Anyone hack HSF Winmodem (thinkpadtseries) into kernels newer than 2.6?

[none William Pechter]

Has anyone got Winmodem (ConexantHSF) support hacked in to any
linux kernel newer than 2.6?

I'd like to get Ubuntu supporting it on a Thinkpad T61, but I'd
consider other LTS versions of linux like Open Suse or Debian (I
want to retire the ugly old 19200modem I've got in the PCcard slot
which dates from my IBM days on OS/2).

I really need to get the modem working as well as dual gigabit
ethernets which takes up my pccard slot.

I could go USB but was just wondering?

Thanks...

Bill
pechter-at-gmail.com

[William Unruh]

On 2016-07-09, pechter@t61.(none) (William Pechter) <pechter@t61> wrote:
> Has anyone got Winmodem (ConexantHSF) support hacked in to any
> linux kernel newer than 2.6?

You could probably buy a used USRobotics etc modem for $5 and not use a
stupid winmodem.

>
> I'd like to get Ubuntu supporting it on a Thinkpad T61, but I'd
> consider other LTS versions of linux like Open Suse or Debian (I
> want to retire the ugly old 19200modem I've got in the PCcard slot
> which dates from my IBM days on OS/2).
>
> I really need to get the modem working as well as dual gigabit
> ethernets which takes up my pccard slot.
>

o

> I could go USB but was just wondering?

Or that.
At $5/hr coding to get it working, you should be able to buy a new
computer, never mind a modem
Do you really thing Gigabit never mind dual gigabit would work? I am not
sure that the bus is fast enough on such an ancient machine.


>
> Thanks...
>
> Bill
> pechter-at-gmail.com

[Johann Klammer]

I think there were 3rd party kernel modules for those around,
but they were speed limited....

<http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Conexant_HSF_modem_drivers>

tried any of those?

[William Pechter]

In article <nlppcf$ehv$1...@dont-email.me>,

Can I get it into a loaded T61 laptop? I guess USB could be used for the
modem, but ugh.

Hard to get it INSIDE the laptop. PCCard slots are already in use. External
is possible but not as nice when you're looking for portability.

I've got Telebit Trailblazers and 56k externals galore. Not too light and
small.

Bill
--
--
Digital had it then. Don't you wish you could buy it now!
pechter-at-gmail.com http://xkcd.com/705/

[William Pechter]

In article <nlraeb$1crr$2...@gioia.aioe.org>,

Got the sources... The stuff all stopped working about Kernel 2.6.x.

[William Unruh]

Agreed. But then again, how often do you use the modem? Are there any
ISPs that will even answer a modem call?

>
> Hard to get it INSIDE the laptop. PCCard slots are already in use. External
> is possible but not as nice when you're looking for portability.

Well, in some laptops you can open them up and replace the modem.

[Michael Black]

I know of at least two posters from various newsgroups who are using
dialup modems, so they have to have ISPs to do so.

My ISP still offered dialup when I moved to DSL in October of 2012, and I
haven't heard anything to indicate they've stopped. They did seem to be
consolidating about a year before that, doing something which I think
meant moving to a shared modem pool. Suddenly there was a different
login. But, I think that meant they also offered modem access to a wider
geographic area, so if travelling one could get modem access.

I would add that this is the second oldest local ISP (and the first local
ISP no longer exists), and they still offer shell access, so they are
aimed at the old internet hands rather than the new kids who wouldn't know
what a modem is.

Michael

[Mike Easter]

William Pechter wrote:
> External is possible but not as nice when you're looking for
> portability.

You'll have better luck trying to get the internal winmodem to work if
you use the scanmodem tool.

http://al.howardknight.net/msgid.cgi?ID=146837055300

> Between Puppy and the scanmodem tool, you may be able to get the
> winmodem handled;




--
Mike Easter

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2016-07-13 01:41, Michael Black wrote:

> I know of at least two posters from various newsgroups who are using
> dialup modems, so they have to have ISPs to do so.
>
> My ISP still offered dialup when I moved to DSL in October of 2012, and
> I haven't heard anything to indicate they've stopped. They did seem to
> be consolidating about a year before that, doing something which I think
> meant moving to a shared modem pool. Suddenly there was a different
> login. But, I think that meant they also offered modem access to a
> wider geographic area, so if travelling one could get modem access.

