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Home / Other I-Appliances / 3Com Audrey External modem for Audrey? External modem for Audrey?

External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile Would it be possible to hook up an external modem to Audrey to avoid the connect problems that some people have with the built in modem? Is the serial port fully functional and usable for this purpose? Would you have to run rsmodem and create /dev/modem2 for this external modem? Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-07-2002 11:25:16

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) Sketchy Profile rsmodem is a driver (resource manager, actually) written specifically for the USR 1807 modem inside the Audrey. I think it would be possible to communicate with an external modem via the serial port, but you'd have to write a new driver for it. rsmodem wouldn't work. This is not impossible, just hard. At first I thought rsmodem might work if the external modem was based on the same chip, but unfortunately I don't think that's the case, as rsmodem opens I/O ports that are mapped to that chip. A driver for an external modem on the serial port would have to open different ports to communicate across the serial line. (Perhaps someone knows a way to remap ports in order to fake out rsmodem). Interesting idea though. For those with connection problems or caller ID problems on the Audrey, keep in mind that telephone wiring quality seems to make the biggest difference with success rate. Get a good clean line all the way to the street and your luck might improve. -- Jim ACID and other Audrey apps 02-07-2002 12:11:03

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile This helps a lot and saves time by not trying things that won't work. I guess the RTP should have drivers for an external modem that would work in Audrey too. Any ideas which drivers are available in the RTP and could be used? I know about the phone line quality problems and I don't have those myself, but so many other people have them. Two friends who bought an Audrey on my advise however can't connect to the same ISP I have, not even on the same number with the same area code and only miles away from me. My only problem here is I don't have an external modem available and can't set it up for them. Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-07-2002 14:06:37

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jhd3rd Profile Actually a plain old Hayes compatible modem shouldn't require any special drivers. You should be able to talk to it on the serial port (/dev/ser1) using the standard Hayes AT command set. Do something like "stty baud=57600 bits=8 < /dev/ser1" to set up the serial port, then snag a communications program from QNX 6.0 (I recall seeing one, but don't remember the name) and you should be talking in no time. If that works, then the standard dialer/ppp QNX utils should work as well. I could be missing something, but I don't think it would be all that hard. I have an external modem lying around here somewhere, maybe I'll give it a shot this weekend if I get a chance. 02-07-2002 18:12:33

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile Sounds great. It could help a lot of people having connect problems all the time. Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-07-2002 19:30:01

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jhd3rd Profile Well I didn't get a lot of time to play with it, but I did hook up my modem to the serial port, and I was able to use qtalk from QNX 6.0 to talk to the modem with standard AT commands without any problems at all. I think we can safely assume that the serial port on Audrey is fully functional, and should work just fine with an external modem. So, if you can get a ppp link going with an external modem under QNX 6.0, you should be able to do the exactly the same on Audrey. Sorry I don't have more details, but anyone with sufficient time and motivation should be able to get it working without too much trouble. If I remember correctly, there were standard QNX dialer/internet connection utilities on the MQNX image. These can probably used, substituting /dev/ser1 for /dev/modem1. 02-10-2002 14:48:52

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jhd3rd Profile Might even be easier than I suspected. According to this thread http://www.linux-hacker.net/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.pl?Action=ShowBoard&Board=3Com_Audrey&Idle=0&Sort=0&Order=Descend&Page=0&Session=jhd3rd.101337715635312 someone successfully established a ppp link through the serial port to an NT box. Should be a similar procedure for a modem. 02-10-2002 15:13:53

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile Thanks for the info. I just had a mouse working with a pointer on this serial port, so I came to the same conclusion. I had all the modem software from QNX 6.0 already running in my image before. It brought nothing extra, connects with the internal modem gave the exact same problems as the original software in Audrey, so I took it out. In my update I will bring it in again, and you can choose to connect with the internal or an external modem. And if you don't need it you will be able to delete it all with one keystroke and restore the old configuration for the internal modem only. An external modem with caller id will help acid to work more reliably too I hope. Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-10-2002 15:28:02

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) Sketchy Profile Interesting! If someone sets up an external modem, try running ACID with the "-m /dev/ser1" option to see if it works. -- Jim ACID and other Audrey apps 02-10-2002 23:48:47

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile Jim, I have an external USR Robotics Sportster with caller-id setup on Audrey. I can dial out, but when I start Acid I get: Error: modem did not return 'OK' after initialization string. Can I hack acid with a different init string and if so what could it be for this modem? Let me know please. Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-19-2002 16:27:56

