locked modem

[BROWNH]

I have an external USR. When I upgraded from RH5.1 to 5.2, I now find that
my modem becomes locked if I inadvertantly use minicom vs. xminicom and
then I exit it. 

I get the message "Device /dev/modem is locked" when I try to access the
modem. Powering the modem down or pulling its phone connection does no good.
The only way I can regain use of my modem is to reboot Linux. How can I
escape the lock without rebooting?

Haines Brown