with your
/etc/ppp/options file! And if you need to use it for access to several
ISPs, then create several "options" files and use the pppd "file" parameter
from the command line or a function or whatever to connect to them.
> If this is typical of RedHat, I'm running back to slackware as
> fast as my little pentium can carry me.
RedHat is brilliant... it's simple to put packages in, then pull them out
again. Or query what file belongs with what package, or what files come
with particular packages, or whatever. As a system administrator, believe
me I *know* just how convenient and useful the ability to do this has
become! Slugware just doesn't even come close to RedHat's rpm utility!
I'm also told that the Debian installation and package manager(s) are very,
very good (although I have no personal experience with them).
At the same time, RedHat isn't perfect, and some post-installation tweeking
is always needed to cater for your particular setup and hardware.
> Thanks for any assistance.
Look at the basics... make sure that the basic configuration is right. The
software needs to know, for example in your case, on which device file to
find the modem, and the serial port needs to be configured properly with
the setterm utility.
Blame yourself for not considering things like this. And congradulate
yourself at the same for choosing to go with a *real* linux distribution!
:-)
> please reply directly to me as well as the list as I'm only subscribed
> to linux-apps. Thanks one and all.
Done
Cheers
Tony .
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