• USR USB Modem woes

    From Ted Long to All on Sunday, January 29, 2023 00:55:14
    I've been toying about with a retro BBS, targeted at hams and electronics hobbyists. Wanted to add a true dialup node, so I picked up a 56k USR 525 voice/data/fax modem. Has both DB-25 and USB ports. Claimed to work with Win 95/98/2000. Unfortunately, my Debian Linux box refuses to recognize it. I've tried mgetty, vgetty, and agetty, and the modem simply won't recognize the ATZ or ATDT7195551212 strings, or respond with an error code. It's got a new USB cable and a DB25-to-DB9, so its not the cable....plugged it into my old ThinkPad, and it works great. I should mention that the Linux box is a Raspberry Pi 4B, 8 GB RAM, 500GB SSD.

    Any suggestions?

    Tnx es 73, de
    Ted, K4TML
  • From deon@ALTERANT to Ted Long on Sunday, January 29, 2023 22:58:47
    Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: Ted Long to All on Sun Jan 29 2023 12:55 am

    ATZ or ATDT7195551212 strings, or respond with an error code. It's got a new USB cable and a DB25-to-DB9, so its not the cable....plugged it into my old ThinkPad, and it works great. I should mention that the Linux box is a Raspberry Pi 4B, 8 GB RAM, 500GB SSD.

    What does lsusb show?

    Also what does syslog show when you plug it in?


    ...δεσ∩

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ AnsiTEX bringing back videotex but with ANSI
  • From Gamgee@PALANT to Ted Long on Sunday, January 29, 2023 08:56:00
    Ted Long wrote to All <=-

    I've been toying about with a retro BBS, targeted at hams and
    electronics hobbyists. Wanted to add a true dialup node, so I
    picked up a 56k USR 525 voice/data/fax modem. Has both DB-25 and
    USB ports. Claimed to work with Win 95/98/2000. Unfortunately, my
    Debian Linux box refuses to recognize it. I've tried mgetty,
    vgetty, and agetty, and the modem simply won't recognize the ATZ
    or ATDT7195551212 strings, or respond with an error code. It's
    got a new USB cable and a DB25-to-DB9, so its not the
    cable....plugged it into my old ThinkPad, and it works great. I
    should mention that the Linux box is a Raspberry Pi 4B, 8 GB RAM,
    500GB SSD.

    What OS is running on the Thinkpad?

    Some of those type of modems are what used to be called "Winmodems", and
    only work with Windows.



    ... Daddy, what does "now formatting drive C:" mean?
    --- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Ted Long to deon on Sunday, January 29, 2023 11:35:00
    Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: deon to Ted Long on Sun Jan 29 2023 10:58 pm

    Thanks for the response

    Hotplug is detecting the modem....(cutcutpaste...)

    Bus 001 Device 006: ID 04c1:3021 U.S. Robotics (3Com) 56k Voice FaxModem Pro

    And the kernel is assigning it to abstract (virtual) port /dev/ACM0....the modem apparently is seeing activity on the port, because when I plug in the USB cable, the data and CTS/RTS LEDs flash for a second. But there's no response to
    an AT command when sent from Minicom. I'm about ready to break out the 'scope or a logic probe to see if any data is actually being sent to the modem.

    What should I try next?

    73 de K4TML
  • From Ted Long to Gamgee on Sunday, January 29, 2023 11:37:07
    Re: Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: Gamgee to Ted Long on Sun Jan 29 2023 08:56 am

    Windows 2000 Workstation....it's a full-tilt hardware modem.
  • From Digital Man to Ted Long on Sunday, January 29, 2023 13:01:31
    Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: Ted Long to All on Sun Jan 29 2023 12:55 am

    I've been toying about with a retro BBS, targeted at hams and electronics hobbyists. Wanted to add a true dialup node, so I picked up a 56k USR 525 voice/data/fax modem. Has both DB-25 and USB ports. Claimed to work with Win 95/98/2000. Unfortunately, my Debian Linux box refuses to recognize it. I've tried mgetty, vgetty, and agetty, and the modem simply won't recognize the ATZ or ATDT7195551212 strings, or respond with an error code. It's got a new USB cable and a DB25-to-DB9, so its not the cable....plugged it into my old ThinkPad, and it works great. I should mention that the Linux box is a Raspberry Pi 4B, 8 GB RAM, 500GB SSD.

    Any suggestions?

    If it's an external modem (sounds like it is), it should work with anything. Perhaps double-check the DTE (baud rate) configuration for the port?


    Sending "AT\r" alone is a good test.
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Rush quote #11:
    Struck between the eyes by the big time world, walking uneasy streets
    Norco, CA WX: 54.1°F, 73.0% humidity, 0 mph E wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
  • From deon@ALTERANT to Ted Long on Monday, January 30, 2023 08:26:58
    Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: Ted Long to deon on Sun Jan 29 2023 11:35 am

    Thanks for the response

    Hotplug is detecting the modem....(cutcutpaste...)

