Help connecting Linksys BEFCMU10 USB modem (debian sarge)

[shawnrgr 0]

I have an old box with no ethernet, just usb. my cable modem supports usb connections, a Linksys BEFCMU10 ver3. When i boot up tahe system recognizes it because i see it print Linksys USB..... on the screen. I've been searching the net for days on this now and can't figure it out.

[danleff 0]

Could you kindly give us some more information to help to know what you have already tried?

 

How much experience fo you have with Linux, specifically Debian?

 

I assume that you installed Debian by way of the full set of CD disks? If though the netinstall CD, then you did have a connection during the installation?

 

If via the full set of Debian CD disks (or DVD) did you attempt to set up the connection during the installation?

 

What GUI are you using, Gnome or KDE?

 

Telling us that you have an "old box" does not give us information on the system that you are using, specifically, what USB interface that it uses (EHCI vs. OHCI). However, it seems that the modem is at least seen, but not set-up with an active internet connection. This is where some knowledge of Linux will come in handy to see if and how the connection can be easily established.

 

If you are a new user to Linux, or Debian, the easiest way to get the system going on the internet is to install an inexpensive NIC card. This should get you up and running easily.

 

If you want to tackle the USB connection (have some experience with Linux) then we will reference this how-to article, which speaks to setting up a different modem, but one which uses the same driver that is needed to get the connection going.

[shawnrgr 0]

i will post what i posted on the other 4 forums lol, your the first to respond to any of them so i thank you for that...

 

 

Ok, i have been taking some free time aside for 3 months now trying to get this working. Hopefully someone in here can help me out.

 

The scenario:

 

Pentium 233

No Ethernet Card, Just USB

Debian Sarge running BlackBox

Linksys BEFCMU10 v3 USB Modem

Comcast Cable

 

My main computer is a compaq laptop. I use the ethernet port on the modem for internet access. There is also a USB port on the back of the modem. I want to be able to use that USB port to get my old p233 online. I am currently out of a job an literally have no money so purchasing a 20 dollar ethernet card is out of the question (i know its sad).

 

When I plug the modem into the old pc via usb the usb light on the modem turns red\orange and blinks. When I boot up the system (everything scrolls by too fast to accurately see what it says) I see at one point when its scanning the usb devices "Linksys USB Ethernet....." or something like that. So I know the system can see the device.

 

After I get into a desktop, i start tinkering around with the pppconfig stuff. It tells me that it sees "1 connection, eth0..." so I run the test. At this point the USB light on the modem turns GREEN!! I think YAY! However my excitement is short lived when it tells me that there was no response from the device and the config program times out.

 

I found this post here:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/sh...703&cat=myprod

 

Which clearly stats that it IS possible to get this modem working. But I'm still learning linux and I don't know anything about... CDCEther, af_packet modules, ifcfg-usb-eth, or any of that.

 

Can someone please help me out here. And help is good help.

[danleff 0]

Quote:

My main computer is a compaq laptop. I use the ethernet port on the modem for internet access. There is also a USB port on the back of the modem. I want to be able to use that USB port to get my old p233 online. I am currently out of a job an literally have no money so purchasing a 20 dollar ethernet card is out of the question (i know its sad).

OK, then you pick the harder of the two options. Your system is very old. How much physical memory is in the system and how much hard drive space do you have? The importance of this will become apparent as we move on.

Quote:

After I get into a desktop, i start tinkering around with the pppconfig stuff. It tells me that it sees "1 connection, eth0..." so I run the test. At this point the USB light on the modem turns GREEN!! I think YAY! However my excitement is short lived when it tells me that there was no response from the device and the config program times out.

pppoconfig is for dialup and DSL, not broadband, which I assume is what you have. Debian uses the dhcpcd package to connect to broadband.

You did not answer my question about your level of experience with Debian. I never used Blackbox, but let's move on, since you don't have KDE or Gnome installed, that would give you more graphical and user friendly interfaces to work with.

Start with the article that I referenced. Pay special attention to the section on using USB on the modem.

This is where your system specificatons will come into play.

Do you have the kernel source package installed on the system?

Let's look at if there is any detected connection at all right now. Probably not, but do you see an eth0 entry with an IP and various statistics when you type in as root user in a console;

ifconfig

If not, see if the drivers are in fact being loaded. Type in;

lsmod

to get a list of the loaded modules (that's the small letter L in lsmod). Is there an entry listed for CDCEther and/or af_packet?

If not, you probably either need to have the kernel source installed or recompile the kernel to add the module. There are other ways to do this, as well.

I'll look at my Debian box to see what is there, as well.

BTW, the corrected link that you gave is here. Let's see if that works.