Frequently asked questions
Table of contents
1. What modems do this driver handle?
2. With version should I use?
3. How can I install this driver?
4. Which kernel version to use?
5. Which USB driver to use?
6. Will this driver works on non-x86 architectures?
7. How can I connect?
8. How can I shutdown the connection?
9. Where is the phone number of my ISP?
10. What are pppoa and pppoe?
11. Should I use pppoa or pppoe?
12. What is the -s option of pppoa and pppoe?
13. What is the sync option of pppd?
14. Should I use the synchronous or the asynchronous mode?
15. How can I use the synchronous mode?
16. What is the firmware?
17. What is the DSP code?
18. I cannot LOAD the firmware
19. I cannot LOAD the DSP code
20. I do not find the driver network interface
21. The modem uses the name of one of my network card!
22. pppd dies prematurely
23. How can I test if the DSL line is correct?
24. How can I know the line state?
25. How can I wait for the modem to be operational?
26. What is the ADSL mire?
27. Why am I disconnected everyday?
28. The modem finds the DSL line, but I cannot connect
29. I can connect, but the connection is not usable
30. Why is my rate limited to 20 Kb/s?
31. I'm disconnected as soon as the upstream traffic becomes too high
32. I'm disconnected regularly but at random times
33. pppoa crashes with a signal 11 (SIGSEGV)
34. The driver eats all my system memory!
35. My computer sometimes freezes for 2 seconds
36. My computer freezes definitively and I have to reboot it
37. The module does not LOAD at boot
38. The module is loaded at boot, bug hotplug do not load
the firmware or the DSP code
Questions/Answers
1. What modems do this driver handle?
This driver can be use with the modem DSL USB F@st 800 FROM Sagem.
It should also work with DSL modem FROM US Robotics. However, they were
not tested.
2. With version should I use?
You should use the last version, that is the version
eagle-1.0.4
This version can be found at:
http://sl33p3r.free.fr/index.html
There are other versions on the net, done by other guys. They can
eventually work for you. However, you must not use the original driver
from ADI or Sagem, neither the one FROM US Robotics.
3. How can I install this driver?
First, your kernel must be able to use the USB bus,
and the virtual filesystem /proc/bus/usb must be mounted.
PPP support must also be enabled in the kernel, and you
must have pppd 2.4.1 or later.
The driver can only be installed FROM source. That implies
you have the kernel header installed in /usr/src/linux (or
there is a symbolic link on them). You must extract the source
from the archive with tar, go in the new directory so created,
and issue the following command:
make
Once the driver is compiled, go to root and issue the following
command:
make install
This command will ask you some information about your connection
to generate the connection scripts and configuration files.
Then it will install all the files required for the driver
to work correctly.
4. Which kernel version to use?
This driver works with kernel 2.4.19 or later.
You should use 2.4.20 or later however.
5. Which USB driver to use?
The 2.4.x kernel has two UHCI drivers. This driver
works with both. It seems that the alternate driver
(JE) is closer to what the USB specifications of the Linux
Kernel says. However, this driver has not been tested
as much as the standard USB driver. The driver choice does
not seem to have any influence.
There is only one OHCI driver.
6. Will this driver works on non-x86 architectures?
Yes. It has been tested on PPC architectures.
7. How can I connect?
8. How can I shutdown the connection?
You can connect with the script
/usr/sbin/startadsl.
You can shutdown the connection with the script
/usr/sbin/stopadsl
9. Where is the phone number of my ISP?
You need not specify any phone number with DSL lines.
The modem is permanently connected to the DSL devices of
your phone company, at least as long as it's power supplied.
The connection itself consists solely to establish a communiation
channel with one of your ISP access point.
10. What are pppoa and pppoe?
11. Should I use pppoa or pppoe?
They are two programs that make the glue between the pppd
daemon and the driver. They use a virtual Ethernet interface
shown by the driver to them.
pppoa and pppoe use two DISTINCT encapsulation method
to transmit PPP packets FROM pppd to the driver. pppoa is lighter
than pppoe and therefore is preferred. The default configuration
of the driver selects pppoa.
