# Dell Inspiron 8200 internal modem problem

## karl

So, I've got ppp now and getting it was easy:

emerge ppp (I guessed ppp and sure enough it was right, love that portage)   :Smile: 

However, tried to connect and now I'm getting

```

kppp can not find:

/dev/modem

```

While researching this, I saw posts on other forums about older Dell laptops having internal modems that only work with Windows.  Hoping that's not the case any more, and that I just missed something in my make menuconfig or something. 

Help!    :Sad: 

----------

## fazer

Hm... You have to research about your MODEM instead. You have to find out wich modem it is. (Maybe it is a WINModem?) Which company created your modem? That would be the main question. And if it's a Winmodem, then you are in trouble. Most Winmodems are hard to configure under the Linux Kernel. 

I suggest googling this issue. It would be much better if you could provide some more details on your modem. 

Regards,

Fazer

----------

## ElCondor

If Dell still uses the same internal modem as they did with the 8000 (I owned that one before), you have to install the ltmodem drivers, can be found at http://www.heby.de/ltmodem

hth

* ElCondor pasa *

----------

## karl

Thanks guys, Dell only says it's a 56K modem but I'm betting it's a Winmodem at this point.  Googling hasn't come up with much, maybe I'm using the wrong search words. ("Dell Inspiron 8200 Modem" gives me a bunch of eBay stuff!)  :Rolling Eyes: 

I went to the Itmodem site, and the documentation warns of crashes so I'm thinking at this point it may be easier to go with plan B:  Continue to use my mac for my home internet connection and try to network the linux machine using appletalk, but that's another discussion...

If someone has successfully used the Itmodem driver or has otherwise successfully configured a winmodem on linux, please post the info here, in the meantime I've got enough workarounds to keep me from trying to be the first non-bit-banger to do this. 

Sneakernet and floppies!!    :Razz: 

----------

## ElCondor

don't be so scared  :Smile:  with gentoo you installed a bleeding edge distribution, don't let somebody scare you off the internet by saying that something might crash! I guess you also are driving a car or having sex or taking medicine - all much more dangerous than giving a new driver a try   :Very Happy: 

I have been using version 0.59 with my inspiron 8000 for 8 months without any crash at all (and the new owner still uses this old, beta-driver that might cause a crash)

----------

## chadh

Actually, Dell installed two different modems in the 8000's.  One was a Intel/Actiontec lan/modem combo, which works with the ltmodem driver.  The other was a 3com, which will not work with Linux.  The best place that I have found for Linux on Dell laptops is the linux-dell-laptops group at yahoogroups ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-dell-laptops ).  Most of the answers that you will find on the web probably originated on that group.

----------

## Tester

Actually, the modem that comes with a 3com card also works with linux... It is a Connexan HSF softmodem and the driver is at http://www.mbsi.ca/cnxtlindrv/.

----------

## jadenjahner

The Dell Inspiron's either come with an ActionTec 56k/Intel Pro 100 NIC combo, both of which work in Linux, or a 3Com combo, of which the NIC works. I will have to check out those driver to see if I can get this 3Com 56k POS to work. I had to go out and buy a PC Card for dialup.

----------