An ISP can provide dialup access with a single central station for a
very wide area, (long distance).

The way it works, the signal is digitized at the entry exchange that
serves you locally, as for any voice call. Once digitized, the
hardware-software that interprets (DSL) the numbers as a modem "tones"
can be anywhere in the country.

So I suppose it doesn't harm to keep that hardware in place for the
small number of users that still use dialup (I have no idea what number
that will be).

Yes, it can be a handy way to obtain internet anywhere without
installation. But instead I used a mobile solution.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---

[William Pechter]

In article <nm3dgq$cla$1...@dont-email.me>,

The person I'm sending the laptop to is still on dialup.
Unfortunately, that's not going to change.

[Mike Easter]

William Pechter wrote:
> The person I'm sending the laptop to is still on dialup.
> Unfortunately, that's not going to change.

Will you be configuring the LT and its OS to use the dialup before you
send it, or will the recipient of the LT be doing that for themselves?

--
Mike Easter

[Bobbie Sellers]

I haven't checked lately but DSLExtreme.com used to have dial-up
access. I am sure that others will have similar facilities.

>>
>>>
>>> Hard to get it INSIDE the laptop. PCCard slots are already in use. External
>>> is possible but not as nice when you're looking for portability.
>>
>> Well, in some laptops you can open them up and replace the modem.
>>
>>>
>>> I've got Telebit Trailblazers and 56k externals galore. Not too light and
>>> small.
>>>
>>> Bill
>>> --
>
> The person I'm sending the laptop to is still on dialup.
> Unfortunately, that's not going to change.

Yes that makes things harder but I found lots of information
on my desktop Amiga with dial-up even before I got my 56K modem.

bliss

[William Pechter]

In article <dur0f7...@mid.individual.net>,

I'm hoping to do it. I may install CentOS 6.8 since it has the right kernel version for the
lousy winmodem...

I've also picked up a pcmcia 28.8... just in case.

Bill

[Mike Easter]

William Pechter wrote:

> Mike Easter wrote:
>> William Pechter wrote:
>>> The person I'm sending the laptop to is still on dialup.
>>> Unfortunately, that's not going to change.
>>
>> Will you be configuring the LT and its OS to use the dialup before
>> you send it, or will the recipient of the LT be doing that for
>> themselves?
>

> I'm hoping to do it. I may install CentOS 6.8 since it has the right

> kernel version for thelousy winmodem...

>
> I've also picked up a pcmcia 28.8... just in case.

What OS is the recipient most familiar? Are you choosing the CentOS
because of your familiarity or because of the recipient's?

I'm thinking of 'various' strategies to best match the recipient with
the dialup capabilities.

If the recipient isn't already a conventional linux person, a Puppy
Linux might be an easier match for dialup.


--
Mike Easter

[William Unruh]

On 2016-07-15, Bobbie Sellers <bliss-...@dslextreme.com> wrote:
>>> Agreed. But then again, how often do you use the modem? Are there any
>>> ISPs that will even answer a modem call?
>
> I haven't checked lately but DSLExtreme.com used to have dial-up
> access. I am sure that others will have similar facilities.

I think his problem is not the dialup access, but the fact that the
modem is a winmodem and his (any?) distro does not have the driver for
his particular winmodem (ie, it has to tell the EXTREMEly dumb "modem"
to send out all of the individual blurts and beeps that are a modem's
messages to the far side). His laptop has such a modem and he does not
have the driver, and the only driver version he has found is only good
for the 2.6.x line of kenrels. And it is "impossible" to replace the
modem inside the machine (laptops are notoriously difficult to get into
to change anything).

