HCF driver FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

No, these drivers are only for the Conexant HCF (controllerless) family, not for the HSF (softmodem) chips.

You probably should try both the HCF and HSF drivers, until one works. Some early modems are incorrectly identified (HCF as HSF and vice-versa) in some versions of the PCI ID lists used by lspci and the linux kernel. Also, a few modem vendors have tried to save costs by omitting the EEPROM where device IDs are stored, causing the same default ID built into the bus interface chip to be used for both HCF and HSF devices.

You might want to try entering "/dev/modem" manually for the modem device. Also, verify that "/dev/modem" is a symbolic link pointing to ttySHCF0. If it is not the case, you can try re-creating it with the command:

rm -f /dev/modem; ln -s ttySHCF0 /dev/modem

On devfs-based systems (such as Mandriva), the missing device node is often a sign that the driver modules didn't load or initialize properly. Try "modprobe /dev/ttySHCF" (or /dev/ttySHCFUSB), then check the /var/log/messages file or run "dmesg" to see any kernel error messages that could provide a clue as to why loading of the driver failed.

Please verify your line cord and country settings (with hcf{pci|usb}config --country).
If they are correct and the "NO DIALTONE" problems persist, you may try disabling dialtone detection with the "ATX3" command.

If this still doesn't work, there might be a more serious problem with the machine, driver or its configuration. The cause might be ACPI or APIC related (see FAQ items about these topics; try booting with "acpi=off" and/or "noapic" kernel options) or incorrect RELAYS or FLAGS definitions in the INF file for your modem. You might want to try importing the original values for these parameters from your modem's original Windows driver. If this solves the problem or it persists, please tell us about it.

Please verify the Ln and Mn settings with the AT&V command. They should be L1 and M1.
If not, change them with the command: ATL1M1

If you still cannot hear any call progress sounds, and use a modem model that does not have its own speaker (such as on a notebook), verify your audio mixer settings (using aumix or equivalent utility) to ensure that the volume levels are high enough and that the "PCM" and "PhoneIn" channels are not muted.

With the HSF driver it is also possible to play call progress sounds through the sound card. This requires that the system's audio driver be properly configured. If other audio applications work but you still cannot hear call progress sounds, examine the /usr/sbin/hsfdcpd script.

The following initialization string, which resets the modem to factory settings, should cover most situations:

AT &F

Use "ATW1" to enable reporting of line speed, error correction protocol and DTE speed. See the command set reference manual (100498D_RM_HxF_Released.pdf) for details.

Yes, and it can be safely ignored.

Since this modem driver provides a virtual serial interface, which is not directly connected to a physical UART like a normal serial port, it is not possible and would not make sense to configure it with "setserial". Therefore you shouldn't use this command on the ports associated with this driver.

This problem might be ACPI-related or caused by a timing issue related to the APIC timer module in some Linux kernels (usually SMP kernels). You can verify if your kernel is using APIC by looking for the line "ENABLING IO-APIC IRQs" when you run the "dmesg" command.

If you experience this problem, try disabling ACPI and/or the APIC by booting your kernel with the option "acpi=off" and/or the option "noapic".

An idle timer, bad connection, noise on the line, call waiting, driver bug, incorrect NVM parameters, overloaded system can all be potential causes for sudden disconnections.

If you use the modem for an IP connection, try running a "ping" in the background to keep the connection active.

If the problem persists, please send us detailed information, including the output of "cat /proc/driver/h*/0/lastcallstatus" captured just after the connection was lost.

You need to install the pciutils package before installing the driver. This package contains "lspci" which is used by hcf{pci|usb}config to detect your card.

pciutils should be installed from your Linux distribution CD. If your distribution supports RPM, then the install command should be similar to this: rpm -i /path/to/rpms/pciutils-....rpm

hcf{pci|usb}config requires lspci to detect your card. lspci comes with pciutils. We recommend that you install pciutils, but you can also configure the device manually. hcf{pci|usb}config will always fail if you try to use the "-a" option without pciutils installed.

pciutils should be installed from your Linux distribution CD. If your distribution supports RPM, then the install command should be similar to this: rpm -i /path/to/rpms/pciutils-....rpm

The easiest way to test your modem driver installation is to use a terminal software like minicom. You should set the port to /dev/modem or /dev/ttySHCF0. Once you have established a connection with the modem, you can try to reset it by using the "ATZ" command. The modem should answer "OK" to this command. Please refer to the AT Command Set Reference Manual for the complete list of available commands. You will find a link for the manual on our web site, at the bottom of the driver's description section.

If you can communicate with the modem, then you should try to dial a known valid number (eg. your ISP's number) with the command ATDT followed by the phone number.

This procedure allows you to verify the driver's basic functionality without involving a complex software like a PPP dialer.

First, you should verify if the modules are loaded by the kernel with the command "lsmod". You should see hcfpciengine, hcfpciserial, hcfpciosspec and hcfpcihw (or hcfusbengine, hcfusbserial, hcfusbosspec and hcfusbhw if you are running the USB driver).

If the modules do not appear, try to load them with "modprobe hcfpcihw" (or "modprobe hcfusbhw"). If you still don't see them with "lsmod", look at the file /var/log/messages and the output from the command "dmesg" for clues on why the modules failed to load.

It is very important that the driver modules be compiled with the same compiler version that was used to build your kernel.

If the wrong version is used (i.e. gcc2 instead of gcc3 or vice-versa) the system may crash or refuse to load the modules.

You can use the command "cat /proc/version" and "gcc -v" to check the version strings.

By default, hcf{pci|usb}config looks for the symbolic link /lib/modules/(kernelversion)/build
If this link exists and points to a valid directory, then hcf{pci|usb}config will use this directory as the kernel sources' location.

If the link does not exist, hcf{pci|usb}config will try to use /usr/src/linux or /usr/local/src/linux.

Please note that if your kernel sources are in /usr/local/src/linux, but you also have a /usr/src/linux link pointing to an invalid or empty directory, then hcf{pci|usb}config will try to use /usr/src/linux and it will fail.

It is VERY important that the kernel sources' version match the kernel version that you are currently running. If it isn't the case, then hcf{pci|usb}config will report and error.

Try the following command:

rpm -e --noscripts --force --allmatches hcfpcimodem

If the driver prevents your system from starting normally, you could try booting in 'single user' or 'failsafe' mode first.

Before installing a package, RPM tries to verify its integrity.

The V.92 modulation is supported as well as V.44 compression. However, the MOH (Modem On Hold) feature cannot be supported at this time because it requires a special application to interface with the user. This should be provided in a future release.

Both HCF and HSF drivers now have fax class 1 (+FCLASS=1) and 1.0 (+FCLASS=1.0) support.

The HCF driver has voice support (+FCLASS=8), but this functionality has not been tested a lot and might not work properly.

We hope to improve it and also add voice support to the HSF driver soon.

Unfortunately the hcfusbmodem driver only supports the Cadmus2 chipset internally used by Apple in later generation PowerPC desktop and notebook machines. Most if not all external USB HCF modems on the market use an earlier chipset (Cadmus1), which requires too many workarounds and excessive polling by the CPU to be well supported under Linux.

At this time, we only distribute Linux drivers and there are currently no plans to support other operating systems.

However, people interested in porting the drivers to other operating systems should contact us.

Linuxant has licensed core technology and hopes to provide official Linux drivers for Conexant ADSL chipsets in the future.