Help setting up Lucent Win Modem.

[riddellcomp]

I have an XP machine which used to have an internal modem. I never used this modem as I preffered the external modem but I remember it was on my system as an Lucent Win modem. Anyway I have just sent my dad an old 200mhz Pent with Win98SE and also took out the internal modem from my machine and sent that to him as well.
He installed the modem and followed the Add hardware wizard but we were not sure which drivers to use so we went with the first lot of Lucent drivers on the SE disc, something called 1645 or similar. These drivers did not work and we received an error message when trying to dial up. I live in the West coast and my dad lives on the East coast so it is hard trying to do this via the phone especially when this is his first computer.
The problem I have is that I do not know exactly what drivers to install as I do not know the exact modem type. Also I recall having problems trying to get this device working in Xp so am wondering if the modem isn't faulty or something. Is there a way to test this? How can I find the correct drivers and what Com port do I set up this internal modem on.

Thanks in advance.

[hudsonsmith]

The answer depends on whether the P200 supports plug and play. First of all, delete whatever device the modem is currently installed as and reboot. If the computer supports pnp, the modem should be detected automatically (you shouldn't have to use the new hardware wizard) and you would just have to install the driver. The latest drivers are available here: http://www.agere.com/client/docs/modem830.exe (Lucent spun off its modem business to Agere).

If the modem is not detected, try the add modem wizard under modems in control panel. If it finds the modem, continue as above. If I recall correctly, the winmodems were jumperless, so there is no way to set a com port.

[riddellcomp]

The computer does detect the modem on start up however when using the wizard to auto search for drivers it returns a "No drivers found for this device" regardless of where we set the search.
We therefore had to choose "Have disk." and use the Win98SE CD-ROM. However in the modem\lucent folder there were other folders such as 1645i, 1645, 1648 etc. We were not sure which one to use so went with the first one. It installed okay and we didn't get an error message saying that the drivers were incorrect for the device however the modem did not work.
Do you think if we use the drivers supplied from Agere it might help?

[riddellcomp]

Also when we go through the add new drivers wizard it asks us which com port to use. We have to select one to continue. Could this be because the drivers we are choosing are all for External modems?

[hudsonsmith]

It is likely that your 98se cd does not have a native driver for your lt winmodem. If you manually select a driver, windows will not give you an error message if the selection is incorrect.

In the absence of information as to the modem manufacturer and model (so as to obtain the specific driver) I would install the Agere driver. As far as I know, it should not ask you to select a com port - these modems were designed to configure a "virtual" port

[riddellcomp]

I found a driver on the 98SE disc as follows.

E:\drivers\modem\lucent\1645\pci\ltmodem.inf

I assume its for an internal modem so I tried to install it on my work machine because it runs Win98SE. However it asked for the com port also. When you read the driver file info it says that its for an internal modem though so not sure whats happening there.
I have downloaded the driver from Agere, put them on disc and sent them via airbag to my dad but he won't get them until Monday now as its Thursday here today and the airbag won't arrive until the weekend.
In the mean time I am wondering if we could try letting plug and play detect and install the drivers and choose the driver file mentioned above. Maybe it might work if it is installed this way instead of manually trying to install it.
What do you think?

[Platypus]

These can be cranky to get working, especially if you've had a previous failed installation. This is my suggested procedure:

Firstly you should look at the card to identify the chipset, and source appropriate drivers. There is a good deal of information here:

http://www.modem-help.co.uk/chips/lucmar.html

although not particularly up-to-date.

Check what installation system the drivers use, most Lucent/Agere driversets seem to use a SETUP program, but some use an .INF file system.

It's probably best to remove the modem, and vital to clean out incorrect drivers before trying again. (Removing the modem stops the system from repeatedly finding new hardware.)

See if there is an entry in Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, if there is, use this first to attempt to remove any existing drivers. If further drivers are installed before doing this, a mess can result.

Next, boot into Safe Mode and look in the Device Manager, if there are any remaining Modem devices (called phantoms, or ghosts), remove these devices.

Shut down & re-fit the modem, if it was removed, or re-start if not.

When the system finds the modem, install according to the way the driverset is set up, either point the Wizard to the folder where the .INF file & the rest are, or close the Wizard and run the SETUP program.

Most installations choose their own COM port, being asked to nominate one usually means the installer hasn't been able to set up a virtual port, so the installation will be unsuccessful. It's annoyingly common for these installations to appear to do the rignt thing, but simply not work.

[confus-ed]

Mmmm you seem to have missed the point with 'win' or soft modems ... they ain't 'just' a modem !