12. What is the -s option of pppoa and pppoe?
13. What is the sync option of pppd?
The pppd daemon has support for synchronous lines. In
this connection mode, packets always are transmitted in their
entirety and do not have to be rebuild by software. These
options tells pppoa, pppoe and pppd they must use synchronous
connections.
14. Should I use the synchronous or the asynchronous mode?
Only the asynchrounous mode has been fully tested. Synchronous
mode seem to have some problems for esatblishing connections.
It is therefore advised to use only the asynchronous mode,
even if it requires a little more system resources.
15. How can I use the synchronous mode?
The synchronous mode requires the synchronous lines support
in the kernel. You can tell pppd to use this mode with its sync
option, and tell pppoa and pppe to use it with their -s option.
16. What is the firmware?
17. What is the DSP code?
When it's powered, the modem is barely able to do anything.
It can only received a firmware that enables it to fully handle
the USB bus. It also needs a DSP code, that is the software that
make it able to connect with the DSL equipments.
Firmware is loaded by the driver automaticly, but DSP code should
be sent to the modem using the adictrl command.
18. I cannot LOAD the firmware [ OBSOLET since version 1.0.4 ]
CHECK your modem is correctly plugged in and that the firmware
hasn't been already loaded. Once the firmware is loaded, the modem
change its USB identifiers and cannot be contacted anymore for
a reload, untill it's powered down.
CHECK also that the virtual filesystem /proc/bus/usb is mounted.
adictrl uses this filesystem to talk to the driver.
19. I cannot LOAD the DSP code
CHECK your modem is correctly plugged in and that the firmware
has been successfully loaded. The DSP code cannot be loaded untill
the firmware has been.
CHECK also that the virtual filesystem /proc/bus/usb is mounted.
adictrl uses this filesystem to talk to the driver.
CHECK also adictrl and module have been compiled using the same
gcc version as the kernel.
20. I do not find the driver network interface
The driver network interface is created on demand, when the command
adictrl -i
is issued. This command also prints the interface name used by the driver
to let you write your connection scripts.
21. The modem uses the name of one of my network card!
Network interface names are allocated in sequence at their creation.
If the modem driver uses the name of one of your network card, it's because
the initialization sequence of your system is wrong. In other words, you
call the "adictrl -i" sooner than the module LOAD for the drivers of your
other network cards.
Start the DSL connection later, that is after the other drivers
initialization to solve this problem.
You can also force the name of the interface to use by setting the variable
eth_name at LOAD time:
Exe: insmod adiusbadsl.o eth_name="eth9"
22. pppd dies prematurely
pppd quits when it lose the connection.
There are many good reasons to lose the connection. The most probable
are certainly the following ones: the modem driver is not loaded, the modem
hasn't yet synchronized with the DSL line, or the options specified for
the connection are wrong.
If the connection is lost after a correct initialization, it is a true
connection lost. In this case, you can force pppd to keep and try to reconnect
with the persist option.
23. How can I test if the DSL line is correct?
24. How can I know the line state?
The showstat command shows the link state.
In general, the link is good if both LEDs of your modem are lit
(Sagem F@st 800 modem). Some phone company let you CHECK your line
with a special connection (as the France Telecom "mire"). Sorry,
I do not know which are the equivalent service in foreign countries
or with other phone operators.
25. How can I wait for the modem to be operational?
You can use the following command:
adictrl -s [timeout]
This command will lock as long as the modem did not find the DSL line.
26. What is the "mire ADSL"?
The French phone company France Telecom uses a special connection
to let customers to CHECK their DSL line. This connection can be
established with a special user name and a special password.
You can therefore CHECK your line simply with the /usr/sbin/startmire
script.
However, I do not know which are the equivalent service in foreign
countries or with other phone operators.
27. Why am I disconnected everyday?
The French phone company France Telecom disconnect at least once
a day every customer using their DSL lines permanently, for maintenance
reasons it seems. Their Equipment may be bugged and eats all their
system resources in less than two days...
I do not known if such problems exists with other phone companies
or in other countries.
28. The modem finds the DSL line, but I cannot connect
If the modem finds the DSL line but you still cannot connect,
you may use either the wrong protocol or the wrong VPI/VCI numbers.
