[ltp] Any success with Smart Link modem driver on an A31? (More)

[Mendel Cooper]

I sent the following e-mail to discuss@linmodems.org, with a CC to
sashakh@gmail.com, one of the people working on the slmodem for Linux package.

----------------


Sorry if I'm violating any protocols here, as I'm not (yet) a
member of the linmodems mailing list.

I just recently got a used A31 Thinkpad, with the built-in Intel
82801CA/CAM AC'97 modem chipset. I've been beating my head against
the wall trying to get it to work under Linux -- FC4, kernel 2.6.11,
to be exact.

Using the proprietary slamr module didn't work. So, I tried compiling
the slmodem 2.9.11-20051101 tarball for ALSA support. With that I get
some very interesting results.

Doing a "/usr/sbin/slmodemd --alsa modem:1" is okay, no errors.
When I try a dialup connect, though, I get the dreaded semaphore errors:

  codec_semaphore: semaphore is not ready [0x1][0x301300]
  codec_read 1: semaphore is not ready for register 0x54
  codec_semaphore: semaphore is not ready [0x1][0x301300]
  codec_write 1: semaphore is not ready for register 0x54

Strangely enough, though, about one time in twenty or thirty attempts,
I *do* get a valid connection and manage to get on-line, despite the
semaphore errors. Why? I don't know.

Now, permit me to digress a bit. I had somewhat similar experiences
with a 770Z Thinkpad, which also has a proprietary Winmodem chipset,
in this case an Mwave one. The mwavem package permits using this under
Linux, and I've had success in doing that, but . . . it's somewhat more
difficult to connect with the mwave Winmodem than it is with a PCMCIA
modem card. My guess as to the reason is that the timing parameters
are much more critical with a Winmodem than with a "real" modem. So,
could it possibly be that there's something analogous going on here
with my A31? But, that the problem is more severe with an AC'97 chipset
than with the mwave one?


Thanks for your attention.


Mendel