The modem is recognized. The lsusb command returns the info and it
is listed in /proc/bus/usb as well.
Damn, I was kinda banking on the fact that something may have been
wrong with the core usb modules. Guess not (?).
Of course I checked the driver CD and the USR web site as well.
Only Win drivers are offered. I wrote USR while I was there
concerning the statement on the box... no reply yet. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am new to installing hardware in Linux, without a doubt. It
seems clear that a driver is required though. There is plenty of
ineptitude on my part.
I'd focus on the above if I were you. If the box clearly states
linux as being supported, I'd think USR would be obligated in
letting you know how they arrived at that conclusion. They put it on
the freaking box didn't they? You searched thru google, found some
possibly useful answers, tried them, and still failed. You also went
to their website and didn't find squat. So how, pray-tell, did USR
get the modem to work under linux?. One would expect the company to
provide you with some satisfaction. Send them a well written
snail-mail. Maybe even follow this up with a voice to voice query if
you can afford to. Of course, none of this means they won't snub you
in the end.
[Papa Gates and his smurfs are laughing right now...]
And I wouldn't worry much about that ineptitude part. In contrast to
what you've written, there are far worse cases of ineptitude. You
could have, for example, plugged the modem in, saw that it failed,
and then cross-posted to 15 or more newsgroups about how linux sucks
and that you've tried every single distro ever created and whined
about how none of them work and whined about the bad attitude of
linux users and all the while hailing the virtues of windows and
Billy G. and complained about how linux is just too complex and...
*cough* Ummm, you get the picture right?
Many (linux) people call USB modems Win modems, but this isn't
correct. No more so than any other USB device is a "Win device."
What I think I see is an old group of serial modem users spouting
this because USB doesn't work as easily as serial modems and they
are assuming...
Shhhhh, that's a secret, don't tell anyone.
There is shortage in device drivers for USB modems, most likely
due to the large number of flavors of Linux. I dunno. I would
think a single driver would work for all distros, but it might not
be that simple. My updated Win driver is dated 2002, so the modem
has been around.
Wouldn't it be more likely it has to do with "Show me the money!".
Windows dominates. There are millions and millions of winblows users
and just a handful of linux users (<-- This is changing). If you be
a typical capitalist, which of the two groups would you exploit?.
What group would you hock your {hard,soft}wares to? Perhaps that
explains the majority of why a shortage might exist?
The flavors of linux distros are nothing more then an aggregation of
software around the linux kernel --> get your head out of the distro
cloud, and wipe off the windblows mind set -->(as if one distro is a
completely different OS as opposed to another. --> as if RedHat can
do more then Slackware --> Or Slackware being different then RH. The
term "distro" has nothing to do with it. Exceptions being folks like
(RH, MDK and SUSE) who mangle the kernel and the software that uses
said kernel.. Focus on the words "linux kernel"! It's all the same.
I'm thinking you are correct to assume that a single driver does
indeed work for all distros. Take a look at what NVIDIA hath been
doing for linux. Granted, they still throw moldy bones to linux
users (sometimes the drivers aren't right --> and they won't open
source them), but the company is looking forward. It could be they
want to "corner" the market. In my mind they have. No way will I put
up with the offerings from ATI. Huh?, was that a video card or a
modem I was commenting on...
An external USB? Its hardware controlled.
On the technical side you may have a point. But I'm still smelling
what those crazy "linux" people claim is a "winmodem".
I wish you luck.
Max
