LINUX on Laptops: Sound & pcmcia Modem Configuration Status For Linux to "take" as an Operating sysytem the basic needs of laptop computers must be met. This means internet connectivity. (And sound card operation!) Many lists ceaselessly return to the problems of diald, pppd, dial up connection failure, and failure of modem functionality. There still remains a badly defined series of steps involved in getting a Laptop pcmcia modem operating using S.u.S.E Linux 5.3. I want to put you together with two others that may help resolve the problem. First there is the "Linux/XFree86 on the Gateway Solo 2500 Webpage" <A HREF="http://www.fatcatlabs.com/laptops/solo2500.html"><A HREF="http://www.fatcatlabs.com/laptops/solo2500.html</A">http://www.fatcatlabs.com/laptops/solo2500.html</A</A>> run by jcarpenter@sfresearch.com Whilst Sound-card operation is secondary to me, he boasts this is a solved problem. QUOTE: Sound Support for the NeoMagic Here is the update! Thanks to Myles for paying more attention to my friends than I do, we have sound! Download the latest copy of OSS/Linux and configure as follows: First, set PnP OS to "NO" in the BIOS, and take note of your sound settings under Integrated Peripherals. Using the install program coming with OSS, select the Generic Yamaha OPL-3SAx (YMF715/YMF719) non-PnP. Take the defaults OSS assigns to resources. Change to the directory you installed OSS to and edit the devices.cfg file to read: /SECUREAUDIO OFF /IRQEXCLUDE 3 4 /DMAEXCLUDE 2 -opl3sax#Generic Yamaha OPL3-SAx (YMF715/YMF719) non PnP OPL3SAX ON P530 I5 D0 d1 (Didn't work for me originally cuz I had D1 d0) OPL3SAMPU ON P330 I10 OPL3 ON P388 Run soundon from there and you should be good to go. If your settings differ (these are the manufacturing defaults), make the mods as needed. Let me know if you need any help with that. Thanks Myles!!!!! :UNQUOTE But my primary problem is internet connectivity. If you can't connect to the internet you can't get those updates that reportedly make everything work, you can't get or send e-mail, in other words, you're out of business. The first problem to overcome is the pcmcia card configuration. I quote an e-mail to the suse linux list: QUOTE: Subject: [SuSE Linux] PCMCIA module for Panasonic KXL-D740 CD-ROM Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 12:23:33 -0500 Am attempting to install SuSE 5.3 on a Sony 505F laptop. Have booted from a floppy and need to recognize Panasonic CD-ROM KXL-D740 . (DejaNews tells me the Panasonic SCSI card is based on QLogic CSE chip set.) When I attempt to load PCMCIA modules, it finds i82365 chipset and asks for "Parameters for PCMCIA core modules." I have no idea what to enter. If I leave it blank, system freezes. Can anyone help? :UNQUOTE My first install I made modem connection intermittently. I would have to dial 5-8 times before a connect would catch, and then no matter how many places I configured my modem speed to 58600 or whatever, it would only be 2800. After my second install, both minicom and kppp lock up when trying to access modem. So I review procedures. #1.) Remove "lock" from /etc/ppp/options #2.) Enter dial up provider's internet adress and name in /hosts.resolv #3.) Make certain /dev/ttys0 is ln -s to /dev/modem #4.) Made certain ppp is indeed installed, and diald is installed. (TAST can bypass this). References: Linux PCMCIA Information Page: <A HREF="http://hyper.stanford.edu/HyperNews/get/pcmcia/home.html"><A HREF="http://hyper.stanford.edu/HyperNews/get/pcmcia/home.html</A">http://hyper.stanford.edu/HyperNews/get/pcmcia/home.html</A</A>> PCMCIA Card Services Download: <A HREF="ftp://hyper.stanford.edu/pub/pcmcia"><A HREF="ftp://hyper.stanford.edu/pub/pcmcia</A">ftp://hyper.stanford.edu/pub/pcmcia</A</A>> The XBF NeoMagic X Server from RedHat: <A HREF="ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/XBF"><A HREF="ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/XBF</A">ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/XBF</A</A>> - To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archiv at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>