Modems

[S. Lawton]

Thanks, guys ! 
No input from the kernel crunchers yet ? 

Here's the deal. I spent a lot of time at linmodems.org. Because I 
have on board sound via AC97 Codec, I have an AMR modem 
[Audio Modem Riser]. The modem card itself is about 2 in. by 2in. 
The ONLY thing it does is convert machine voltage to phone 
company voltage and vice versa. It's an HSP chipset [Host Signal 
Processor] which means that all DAC/ADC [digital analog 
conversion/ analog digital conversion] is done by the CPU and 
software. 

I'm dual boot with Win 95 and Mandrake 8.1, and for some reason 
Win 95 doesn't like this thing either. I guess that's why they tried to 
push XP on me. Finances being limited, I could have XP or a 
processor, so I opted for the Athlon and no OS. 

Would an external modem [Serial or USB, I don't even know how 
they make them now] still be recognized as a PCI device ? My on 
board sound is. Supposedly one chipset on the board takes care of 
all the ADC/DAC- sound, modem and lan. 

It's looking like external is the way to go, maybe to get both OS's 
online. As I said, I have the drivers written by someone in Chile, but 
the last time I compiled anything it was on an IBM mainframe the 
size of a refrigerator, with a hard drive the size of a washing 
machine. Hollerith cards had just recently become obsolete ! 

A bit of advice for anyone thinking of getting a new computer and 
putting Linux in it - get a mother board with EXPANSION CARD 
SLOTS ! Microsoft is pushing on board sound and video and Intel is 
going along with it because it's cheaper and easier for the 
manufacturers, but only if the drivers are part of the licensed 
operating system.
Scott 

Registered Linux User 261118