One possibility would be a usb modem-- Of course most of what are called
usb modems these days are things that connect you to a cell network,
which I assume is not what is wanted. What is wantd is a modem connected
to a standard wired telephone line.

[Mike Easter]

William Unruh wrote:
> One possibility would be a usb modem--

I'm not seeing any USB hardware dialup modems for much less than about
$50. Lotsa USB winmodems for much less, say $10-15.

https://www.amazon.com/USRobotics-USR5637-FaxModem-Windows-Linux/dp/B0013FDLM0
USRobotics USR5637 56K USB FaxModem for Windows, Mac, Linux



--
Mike Easter

[Paul]

There's a Startech with datapump for less.

StarTech.com External V.92 56K USB Fax Modem (USB56KEMH) $29
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HNX1MF4?psc=1

Conserve system resources with hardware-based signal processing

One review here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825189005

Startech is one of the companies that does "disclosure"
on the chip used. You might expect more than one chip inside,
if the unit has a silicon DAA. Or a bulky regular DAA.

https://www.startech.com/Networking-IO/Bluetooth-Telecom/USB-56k-Modem~USB56KEMH

Conexant - CX93010

http://www.conexant.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/pb_CX9ZNR0226.pdf

You shouldn't need a DSP driver for that. It should appear
as a USB serial port or something, supporting the Hayes
AT command set.

HTH,
Paul

[William Pechter]

In article <dusdq5...@mid.individual.net>,

Mike Easter <Mi...@ster.invalid> wrote:
>William Pechter wrote:
>> Mike Easter wrote:
>>> William Pechter wrote:
>>>> The person I'm sending the laptop to is still on dialup.
>>>> Unfortunately, that's not going to change.
>>>
>>> Will you be configuring the LT and its OS to use the dialup before
>>> you send it, or will the recipient of the LT be doing that for
>>> themselves?
>>
>> I'm hoping to do it. I may install CentOS 6.8 since it has the right
>> kernel version for thelousy winmodem...
>>
>> I've also picked up a pcmcia 28.8... just in case.
>
>What OS is the recipient most familiar? Are you choosing the CentOS
>because of your familiarity or because of the recipient's?

Nope... I'm thinking of what linux has a 2.6 kernel and reasonably current patches
so I can patch the winmodem into the kernel -- rhel/centos is a better shot than
Ubuntu11 oe 12.

RHEL 6.8 came out last month or maybe in May...

I've used RHEL, CentOS, Suse, Debian, Slackware, Mandrake, Mandriva, back to SLS103 and kernel
0.99... I've been doing Unix stuff since '87 or so.

I just want to send out something pretty solid and secure that will just keep running a couple of
years.

I've got the AOL and Windows stuff on the box but I wanted to see if the PengAOL dialer would work
to get her to her account and that would let her dump her old Mac.

The real fun is finding out if this AOL dialer for Linux will still interoperate.
The one thing about the dual boot is she can download software and install it from the Windows
partition.

>
>I'm thinking of 'various' strategies to best match the recipient with
>the dialup capabilities.
>
>If the recipient isn't already a conventional linux person, a Puppy
>Linux might be an easier match for dialup.
>
>
>--
>Mike Easter

Bill

[Theo Markettos]

In alt.os.linux.debian William Pechter <pechter@t61.(none)> wrote:
> Has anyone got Winmodem (ConexantHSF) support hacked in to any
> linux kernel newer than 2.6?

I had a look a few years ago. My interest was playing around with Winmodems
as a phone-to-DAC interface for playing audio, rather than as a modem. That
seemed to be feasible, but I didn't actually own any hardware so didn't try
for real. I was looking at HSF drivers but for USB devices.

My vague recollection is that the audio side was do-able, but the side that
actually converted serial data into audio tones was troublesome. I think it
wasn't open source and supplied as binary blob. That makes it a problem to
port to a new kernel ABI.

Theo