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile Jim and jh3rd, You guys seem to know about modems. I have this USR external modem setup and I can dial out without a problem. However when I try to connect to an ISP I get this in the terminal: Using interface ppp0 Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/ser1 Serial line is looped back Connection terminated PPPD connection closed Any suggestions? Is the looped back serial line the problem and if so, what can I do about that? Thanks! Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-19-2002 16:43:26

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) Sketchy Profile I don't know what the looped back error means. But as for trying a different init string, you'd have to hex edit the acid executable. Search for "VCID=1" and replace it with "#CID=1". I'm pretty sure that's the Sportster way to enable CID. I don't know of a hex editor for the Audrey, perhaps a trick with cat, grep, and sed would work? Or, ftp it to your PC and hex edit it there. I'm currently working on version 2.2 of ACID. I'll add the ability to specify alternate initialization strings on the commandline. -- Jim ACID and other Audrey apps 02-19-2002 17:50:38

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile Jim, I did the hack in acid already and it works on the external USR modem and Audrey!Time will tell how reliable it will be, but for a start it looks promising.The new version of acid will make this easier. I still have to resolve the "looped back serial line".. Jukebox 02-19-2002 17:55:15

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jhd3rd Profile Looped back?? Hmmmm, I don't know for sure, but sometimes a null modem cable is called a loop-back cable. It almost sounds like you are using a null modem cable instead of a straight-through serial cable. Just a guess. 02-19-2002 18:26:32

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) Sketchy Profile Hey, cool! If I recall correctly, you had no luck with the internal modem unless you were in the "first" room of the house. I wonder if you can get CID data with the ext. modem anywhere now? Very interested in reliability rate with external modem. I'm really glad jhd3rd stepped into this thread when he/she did, and I'm glad you (jukebox) followed through on trying it out with ACID. By the way, regarding your loopback problem, apparently it was a bug in pppd. There is a patched pppd on http://developers.qnx.com (click on "Fixes"). Found via google in this post: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=serial+looped+back+qnx&hl=en&selm=9r2e45%245ak%241%40nntp.qnx.com&rnum=2 -- Jim ACID and other Audrey apps 02-19-2002 18:35:04

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile The good news is acid works like a charm now. I had 3 calls tonight and each one was showed on acid and they never did before on the internal modem. The bad news is the fix for pppd doesn't work because this pppd is for QNX 6.1 and even if I I link in the libraries it expect, it doesn't work. Back to the old ppd now. The funny thing is I can connect to my ISP with the internal modem and phdialer without a problem. If I change the setting from modem1 to ser1 I get a loopback problem, but pppd is the same. How can this happen, must be a problem with the external Sportster modem. This modem has 8 dip switches on the back and I have set them in UNIX mode.Back in Windows mode the problem remains the same, but the solution could be in the dip switches, I hope. Any ideas out there? Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-19-2002 22:29:31

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) Sketchy Profile Try debug mode (phdialer -d) and see if you get any more info -- Jim ACID and other Audrey apps 02-20-2002 12:22:25

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile Acid works great on the external modem. Six calls, six hits on acid. I trust reliability is 100% now. The modem problem is partly solved now. I changed one of the dip switches and I can connect to my ISP now without a problem. No loop back anymore! One problem left. If I disconnect with phdialer it doesn't, although phdialer says it has disconnected. I checked the software for any settings related to disconnect, but I can't find any. Does ATH or ATH+++ the disconnect? Also I wonder about how to setup the serial port. I did "stty baud=115200 bits=8 < /dev/ser1" Can I do more? Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-20-2002 12:26:36

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) Sketchy Profile Sorry, I'm at the limit of my Unix-like modem/serial port knowledge. Maybe someone else can jump in. Glad to hear caller ID is working for you again. Seems like proof that the Audrey internal modem is crap. -- Jim ACID and other Audrey apps 02-20-2002 12:46:26

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jhd3rd Profile jukebox, you can use a number of other options with stty for setting parity, stop bits, etc. You can also use the QNX utility qtalk to send commands to the modem. You can get all the details on stty and qtalk at http://qdn.qnx.com/support/docs/neutrino_2.11_en/utilities/about.html . 02-20-2002 15:13:51

RE:External modem for Audrey? (modified 0 times) jukebox Profile I've set up another thread to set up Audrey with the external modem without adding any new software. phdialer uses the same chat scripts as the original dialer, so makes no sense after all. I do have a last problem about the modem disconnect. I searched Audrey for any info how this works, but cannot find it. In ActionPalette are activated gifs for connect and disconnect, so there must be software that's activated by these gifs, but I cannot find it. Any suggestions how disconnect works? In none of the chat scripts is an ATH command. Jukebox http://www.prins.net/audrey/index.html 02-20-2002 23:35:59

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