I have Mandriva 2008.1 (Spring), a brand new installation.

I need to connect to the internet with the Speedtouch 330 USB Modem.
I have Googled around for an effective way to use it. All that I can come up with is the linux-usb.org guide, and it's variants. But the critical problem with that for me is that I do not want it to run from boot - or in such a makeshift manner.

Fresh from Ubuntu 8.04, I had installed the Gnome USB ADSL Modem Manager that worked like a dream: double click to start the manager, right click menu, and connect. I would like something like that, if possible.

Help, please...

Click on the icon "configure your computer" and enter your root password. Then click on "Network and Internet". There you will be able to set up your internet connection.

If you do not want to connect at boot, then you will have to install rp-pppoe, rp-pppoe-gui.

Kieth

That was the first place I looked. I am offered plenty of connectivity options, but none to match what I have: a Speedtouch 330 USB Dialup Modem (Silver) over PPPoE (LLc)... Any suggestions as to the exact path I must take?

I don't remember anymore the different paths (as you mentioned). This might sound pretty stupid, but you could always try more than one. You can't do any harm to your system. You can always change and/or delete the "connections" that do not work. On more than one occasion I couldn't remember which "path" I had to take, so I tried one, then another (I was always sure it was one of 2 chooses). That way I was finally able to get things hooked up.

If you have a fast internet service, use "DSL", and/or "Ethernet". Mandriva will see your modem.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Kieth

Did you buy the modem recently ???
I looked at its spec and it appears to be an ADSL USB equivalent of a WinModem. In other words crap. Sorry but it is.
No matter how hard you fiddle around with it with all the best intentions of help from members here at MUB, it will still be crap.
Google Wikipedia for it and you will see what crap specs it has.

You will be far better off cutting your losses and getting an ADSL modem that has a Lan connection. Ones with a single Lan port are pretty cheap nowadays. It is the multiple port models that are much dearer, but not all that much dearer.
Within 5 minutes of installing it you will be up and running.

When I got my Speedtouch 500 from Telstra/Bigpond I connected it up via USB (Win98 at the time) it took nearly an hour of mucking around to finally get it working in Windows.
When I tried using it in Mandrake/Mandriva it took even longer than that and yet it still wasn't stable. It was right here at MUB that someone mentioned that the 500 had a Lan connector. I didn't know anything about Lan but thought what the heck, I would give it a try. Obtained the appropriate cable and connected it up after removing the USB cable connection. I didn't know it was unnecessary so i had switched off the computer. Booted up, Went into MCC and followed the simple setting up and in 3 minutes I was online. Still got the same modem and have never had trouble ever since and the process is so simple.

Cheers. John.

@ Kieth: I did try all the possible paths I could possibly think might be related to my Modem. I've just figured out that Mandriva does not support this Speedtouch 330 without installing a slew of other things. Not only does it need drivers (which would have been reasonable enough) or a managing setup (which would still be reasonable), but a full set of other things too (Too lengthy to put here). And even that won't give me point-and-click running capabilities. I found out all that after looking around the internet for about 3 hours!

I sincerely appreciate your help.

@AussieJohn: I didn't buy the modem. I got it as the default Modem from my ISP (in Pakistan), and they refuse to let me use another one. I fully agree with you when you call it 'crap'. It's got a very unusual connecting method (after all, how many Modems connect via USB, and then refuse to work properly?). But nevertheless, I'm stuck with this thing. The ISP claims that it runs perfectly well on Windows (which, admittedly, it does). But in my country, nobody worries much about Linux when you can perfectly pirated Vista Ultimate and XP SP2 for the equivalent of $0.5

This one doesn't have any LAN connection option. Ah well, back to Ubuntu for me, then, where it works with that ADSL Gnome Manager thing.

I've never had to use that type of modem, but did you try installing the rp-pppoe and rp-pppoe-gui packages that Kieth suggested for you, and then setting up your connection with the rp-pppoe-gui?

Some USB modems are recognized as a storage device instead of a modem. I don't know if this is true in your case, but if it is, there is a post at forum.mandriva.com that has a link to a fix.

Yes I knew that your model doesn't have a Lan connection.
If you did buy a reasonably priced one with Lan and used it, I have little doubt that your ISP wouldn't even know you were not using their supplied modem.
Can other more technically informed members inform me whether I am correct ???.