    Bus 001 Device 006: ID 04c1:3021 U.S. Robotics (3Com) 56k Voice FaxModem Pro

    And the kernel is assigning it to abstract (virtual) port /dev/ACM0....the modem apparently is seeing activity on the port, because when I plug in the USB cable, the data and CTS/RTS LEDs flash for a second. But there's no response to an AT command when sent from Minicom. I'm about ready to break out the 'scope or a logic probe to see if any data is actually being sent to the modem.

    OK, what device is the comms program using to talk to a "modem"?

    If you use minicom, you should be able to connect to port /dev/ACM0 and talk to it - get the baud right because the modem will be talking a default baud rate - probably 19,200 or 38,400, and if they dont work 115k might. You'll know your close, because you'll see gibberish at the wrong baud speed.


    ...δεσ∩

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ AnsiTEX bringing back videotex but with ANSI
  • From Ted Long to Digital Man on Monday, January 30, 2023 10:48:25
    Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: Digital Man to Ted Long on Sun Jan 29 2023 01:01 pm

    Problem solved...finally!


    Got it licked, Rob!

    Went back over the few docs I could find online for the modem, and carefully re-read all the manpages for the
    getty programs. Then removed all the getty stuff, reinstalled minicom, and compared the /etc/.config files
    with everything i had printed out from the previous installation. Then I noticed some fine print in the online
    docs for the modem..."some UNIX systems capable of assigning virtual serial ports may identify the modem as
    /dev/ACMn, or /dev/ttyACMn", So I changed the serial port ID to /dev/ttyACM0. The modem shot "OK" right back.
    Got a friend with a modem to call the BBS phone line, and he was able to connect at 56k down and 28.8k up.
    Now comes the fun part...setting up Synchronet, loading some files, and getting SMTP, QWK, and DDNS working.
    Thanks for the help, all! I'll probably be bugging sysadmins with silly noob questions as work on the BBS continues.

    73 de,
    Ted K4TML
  • From Ted Long to deon on Monday, January 30, 2023 10:56:11
    Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: deon to Ted Long on Mon Jan 30 2023 08:26 am

    See previous post to Rob. The system wanted a wierd port ID..../dev/ttyACM0...before it would talk to the modem. But it's working fine
    now....sending files over a local connection within the same switch at 56k. Now comes the fun of setting up the BBS, and getting SMTP, QWK,and the http server up and running.

    Thanks for the help!

    73 de, Ted K4TML
  • From Moondog@CAVEBBS to Gamgee on Monday, January 30, 2023 14:51:00
    Re: Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: Gamgee to Ted Long on Sun Jan 29 2023 08:56 am

    Ted Long wrote to All <=-

    I've been toying about with a retro BBS, targeted at hams and electronics hobbyists. Wanted to add a true dialup node, so I
    picked up a 56k USR 525 voice/data/fax modem. Has both DB-25 and
    USB ports. Claimed to work with Win 95/98/2000. Unfortunately, my Debian Linux box refuses to recognize it. I've tried mgetty,
    vgetty, and agetty, and the modem simply won't recognize the ATZ
    or ATDT7195551212 strings, or respond with an error code. It's
    got a new USB cable and a DB25-to-DB9, so its not the
    cable....plugged it into my old ThinkPad, and it works great. I
    should mention that the Linux box is a Raspberry Pi 4B, 8 GB RAM,
    500GB SSD.

    What OS is running on the Thinkpad?

    Some of those type of modems are what used to be called "Winmodems", and only work with Windows.



    ... Daddy, what does "now formatting drive C:" mean?

    Winmodems used a digital sound processor to generate tones, and relied on software to work.

    Back in the dialup days I set up a dial on demand server/ router with a
    modem that had a DB25 port. This was being done with a lightweight linux distro called Coyote linux, but the most important thing was selecting the por t being used. It was like that in the DOS days. An external modem is just that - an external device the PC doesn't have to detect or see. It is
    assumed it is there to accept send and receive requests. If you're
    connecting via USB I imagine you should see a connection if you list usb devices.

