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Re: [Sheflug] Redhat 9 and getting online



On Fri, 2004-03-12 at 19:32, J Simpson V21 wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I am a complete newbie.  After some reading I have dual booted Redhat 9 on
> my machine.  I am having a problem getting online, I followed the internet
> configuration wizard, but it said when probing for modem not found.  I
> presume Xiam Evolution works like Outlook and I just click on send/receive
> and it should get me to connect?  Anyhow it returns an error message saying
> it cannot collect mail immediately.  I presume this is because it has not
> found the modem, I can't hear it dialling up or anything.
> 
> I have noticed it says the modem is at ttySO, but in fact my modem is at com
> 4, ttyS3 and I have changed it to that, but it doesn't appear to make any
> difference.
> 
> I have checked out the Redhat site, it says the Motorola SM56 PCI
> Speakerphone modem is certified and lists it as 4.  It says Install as PPM
> from the red Hat Linux installation CD during installation.  So I am under
> the impression it has done what it needs to?
> 
> What am I doing wrong?  Explanations in easy steps please.

I'm pretty sure it's not a real modem, I don't remember seeing any modem
drivers for a particular vendor in RH9. (I seem to remember trying to
get the SM56 running.

A quick google search came up with
http://www.motorola.com/softmodem/public_download/SM56_Linux_Installation_Guide.pdf
http://www.motorola.com/softmodem/public_download/Linux/sm56-06.05.00-1.rh9.i386.rpm

One of the difficulties with Linux drivers is that there are near to
infinite different hardware/software combinations around...
manufacturers don't really care as much about Linux dirvers- since >90%
of the users will use the Windows drivers- which for them are a no
brainer.

http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/?pagename=details&hid=2199, reports
certification against RH 7.1. Over the years since 7.0 RedHat have been
dropping out software which are really bad, not licenced under an
open-source licence, or have issues with patents (i.e. MP3s). There are
limitations with the motorola driver so I can well imagine RedHat
deciding to drop it. 

If you can enter the command (in a System Terminal)
	locate sm56.o 
If it return any results, that will confirm if there driver still exists
in RH9 (my suspicion is otherwise).


You may get some success from following the install guide. Though before
the drive will install you will need to have some extra software
installed. (redhat/System Settings/Add/Remove Packages). The development
tools needs checking (it's a lot of software used for development (gcc),
which from a guess, you won't need afterwards).

That's a few things to try for the drive.

> 
> One other thing the display seems to be very large icons.  I'm not sure it
> should be like this as in the installation book the icons don't look that
> big.  My monitor isn't listed as it is a Targa  TM3854-2.  I have set it up
> as a generic monitor, but I could only use 800x600 or 640x480 it is on
> 800x600.  However everything is much bigger than the 800x600 set up I have
> in Windows.  I know it is only a minor thing, but I feel like I have a toy
> computer or that I have particularly poor eyesight.
> 

My old man complains about the icon size as well. Seb's suggestion for
the panel (taskbar), is my first step when working on a new RH box.
The desktop icons can be resized by right-clicking and choosing "Stretch
Icon".  
If you know that the monitor *should* do 1024x768 or higher, try
changing the display properties (monitor). You probably need to
logout/login for the changes to take effect.

There was a bug fixed around (my memory on timelines is very sketchy,
but probably just after RH9 shipped). My laptop would only handle
800x600, until I changed it manually after the install.


-- 
Regards,
Adam Allen.

adam [at] dynamicinteraction.co.uk
pgp http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x553349DB

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