alternative linux modem dialing software

are there any alternative programs for linux that dont need wine or any shared library stuff that do a better job of a connectino than what pppd does?

im using it on my mandrake box at the moment and am having endless trouble with dropouts and other such crap such as it just refusing to connect yet it works alright on windoze, ive looked thru the mandrake manual but cant find anything at all

all i want is something like what windoze uses which doesnt require me to find out so much info from the isp and so it just works and doesnt give me trouble, i'd hate to have to format my linux box and put xp on it just to use as a gaeway server when i know linux is more secure and stable

id been thinking that it was a modem problem but the modem works well under windoze with the correct driver, the modem is supported by linux so i dont know what to do

Dont be taking the easy way out.
You'll never learn anything about Linux if you look for easier ways to do things.

Just tell us exactly what problems your having and your current configurations so we can help you to fix your problem.

If Linux cant fix your problem then you've got the wrong problem!

ok, thanks for the offer of help, youre streets ahead of the tech suport of my isp already :)

the prob is that the connectino drops out for no reason at all, works quite nicely on windoze but for some reason linux either works well or not at all some days, just depends on its mood i guess

its just a standard ppp dialup connection this isp uses, i'll list what i have in my setup:

here are the main points of my connection

CHAP authentication ( got this from the ISP)
dynamic ip allocation
default gateway
automatic dns asignment

'device' section
/dev/ttys0
software flow control
line termination is CR/LF
115200 is modem speed
30 seconds timeout

'modem' section
busy wait time 0 sec
no dialtone waiting
pppd timeout wait 60 sec
disconnect on X server shudown


the modem im using is a mitsubishi electric 56SE external modem thats supports v.90

i also have a small LAN with ip masq running thru this connection, i dont think thats the prob but i can post my firewall if you need me to

i know i shouldnt have softawre flow control bu ive been fiddling with the setttings to make it work and thought id try it out, seems to work ok 'touches wood'

When you say that the connection just drops out, do you mean you get connected then you get disconnected after a certain time or it just wont connect at all?


Im not next to my Linux box right now but ill reply again when i get home

its kinda weird to explain actually, sometimes it will connect, sometimes it stays on for the whole 6 hours (thats the hard session limit), sometimes it connects and stays on for 10 mins, sometimes 20 or 30, sometmes the modem doesnt even dial or connect at all, the modem is linux compatable, it says so on the box and on the mitsubishi site

ive been using it on my xp Pro box for the past few days while im trying to sort out the problem, connects and stays on perfectly with the xp box, even tried the modem in a differnet power socket in case that was causing problems to no avail at all

ive even looked at the latest .INF file that windoze uses and changed the modem settings in KPPP to match those and that doesnt work at all, won't even dial now so ive got to change those back to what they were, could is be that my ISP uses one of those weird microsoft KPPP servers that only seem to play nice with ms windoze or MAC??

ive looked around on those kinds of things and im not sure if there are programs that support some of the m/s ppp protocols, or is there a way i can get my linux box to emulate a windoze box when connecting?

hope this makes it a bit easier to understand and hasn't confused everyone completely, so i havnt given up yet, just a bit annoyed and dissapointed that an ISP's servers only seem to like windoze when linux is the more connectable thing anyway....

if i get it worked out next week i'll post and say what i've done to get it to play nice, sometimes its almost like a time of day based thing too, sometimes it will stay on in the mornings but not at night, really weird...