Installation

[brucer425]

Got the latest distro from LinuxCentral yesterday, along with "Linux in a Nutshell".

 

Already had Ext2 and WORKSPACE partitions created with PartitionMagic 8.0, when

the machine was brand new from Gateway (M305XL). First install went smooth

except that I opted to make WinXP Pro my default OS, and the MBR on the Windows

side was not updated. So I had 9.2 installed but no way to access it, except for

the boot/install disc. I used the Recover mode to delete all the directories/files

with rm -d -f and reinstalled this morning, making sure to make Linux my default

OS. Voila!

 

On reboot the bootloader brought up a nice screen with Linux at the top and Windows

at the bottom, for me to select the OS I want at the moment.

 

I loaded about 2GB of MDK 9.2 stuff, so I started setting up. Looked at KDE and

Gnome (opted for Gnome), and decided to set up an internet connection.

 

That's where the problems started. It appears that the modem is detected but is

classified as an Unknown, although it's ID'd correctly as an Intel model. The same

is true for my Sony USB2 floppy drive(when I tried to make a recovery disk).

 

For now it seems that tweaking the hardware setups, and perhaps getting the

right drivers for the modem and USB floppy are in order. I'll worry about getting a

printer setup later. I still use my old desktop for printing, even on the Win XP Pro

side of this laptop.(it's only a few weeks old)

 

Any suggestions for getting the modem and USB2 floppy recognized?

 

Here's the apropos 'Detected Hardware' list:

 

UNKNOWN/OTHER

 

Intel 82801DB AC (modem)

Module: Unknown

Bus ID: 8086:24c6:144f:1050

Location on Bus: 0:1f:6

Description: 80281DB AC

Media Class: Comm Modem

 

(similar for USB floppy)

 

USB CONTROLLERS

 

IntelCorp 82801DB USB2

Vendor: Linux 2.4.22-10mdk ehci_hcd

Bus: USB

Description:INTEL CORP 82801DB USB2

Module: Unknown

Media Class: Hub/Root Hub

 

Any pointers appreciated!

 

Regards,

Al :)

[Steve Scrimpshire]

The modem should work with the driver found here:

http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hsf/index.php

 

And what do you mean 'similar for USB floppy? If you could post the actual output for the USB floppy, that would be great. Or tell us the exact model of the USB floppy.

[al_chemyst]

Hi Steve,

 

I don't know where to start. First I don't know how Brucer425 ID got on my original

post. They're doing ALOT of 'tweaking' on this site the last few day, and it looks like

things are a bit skewed. For example, I had to Register on this site 3 times in the

last 3 days!

 

Anyway. I've spent ALOT of time since my original post gathering as much info as

possible on my modem. And, BTW, thanks to the link for the driver. :)

 

Here's what I found out. I went to Gateway's online support and entered my Model

and Serial Number and gained access to the exact modem in my machine. It is a

Broadcom model, relabeled by Gateway as a GTW v.92. The Broadcom modem uses

the Intel Chipset specified, Intel 82801 DB AC.

 

I found a website www.modem-help.com and searched for '82801' and got the

EEPROM ID: PCI\VEN_8086&dev_24C6&subsys_24C68086. Other information from

that site indicates that support for this chipset is already in Mandrake kernel v5.03.27

(beta). So its NOT a new modem configuration, but maybe never got into a stable kernel release.

 

From the Mandrake documentation I learned about the /proc/pci command and

got an IO port and IRQ. Then I used the 'set serial' command to try to get the

modem to respond. It did not respond, although I might not have gotten the

set serial command quite right.

 

At one of the "Linux on Laptops" websites I read how others were able to get some

older Gateway notebook modems to work. Although my modem is a couple years

old (labelled as a 'Mature' product on the Intel site), none seemed to be an exact

match with mine. But some were successful using Smartlink HAMR5600 drivers.

(Later I found that this could also work with mine)

 

At modemsite.com/56K/bcm.asp I found that Dell created a driver for RedHat 7.3

enabling modems using the same chipset ref#, but manufactured by Conexant, NOT

Broadcom. I think the link you posted points to this Linuxant(conexant) firmware driver. I'll probably try this driver also, unless an exact match comes up. It seems

like each manufacturer that uses this chipset programs the EEPROM slightly

different. Remember how Radio Shack computers used to use a different pin for

ground on their parallel printer port? I wonder if a similar problem could arise here.

(but until I try it, it will remain a mystery) BTW, this website has a list of AT

commands and valid responses.

 

Next I did a Google search for the PCI\VEN EEPROM code given above. This leads

to the use of the Smartlink HAMR5600 driver OR the Smartlink SmartRISER56 AC-

Link v.92 driver, OR to the Conexant chipset(again).

 

Somewhere I found a report from someone, maybe a university prof, who reported

that Broadcom doesn't even admit that they make 'old tech' modems on their

website. I checked out both the Broadcom part number and the chipset on their

website and the prof is correct. So there's no help there, or a Gateway, since they

supply only the Windows drivers(3 .exes, 2 .sys, and one .dll)

 

In conclusion, I don't think there's an exact match for my modem and the drivers

found. I'll just try the driver for the Conexant chipset, the RedHat driver from

Dell and the SmartLink HAMR5600, to find any modem response. I'm not sure how

to assign one of these drivers to the modem, but that's for another day.

 

FYI, the USB2 floppy I got is a Sony Model MPF82E with an Intel 82371 controller.

That's as far as I got on that problem, so far.

 

I did find out from the Gateway support site that my Touchpad is a Synaptic, and

at pclinuxonline.com there is a driver to make it fully functional. It works OK as

a psaux device, but the 3rd button is not supported. Links to this driver are also at

tuxmobile.org/touchpad_driver.html and at compass.com/synaptics .

 

Thanks again for your input.

 

Regards,

 

Al

[al_chemyst]

I just found another problem, that should have been previously noted.

 

The cooling fan runs constantly. I'm pretty sure I enabled APCI during install.

 

Makes for a cool PC, BUT I don't want to replace fans in a laptop too often!

 

Just finished 'reading' the Mandrake Documentation manual, but found no help

for the modem set-up. Once this gets setup properly, I think I'll enjoy getting

back into Unix/Linux with the current desktop environments. But ther's still

nothing like the old CLI.

 

Later.

 

And TIA for any help on the growing list of needed tweaks.

 

Regards,

Al

[al_chemyst]

One minor success to report, so far! :)

 

While trolling some Linux websites today I noticed that someone had trouble

with his/her ACPI and fixed it by running <urpmi acpi acpid> from the root.

 

So I tried it and 'ACPI installed' was returned! (MDK requested that CD1 be

inserted in the CDRW/DVD drive)

 

Then I went to the MCC panel for configuring stuff, and clicked on 'Start'

and confirmed that the 'Start on Boot' option was checked. The ACPI

was now reported 'running', but I rebooted just in case.

 

I decided to read some more Mandrake Documentation about USB and

working with DOS FAT32 partitions. The fan just kept running and running,

and I just about gave up on thinking ACPI was fixed, when the fan shut off

for a while then cycled on again. Finally some small success!

 

The same was not true for APM, however. No big deal at this point.

 

I guess I'd better format that FAT32 drive I created yesterday and get the

kernel download going soon. The book I use for reference has a list of

'mtools' commands to use to access DOS partitions. Does MDK use the

same syntax? That is, prefixing the DOS command with an 'm'?

Maybe Partition Magic creates AND formats a new partition. I'd better check

that too. At least there need to be a couple directories created.

 

Of course, when all else fails read the documentation!

 

Regards,

Al