Se the "Winmodem" discussion at URL
http://www.o2.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html to get the full details. For now,
see below.
At 12:05 PM 7/26/99 -0500, Zach Babayco wrote:
>I'm thinking of installing Linux pretty soon, but I've heard that it won't
>work with a Winmodem. So, my questions are:
>
>1. Why exactly won't it work;
Because HSP modems ("Winmodems") aren't really modems. Instead, they are an
interface (a DSP chip, I believe) between a phone line and a software
simulation of a modem. Writing HSP drivers (that is, the modem simulator)
requires access to information about the boards that, at least usually
(always?), the manufacturers regard as confidential and won't release to the
Open Source community. Even if they did, it's not clear that the people with
the skills would bother to write the drivers - a lot of the more technically
astute people in the Linux world seem to bad mouth these boards for reasons
not entirely clear to me.
>
>2. How do I tell if I have a Winmodem; and
A couple of possible ways, depending on where you are in the process of
"having".
1. Before you shop, you can get from the URL above a list of known-good modems.
2. When you shop, you can look for these clues on the box:
A. Does it say it works only with Win95/88/NT? Then it is almost
surely an HSP modem. (Concersely, if it says it works with DOS, Win3.1, and
OS/2 -- these boxes NEVER mention Linux <sigh!> -- it is almost certainly
NOT an HSP modem.)
B. Does it say it has a UART and identify the type? Then it is
surely NOT an HSP modem.
C. Is it a PCI board? Then it probably is an HSP modem. (Two known
exceptions to this, both listed at the URL above.)
D. Is it an external modem that connects to a serial port? If so, it
is surely NOT an HSP modem.
>3. Is there any way to jury-rig it so I *can* use a Winmodem?
No, unless you have the technical expertise to write the missing driver
without having any docs about the board. If you're interested at that level,
take a look at URL http://linmodems.org and see if you can help.
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, CA 94303-3603 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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