Small problem with a USB Modem

MillerLite · #1 19th April 2009, 06:27 AM

I all new here and new to Linux as well.

I have managed to figure out all the configurations for all of my hardware but I am left with one small issue.
I have no choice but to use dial-up for my connection....read there is no broadband available out here in the back woods.

The issue I am having is my modem (US Robotics USB Modem) works but only after I log in as root in Terminal and enter:

ln -s /dev/ttyACM0 /dev/modem

When I set everything up to use /dev/ttyACM0 I always get an error and the modem will not work.

Is there a way to automate the command on boot that I have to put in manually?
Any help would be great .

Other than that I am enjoying learning a new system, however not the easiest to use and very dial-up unfriendly!! Some of the installs were a nightmare like trying to get GNUCash to install took several hours; in windows it took about a minute. YUM is very bad at resolving dependencies and I even added several other repos so i had to get each file manually.

By the way is there a free CAD program available out there comparable to Autocad?

Thanks for any input

ozjd · #2 19th April 2009, 07:38 AM

First of all welcome.

I can't help directly with your question but suggest you do a search for your modem model. It is very likely it has been discussed before.

I know there was a recent thread on cad programs too so a search for that should bring up a couple of recent discussions on the subject.

MillerLite · #3 19th April 2009, 11:36 PM

Ok figured out the modem issue I had to add the command to create a symbolic link to the rc.local file and all is good

PabloTwo · #4 20th April 2009, 12:42 AM

I'm a bit late to the party to offer you a solution, since you've already found one, but for modem setup I've found that using Network (system-config-network) is the best and easiest way to go. In it's configuration, you could have specified the device to use (/dev/ttyACM0) directly and not had the failed symlink to 'modem0' problem.

You can also manually, after the fact, edit both your /etc/wvdial.conf and /etc/sysconfig/networking/devices/ifcfg-name_of_your_modem_device.

wvdial.conf will have a line: Modem =
ifcfg-name will have a line: MODEMPORT=

You can edit both of those to '= /dev/ttyACM0' and not have to use the symlink.

MillerLite · #5 20th April 2009, 03:25 AM

Thanks for the info!!
I originally configured it for use with ttyACM0 (USB Modem) and it would flash the modem then give an error. The error had something to do about the modem not being ready. The only way I was able to get it to work was to create a symbolic link to /dev/modem. Using ttyS0 did nothing and when I did a probe for the modem right after plugging it was listed as using the driver cdc_acm and it was device ttyACM0.

At the time that is all I knew to do, going in and editing the different config files to get the job done is new to me. I just came over from the windows world of check boxes and drop downs to get thing done....
The most frustrating thing for me so far is all the different commands one must know just to set up the machine and to do anything other than internet and games

PabloTwo · #6 20th April 2009, 03:37 AM

I just thought I would offer what I did for you to use as future reference and also for you to glean a bit of insight as to what was controlling what. In my graphical example (screenshot), I didn't mean that you should try "/dev/ttyS0" (that's my pci slot modem), but just to show you where in the configuration setup in Network to go to to configure that option.

When setting up a modem with Network, you don't need to edit any files. Network will write all the appropriate data into the various files when you 'save' after enteringg your setup options/info. I mentioned the two files only to help give you some insight of what's 'under the hood', and show you another way to get things done.

Yeah, Linux has a pretty steep learning curve when you're coming from Windows. But as with anything else, the more you learn, the easier it gets. Have fun learning.

marko · #7 20th April 2009, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MillerLite

Some of the installs were a nightmare like trying to get GNUCash to install took several hours; in windows it took about a minute. YUM is very bad at resolving dependencies and I even added several other repos so i had to get each file manually.
Thanks for any input

I installed gnucash here with yum and it worked fine (Rawhide Fedora 11). It's possible you have a repository missing in your configuration

Code:

Installed:
  gnucash.x86_64 0:2.2.9-1.fc11

Dependency Installed:
  aqbanking.x86_64 0:3.8.2-1.fc11              gnucash-docs.noarch 0:2.2.0-3.fc11               goffice.x86_64 0:0.6.6-2.fc11
  guile.x86_64 5:1.8.6-3.fc11                  gwenhywfar.x86_64 0:3.7.2-2.fc11                 libgsf-gnome.x86_64 0:1.14.11-3.fc11
  libofx.x86_64 0:0.9.1-1.fc11                 opensp.x86_64 0:1.5.2-11.fc11                    perl-CPAN.x86_64 0:1.9205-68.fc11
  perl-Finance-Quote.noarch 0:1.13-3.fc11      perl-HTML-TableExtract.noarch 0:2.10-4.fc11      qbanking.x86_64 0:3.8.2-1.fc11
  slib.noarch 0:3b1-2.fc11

weitjong · #8 20th April 2009, 10:45 AM

To address your yum woe, have you changed your yum's repo configuration file to return dynamic list that provides mirrors closes to your location? This can be achieved by passing a country request parameter with a comma-separated list of 2-letter country ISO code that are closest to your location. Of course, this would only work if there are indeed mirrors located in countries you have selected.

For example, in the /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo change the line from
mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/mirrorlist?repo=fedora-$releasever&arch=$basearch
to
mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/mirrorlist?repo=fedora-$releasever&arch=$basearch&country=SG,JP,TW
Change the country code to what's best for you!

Additionally, install this yum plugin yum-fastestmirror.noarch. As its name implies, this plugin sorts the dynamic mirror list further by their download speed before downloading any package.

MillerLite · #9 21st April 2009, 03:58 AM

wow I really don't know how you all know this stuff!!! I am going to go with PabloTwo's advice that the more you use it the easier is becomes.
I think I may be missing some repos because every time I try to install something some dependencies can't be resolved so I have to keep going to rpm.pbone.net to get them. This is what is probably causing me all the grief.
Oh well in due time I am sure I can pick it up...after all Linux is man made so it can't really be that difficult.
Thanks for the replies.

ozjd · #10 21st April 2009, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MillerLite

I think I may be missing some repos because every time I try to install something some dependencies can't be resolved so I have to keep going to rpm.pbone.net to get them. This is what is probably causing me all the grief.

It may be you have too many ie, conflicting repos enabled. Most people only need Fedora, rpmfusion-free, rpmfusion-nonfree and their equivalent updates. Make sure you don't have rawhide or testing enabled as these can give you problems (unless you want to test new stuff).

MillerLite · #11 22nd April 2009, 03:48 AM

The only other repo I had enabled was the one for Adobe. I disabled it and we'll see what happens.
Could it also be a problem of using a dial-up modem and not a high speed connection? I did notice when using yum in the terminal that the connection to the server I was downloading from would reset often.
I am starting to think I still may have something not set upright on the modem.
Unfortunately the only way to try this machine on a high speed connection would be to take the box to work.

marko · #12 23rd April 2009, 04:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MillerLite

The only other repo I had enabled was the one for Adobe. I disabled it and we'll see what happens.
Could it also be a problem of using a dial-up modem and not a high speed connection? I did notice when using yum in the terminal that the connection to the server I was downloading from would reset often.
I am starting to think I still may have something not set upright on the modem.
Unfortunately the only way to try this machine on a high speed connection would be to take the box to work.

The default timeout for yum is 30 seconds, the default retries is 10.
Both of these can be set in the /etc/yum.conf to something else (refer to "man yum.conf" via a terminal )

Maybe you should get on http://www.dslreports.com/tools and run some tests to see if the
connection is of poor quality. It could be that some servers give up on dialup connections.

FriedChips · #13 23rd April 2009, 05:00 AM

A9Cad is "free as in beer" autocad alternative software but is written for windows. Runs nicely under wine though.

To date, I haven't found anything else useful for linux CAD. I suggest running what you are used to in a VirtualBox or just dual-booting windows for now. Nothing is even close to professional packages like Inventor, SolidWorks 3D, or SolidEdge. I don't know that anything community driven will ever compare, I just hope that one of them steps up and supports our OS "soon".

MillerLite · #14 24th April 2009, 01:55 AM

Marko,
I do think you are right that many servers are now just giving up on dial-up; it just gripes me because there is no way to get any thing faster than dial-up in my neck of the woods (and I do mean woods). I many ways I should feel fortunate to even have a copper pair out here!!!
I did go to the web site and I am running at a blazing 29 kbit/sec

FriedChips,
I have looked into BRL-CAD but I can't figure out how to install from source...it keeps saying that I don't have a compatible compiler?!? So, as you mentioned I am still doing a dual boot to Win so I can use A-cad and Profilelab.

I'll get this thing hammered out in due time. Thanks for the pointers so far all.