WinModem, PPP and strange hangups

["Cook, Tom" <Tom.Cook@subcorp.com.au>]

Hi all,

I have a Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop, but this is not a particularly
laptop-specific question.

This laptop has an Intel810 soundcard with WinModem.  I am trying to get
this going under Debian, mostly unstable.

I tend to roll my own kernels.  I use ALSA, and have the snd-intel8x0m
module compiled and inserted in the kernel (built from the 2.6.5 package
from kernel.org).

I have downloaded the latest slmodem package (2.9.9 (I think - at a
'doze box at the moment)).  I compiled the slmodemd with the
SUPPORT_ALSA=1 option.  This all worked fine.

I can start slmodemd with the options '-c 09 -a' (09 is Australia) and
it seems to work OK.

I have a PPP connection set up with an ISP that I can connect to from
another Debian unstable box (but that one has a real modem).  I use PAP
authentication.

When I try to connect to the ISP using pon, the modem dials out, pppd
authenticates with the ISP, gets a dynamic IP address and sets up
routing correctly.  At this point I can ping machines on the internet,
do DNS lookups using host, telnet to a web server and get pages from it,
and generally access the internet from the command line.

But it all goes pear-shaped as soon as I fire up a web-browser and try
to access a web-site.  The phone line gets hung up - no traffic will go
across the link, and I can pick up a handset and hear a dialtone.
However, pppd keeps running, and ifconfig still reports the link as live
(although dropping packets like crazy).

This is driving me nuts!  I am completely baffled about why a
web-browser in particular should cause a modem to hang up.

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks,
Tom Cook
--
Duct tape is like the force: It has a dark side, a light side, and it
holds the universe together.
	- gcc quip database


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