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ The Cave BBS - Since 1992 - cavebbs.homeip.net
  • From Ted Long to Moondog on Monday, January 30, 2023 16:48:33
    Re: Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: Moondog to Gamgee on Mon Jan 30 2023 02:51 pm

    Got it fixed, thanks moondog! Yeah, I used to run a multinode VBBS back in the late 80's and had a 4-port 56k x2 USR Internal card that relied on a Fossil driver to overcome the DOS serial port limitations. Then I heard about Slackware, and never looked at a MicroLimp OS again :>)
    This li'l BBS is running Debian Buster on a Raspberry Pi 4B, 8GB of RAM, and a 500G SATA laptop drive. I've got Crumbcast 10mB/s DOCSIS service for IP connectivity, so email and message board updates won't be a problem, if I can figure out how to drill a hole in the firewall for SMTP relaying.
  • From Nelgin@EOTLBBS to Ted Long on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 12:53:56
    On Sun, 29 Jan 2023 00:55:14 -0800
    "Ted Long" <ted.long@VERT> wrote:

    I've been toying about with a retro BBS, targeted at hams and
    electronics hobbyists. Wanted to add a true dialup node, so I picked
    up a 56k USR 525 voice/data/fax modem. Has both DB-25 and USB ports.
    Claimed to work with Win 95/98/2000. Unfortunately, my Debian Linux
    box refuses to recognize it. I've tried mgetty, vgetty, and agetty,
    and the modem simply won't recognize the ATZ or ATDT7195551212
    strings, or respond with an error code. It's got a new USB cable and
    a DB25-to-DB9, so its not the cable....plugged it into my old
    ThinkPad, and it works great. I should mention that the Linux box is
    a Raspberry Pi 4B, 8 GB RAM, 500GB SSD.

    Good to see this is working, unfortunately, if I had seen it sooner I
    could have got you going right away. These USB modems create ttyACM
    devices. This starts for abstract control model.

    minicom -D /dev/ttyACM0 would have got you going, assuming the right
    baud rate. I have a USB powered hub with 4 of these USR3637 modems. As
    far as I can tell they're softmodems. Interesting they're no longer
    available in the US or Canda but are for sale in EMEA, which is
    annoying.

    They're connected to an 8 port Grandstream ATA. 3 are for user dialin
    using either a UK local call or US Dallas phone number, the 4th is for
    me to do dialout and extension to extension connections for testing.
    --
    End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
    telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From anthk@anthk@disroot.org to Ted Long on Thursday, February 09, 2023 11:36:41
    On 2023-01-29, Ted Long <ted.long@vert.synchro.net> wrote:

    I've been toying about with a retro BBS, targeted at hams and electronics hobbyists. Wanted to add a true dialup node, so I picked up a 56k USR 525 voice/data/fax modem. Has both DB-25 and USB ports. Claimed to work with Win 95/98/2000. Unfortunately, my Debian Linux box refuses to recognize it. I've tried mgetty, vgetty, and agetty, and the modem simply won't recognize the ATZ or ATDT7195551212 strings, or respond with an error code. It's got a new USB cable and a DB25-to-DB9, so its not the cable....plugged it into my old ThinkPad, and it works great. I should mention that the Linux box is a Raspberry Pi 4B, 8 GB RAM, 500GB SSD.

    Any suggestions?

    Tnx es 73, de
    Ted, K4TML

    try wvdialconf and wvdial
  • From Nelgin@EOTLBBS to All on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 14:05:18
    On Mon, 30 Jan 2023 10:48:25 -0800
    "Ted Long" <ted.long@VERT> wrote:

    Re: USR USB Modem woes
    By: Digital Man to Ted Long on Sun Jan 29 2023 01:01 pm

    Problem solved...finally!


    Got it licked, Rob!

    Went back over the few docs I could find online for the modem, and
    carefully re-read all the manpages for the getty programs. Then
    removed all the getty stuff, reinstalled minicom, and compared the /etc/.config files with everything i had printed out from the
    previous installation. Then I noticed some fine print in the online
    docs for the modem..."some UNIX systems capable of assigning virtual
    serial ports may identify the modem as /dev/ACMn, or /dev/ttyACMn",
    So I changed the serial port ID to /dev/ttyACM0. The modem shot "OK"
    right back. Got a friend with a modem to call the BBS phone line, and
    he was able to connect at 56k down and 28.8k up. Now comes the fun part...setting up Synchronet, loading some files, and getting SMTP,
    QWK, and DDNS working. Thanks for the help, all! I'll probably be
    bugging sysadmins with silly noob questions as work on the BBS
    continues.

    I missed the bit where you said you were running getting. You don't
    want to do that on a dial out tty. getty provides the login prompt and interface to the authentication system. If you're trying to dial out it
    could see that as a login attempt and start writing all over your
    dialout.

    Glad you got it working anyway.
    --
    End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
    telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From Nelgin@EOTLBBS to All on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 14:06:20
    On Mon, 30 Jan 2023 10:48:25 -0800
    "Ted Long" <ted.long@VERT> wrote:

    I'll probably be
    bugging sysadmins with silly noob questions as work on the BBS
    continues.


    none of us got where we are without asking noob questions, even if it
    was into Google or asking the manual for answers.
    --
    End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
    telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com