pcmcia modem

[garskoci]

I'm having a problem getting my modem to work. I am running RH 7.1 on an IBM i1560 laptop(runs great, except for...) with a Xircom RBEM56G-100 modem in the PCMCIA slot. Linux recognises it as a CBEM56G-100 Cardbus 10/100 Ethernet + 56K modem. Linux can call it dog doo, just as long as it dials out. I ran "rpm -qa| grep -i pcmcia" to check for installed card services and they are. I changed the loading order, so the the modem driver loads before the network driver. I look at the /dev/modem link which points to xircom_cb. The xircom_cb file doesn't exist. It appears that it can not be built. I don't have anything(network cable) connected to the network port on the card. Could that be my problem? If so, can I disable the network from loading until I get the modem and come back at a later date to get the network configured? I've tried minicom and ppp, neither find the modem.
Any help???
Thanks in advance.

Below is a section of the output messages.

Aug 21 23:38:19 localhost pcmcia: Starting PCMCIA services:
Aug 21 23:38:19 localhost pcmcia: modules
Aug 21 23:38:20 localhost pcmcia: cardmgr.
Aug 21 23:38:20 localhost rc: Starting pcmcia: succeeded
Aug 21 23:38:20 localhost cardmgr[390]: starting, version is 3.1.22
Aug 21 23:38:20 localhost cardmgr[390]: initializing socket 0 <30>Aug 21 23:38:20
cardmgr[390]: socket 0: Xircom CBEM56G-100 CardBus 10/100 Ethernet + 56K Modem
Aug 21 23:38:25 localhost netfs: Mounting other filesystems: succeeded
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost sysctl: net.ipv4.ip_forward = 0
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost sysctl: net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter = 1
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost sysctl: kernel.sysrq = 0
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost network: Setting network parameters: succeeded
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: executing: 'modprobe xircom_cb'
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: + insmod: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.2-2/kernel/drivers/net/pcmcia/xircom_cb.o failed
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: modprobe exited with status 255 <30>Aug 21 23:38:21
cardmgr[390]: executing: 'insmod /lib/modules/2.4.2-2/pcmcia/xircom_cb.o'
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: insmod exited with status 1 <30>Aug 21 23:38:21
cardmgr[390]: executing: 'modprobe serial_cb'
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: executing: './serial start xircom_cb'
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost /etc/hotplug/pci.agent: ... no drivers for PCI slot
Aug 21 23:38:22 localhost network: Bringing up interface lo: succeeded :'(

[paradox]

garskoci,

Well I don't have any experience with PCMCIA modems, but I did a little research for ya and I think I might know what your problem is....

first, you might have done this already, but just adding it for good measure, you need to recompile your kernel to include the appropriate pcmcia modules. And load them as modules as well.....your /etc/pcmcia/config file should look like this...

...
card "Xircom RealPort CardBus 10/100 Ethernet + 56K Modem"
version "Xircom", "*", "CBEM56G"
bind "tulip_cb" to 0, "serial_cb" to 1
...

I would then follow this link
http://www.linhardware.com/db/dispdriver.cgi?DISP?88

and that should have the drivers and everything needed to get your modem up and working...good luck!

Aragorn

[garskoci]

Aragorn,

Thanks for the reply. The config file is configured to load the xircom_cb driver. Well, this is my understanding. The entry for the config that you posted is to load the tulip driver. Should the xircom_cb driver be commented out? This is pretty new to me, so please hang with me. The .o file, which is what I'm assuming to be object code exists. But, the card manager can't build the actual driver, which sits in the /dev directory. Do I need to recompile(God help me) the kernel? If so, when it's recompiled, does the kernel look at the config file and compile in the new driver? Then during each boot up will the card manager try to load the configurered driver again? If it helps, I installed the card after the Linux installation. My guess is that I could take the M$ way out and re-install and it would probably work. But, I won't learn how to do this s@#! and configuration is 9/10's of the law with Linux. ;D

[JimH]

Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: executing: 'modprobe xircom_cb'
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: + insmod: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.2-2/kernel/drivers/net/pcmcia/xircom_cb.o failed
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: modprobe exited with status 255 <30>Aug 21 23:38:21
cardmgr[390]: executing: 'insmod /lib/modules/2.4.2-2/pcmcia/xircom_cb.o'
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: insmod exited with status 1 <30>Aug 21 23:38:21
cardmgr[390]: executing: 'modprobe serial_cb'
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost cardmgr[390]: executing: './serial start xircom_cb'
Aug 21 23:38:21 localhost /etc/hotplug/pci.agent: ... no drivers for PCI slot
Aug 21 23:38:22 localhost network: Bringing up interface lo: succeeded :'(

According to RedHat's hardware list the correct module for your card is xirc2ps_cs.o not the xircom_cb.o module that is trying to be loaded. This is probably because your card isn't correctly identified. Try loading the xirc2ps_cs.o module and see if it works. Look in /etc/sysconfig/pcmcia. Some Links that might help:

http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/howto/sysconfig.html

http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/genpage2.cgi

http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/

There is also an errata kernel available for RH 7.1. You might want to download it also. List of all the available updates for RH 7.1.
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/rh71-errata.html

If you don't know how to upgrade the kernel with kernel rpms, link to RedHat's HOW-TO:
http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/h...ade.html<br />

[paradox]

Garskoci

What I would do is try JimH's way first, he is probably much more knowledgeable about this than I. I know very little about laptops and pcmcia devices. The tulip driver is a generic driver of sorts, it will provide the information to recognize the modem, but the link I provided to you is what I think JimH is also doing. Your driver is not the right one for the card, so you might just be able to completely bypass all the junk and install the driver using their directions and have it taken care of. Keep us up to date on your progress!

Aragorn

[garskoci]

Resolution? A 3Com modem.
Up and running Baby!!! ;D