Cheers. John.

@ Greg2: Yes, I did try it. Not with the GUI (it needs tk, and to get that with all it's dependencies means going online - which I can't. I got the main package via USB), but without it. The problem is that like all other tools, it goes via the Ethernet, not USB. Which is the whole blastedness of it all.

@ David Batson: It's isn't recognized as anything at all. No response, no notification, no indication that anything has been connected at all!

@ AussieJohn: Actually, that just may work! What do the more technical people say? I don't want to get in a jam!

Oh, and thanks everybody, for helping me out here!

In the connection properties for that connection (don't know where it is and don't have mdv atm but it's not hard to find) you can just select not to start at boot and then connect later on (be sure to also select allow users to start the connection)

A bit old this thread, but it might be useful: http://mandrivausers.org/index.php?showtopic=16970

@ ffi: I can find no option that would allow me to set up my Modem, let alone configure it... Mandriva shows no option of the kind that might help me.

@ arctic: That does work. So does the HowTo on linux-usb.sourceforge.net. But what does not happen is the capability to turn the connection on and off at will. My ISP charges me by the hour, so that's quite vital for me. Besides, these methods require downloading of one file after another - and I'm already hard pushed to come online.

If only there were a way to run the Gnome USB ADSL Manager on the Mandriva KDE....
http://www.squeezedonkey.com/wiki/linux/in...title=Main_Page

did you use this guide?
http://www.linux-usb.org/SpeedTouch/mandrake/index.html

in this step




you can select to start the connection at boot or not, later on you can reconfigure the network interface in the network center

here a picture of the network center from where you can reconfugure:


edit: to launch the networkenter in a console as root enter draknetcenter

@ ffi: Yes, the very same. But the part you are mentioning refers to the PPPoA section.
Note that the guide itself says:
"The Mandriva CDs don't come with the br2684ctl bridging utility so it's not possible to configure a PPPoE over ATM connection with the Mandriva Control Centre."
What I have is PPPoE.

I think this ISP has conspired against me in every way possible.

are you sure? br2684ctl is a part of the linux-atm-2.5.0 package according to this:

http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/mandriva/deve...009.0.i586.html

edit:
and looking a bit in the repos I even found that the speedtouch firmware is there.
ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/Man...07.0.noarch.rpm
are you sure it just doesn't work out of the box after running the network setup wizard?

@ ffi: Actually, it's quite interesting. I'm getting a 404 Not Found error on the link you've given. But that's besides the point. Truth be told, I'm not sure at all. But that's what the dear linux-usb guide says. Moreover, I just checked, the the linux-atm package is not installed on my system.

In the end, I think it's all coming down to installing a slew of files, one dependency after another, when I cannot connect to the internet at all. I do have access to Windows, but this mess is just getting too painful... I don't know what I should do.

maybe this repos or ftp's are of limit for you. iirc all firmwares are installed by default in mandriva one but of course none with the free edition

btw that guide is for 3 mdv releases ago (mdv 2007.0 we have had 2007.1 2008.0 and now 2008.1, mdv improved a lot since...)

@ ffi: Sorry, I didn't get what you meant in that last post...

(edit: I see what you mean. Ok, then I'll give it a go. Pulling up my socks and going on a download spree for all the packages from my Windows internet)

Oh, and I'm very grateful to you people for helping me out here.

which version of mandriva 2008.1 are you using: one, free or powerpack?

@ ffi: One.

Ok, finally got the connection working. Had to settle for a very messy way: running the script. Had to download more tiny files than I've ever downloaded. Thanks to all those who helped me: it was a mixture of the advice from all of you.

Thanks!

glad it worked, I guess there is a bug somewhere because the speedtouch 330 supposedly used to work out of the box in 2008.1



http://forum.mandriva.com/viewtopic.php?t=...=speedtouch+330

(from what I can tell the modem works on one computer with 2008.1 but not the other)

@ ffi: French? Ummm...
Google Translations to the rescue...
Yeah, it is. It didn't work for me, though. The out-of-the-box support via Connection > DSL > Speedtouch failed miserably. The original reason for trying to find a workaround.

maybe report it at mandriva's bugzilla



https://qa.mandriva.com/index.cgi



maybe you could try to get your hands on 2008.0 and see if that works

@ ffi: Already tried 2008.0
That one does not even load properly...