You can fix these options in the option file stored in /etc/adiusbadsl.
VPI/VCI numbers are often specific to a countrey, however, this may
change if several phone companies are present in your country. The default
options shipped with the driver are for use in France only, you should
therefore adapt these numbers to your local phone company.
29. I can connect, but the connection is not usable
The French ISP Free has some problems with their equipments
these days (the so-called "LNS"). These buggy equipments can accept
connections, but cannot make the bridge between your computer and
their network. The connection is therefore unusable.
The best thing to do to solve this problem is to find another LNS.
To do this, the simplest thing is to disconnect with stopadsl and
reconnect with startadsl.
These problems seem to be specific to the Free ISP
in France. I do not known if other ISP have the same problems
in other countries or with other ISPs. If this is the case,
there may be a bug in the driver that prevents the LSN to route
paquets. I would like to have reports of such failures.
30. Why is my rate limited to 20 Kb/s?
DSL lines are asymetric by nature. The upstram is generally limited
to 128 kbits/s, while the downstream is limited to 512 kbits/s.
The problem is that when the upstream is completely used, no more
packets that requires response can go out. Therefore, the downstream
is also limited by the upstream.
The only pratical solution to this problem is to define a quality
of service to reserve enough upstream for packets that ask for downstream.
This FAQ doesn't EXPLAIN how to do that, please refer to the routing
and traffic shaping HOWTOs.
31. I'm disconnected as soon as the upstream traffic becomes too high
It the upstream comes to prevent the LCP echo request of pppd
from going out, pppd may lose the connection with the LNS.
To solve this problem, you can define a quality of service,
increase the LCP echo request count before connection lost, and
use the persist option of pppd to make it reconnect automatically
in case the problem persists.
32. I'm disconnected regularly but at random times
You can be disconnected often but at random times if you do not
have a filtering plug on each phone socket where another device
is plugged in. These plug separate the DSL stream FROM the other
stream and if you do not use them, some interference will occur
and this can disturb the connection and even break it.
The solution is therefore to use these plugs on each phone
socket for your DSL line.
33. pppoa crashes with a signal 11 (SIGSEGV)
Former pppoa versions used to crash when they received packets
that were not for them. These packets should certainly not occur,
but some software (such as Samba or Cups) broadcast such packets
on every network interface, even the modem network inteface (which
of course should not be receive them).
Upgrade the driver and fix the configuration of those softwares
to not send packets on the driver Ethernet interface.
34. The driver eats all my system memory!
Former versions of the driver used to have a memory leak that ate
all the system memory after a while, when the pppoa protocol was used.
Upgrade the driver as soon as possible.
35. My computer sometimes freezes for 2 seconds
Former version (pre-1.0.3) used to actively wait during
initilization/boot process, which leads to 2s freeze (per modem).
Version 1.0.3 should fix this problem using a desynchronization of
the boot process.
The modem is reinitialized only when it crashes or when it lose
the DSL line. If these freeze occur often, you should CHECK you
DSL line and CHECK every phone socket has a filter on it.
36. My computer freezes definitively and I have to reboot it
Former versions of the driver used to have a race condition that
caused a kernel panic when the modem was reinitialized while packets
were sent.
Upgrade the driver as soon as possible.
37. The module does not LOAD at boot
CHECK the module is installed in the following directory:
/lib/modules/version/kernel/driver/usb
Check hotplug is installed and that the kernel is configured to use it.
Check that the module dependencies are up to date. CHECK the file
/lib/modules/version/usb.usermap to see ig it contains references to
the adiusbadsl.o module. CHECK you have a recent version of modutils.
38. The module is loaded at boot, bug hotplug do not load
the firmware or the DSP code
Hotplug should LOAD the firmware and the DSP code thanks
to the script
/etc/hotplug/usb/adiusbfirmware
and the script
/etc/hotplug/usb/adiusbdsp
They are called whenever the modem declares itself on the USB bus
with the USB identifiers that are specified in the file
/etc/hotplug/usb.usermap. CHECK these files are correct, and that
the file adisubfirmware and adiusbdsp have execute permission.
