AOL (etc) on Linux with USB Voyager 105 modem
(the no-cost alternative)
The BT Voyager 105 from Globespan is the USB modem that AOL usually supplied in the UK. It does it's job OK, within the usual limits of USB, but as an unintelligent "Winmodem" it requires drivers which come on the AOL installation disk. As I said earlier WIndows products generally do not run on Linux, and 105 drivers are no exception.
Therefore we need Linux drivers for this modem. As most sensible Linux users would not entertain a USB modem because of the inherent power and connection problems, there are not many people willing to write them. However one set of clever French hackers at FlashTux EciAdsl have put together drivers for this modem.
How to load the drivers
Some distros may have the eciadsl drivers available, for example SuSE 10.1 has the drivers available in the Yast software management system, and Freespire has them in the CNR system. STX and Ubuntu do not seem to. If not available in the distro you can download them from the eciadsl site. If there is no package for your distro you may have to download the Sources package and compile with the standard ./configure, make, and make install commands, but you will need to do a bit more Linux research on how to do that!.1) Assuming you are still in your windows session, using Firefox or Mozilla browser (NOT Internet Explorer for reasons given earlier) go to the above link and find a driver set for your distro. For STX I used the "Slackware" version. Download the file which should be in the right zip format for your distro to install (For STX it is .tgz)
2) Find the Synch bin files and download them also. These are in a .bz2 format (eciadsl-synch_bin.tar.bz2) but will usually unpack on a right-click in most Linux file managers.
Store the drivers and synch files from steps 1 and 2 in a location you can access from your Linux, e.g. a USB stick or a CD-ROM disk.
3) Download the installation guide from the EciAdsl site and print it out.
4)Boot up your chosen Linux as user "root" and install the EciAdsl driver package as per your distro method. (For distros like Ubuntu use sudo as there is no root user ID)
For STX there is a software installer that recognises .tgz files.
5) Remove or disable the "dabusb" function - the installation guide gives two ways of doing this.
6) Unpack the synch_bin files into /etc/eciadsl folder in your file manager.
7) Plug the modem into the USB port on the PC but NOT into the phone line just yet! Ignore the advice about what lights should show. You will have just a power light on at this time.
8) Go into a command line shell console, and enter the command eciadsl-config-tk
(If you are in Ubuntu or Linspire you will have to use the sudo prefix for these commands as there is no root user in Ubuntu)
You need to enter the following configuration settings for AOL...
user - this is your full AOL master screen name, e.g. fredbloggs@aol.com
password - your normal aol password for this screen name
VPI - 0 (zero)
VCI - 38
ProviderDNS - 205.188.146.145 for AOL UK (in both places)
Modem - select BT Voyager 105
Modem Chipset - this is automatically selected by the system.
Alt Synch - automatically set by the system
Alt pppoeci - automatically set by the system
Synch .bin file - change this to the gs7470_synch03.bin
I didn't change any other settings.
Click "Create Config"
9) Log out of Linux and log back in as normal user - (Root should never be used when online for security reasons) 10) plug the modem into the phone line via the usual ADSL filter adapter
10) Enter the command eciadsl-start into the command shell console (Ubuntu you may need to sudo again). You should eventually get the familiar flashing DSL light which goes steady when you have connection. By this time the Modem has logged into your AOL broadband as fredbloggs@aol.com
11)You should be able to select Firefox, Mozilla or Netscape, and browse www.aol.co.uk, select "email" then sign in as any of your screen names (this time without the @aol.com) to check email for that screen name.
If you cannot get to the internet by now, contact the team at Eciadsl, not me!!
Bear in mind that it will be much easier to go the ethernet modem route but if you have time to learn and already have a Voyager 105 modem, this is the no-cost method.