Generally they are a 'simple communications' device/controller with a modem chipset 'tacked on' ...

That's what windows is finding each time & that's why it won't have any of you telling it, that it, IS a modem ! You need an inf that tells it that it has a modem behind the controller, NOT the driver for the particular modem chipset, it can't see it.

I was just googling for 'generic hcf/hsf' drivers for you ... then I re-read the thread only to see that you are sending all this stuff back & forth to your dad, who is miles away ! .... errrr buy him a new one with some drivers ! cheaper & simpler than all this ! ...defeatist perhaps ;)

[Platypus]

buy him a new one with some drivers ! cheaper & simpler than all this !

I think that's a good suggestion, they're pretty cheap these days. If you do, for a P200, find a "controllerless" modem rather than a full softmodem, will cost a little more but will work better on that class of machine.

[NooNoo]

P200 with a winmodem? You should inform your dad, that if he is surfing the net, that is all the pc will be able to do.

A win modem uses the cpu to do the donkey work - therefore the cpu will be so busy supplying the win modem, it won't be able to do much else.

While it's apparently a lot of money, an external hardware modem would be a much better proposition.

[hudsonsmith]

If windows is telling you "no drivers found for this device", that means that plug and play was unable to detect and install the driver. In any case, I don't know what a lucent 1645 is, but if windows did not identify it automatically as the driver for your modem, then it is not the right one.

Confus-ed makes an important point - you probably spent as much for shipping the driver than a new modem would cost ($15-$20).

Take a look at the first chapter of this http://www.zoomtel.com/documentation/dial_up/27542-3649-b.pdf Its the installation guide for a lucent modem sold by zoom. The key is, you need to install the driver before you install the modem. So, first remove the modem. Next boot into safe mode and follow the steps outlined by platypus to remove the device and driver. Reboot. Install the Agere driver. Shut down. Reinstall the modem. Reboot. Windows should detect the modem and install the driver.

[hudsonsmith]

P200 with a winmodem? You should inform your dad, that if he is surfing the net, that is all the pc will be able to do.

A win modem uses the cpu to do the donkey work - therefore the cpu will be so busy supplying the win modem, it won't be able to do much else.

While it's apparently a lot of money, an external hardware modem would be a much better proposition.

I agree, but I think you would need to go the ebay route. Its not worthwhile to spend $70 for a new external or internal hardware modem on a system with a current value of $150. If you take a look on ebay, they have gobs of external modems and internal hardware modems under $25. With a p200, you probably have isa slots. Not that the isa modems are better, but they're cheaper - everyone is trying to unload them because they can't be used in newer systems.

[riddellcomp]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
Confused,
We used the add/hardware wizard and chose "PCI Communications device" becasue it detected the modem as that. We also tried different drivers and managed to install the drivers without being prompted for a com port however when we ran the diagnostics we had an error message "Com Port 3 is already open."
I originally sent him the internal modem just so we could set him up on the internet and let him play around a bit. After reading your posts we have gone with another option. I have sent him an old 33.6 k external modem just so he can get things setup and give it a try. I know it will be slow but he is a new user so shouldn't notice it that much. In the mean time he is looking for a second hand external 56k modem. He is a TV, stereo, video tech by trade so is asking around his contacts and should source one at a good price sooner or later. I knew that internal modems used part of the cpu but I didnt realise that it would use that much.

Actually as I type this dad just phoned and said he has got hold of a Maestro 56k external modem so we will give that a go and hopefully he will be online in the next half hour or so.
Thanks again for your help.

[riddellcomp]

Well things havent really got much better. We removed the internal modem and all references to it, connected up the new Maestro Companion 56k modem and re-started Windows. It did not detect the modem so we went into the modem icon in the Cp. Under the add new modem setup it wouldnt detect the modem automatically although the modem lights did flash whilst searching COM1.
We used the select from list option and tried the Standard 56k modem option however although the drivers installed properly we couldnt bring up "more info" in the diagnostics tab. We then went through and installed the modem again and this time used the driver under Maestro for a Companion 28k modem as that was the fastest modem driver option.
But once again the modem won't respond on the diagnostics, More info tab.
I know that we should be using the correct driver but the person who gave my dad the modem said he wouldnt need them and to just let Windows detect the modem. However this didnt happen. I might add that it did detect the internal modem when we first installed it so I dont think its a plug and play problem.

If the modem responds on com 1 whilst detecting modems why do we get a message saying the modem could not be found?
I know some of you are going to say that I need to use the correct drivers however the previous owner of this modem said he never needed them. I am assuming that we do not need the phone to be plugged into the modem whilst we do all of this? Only when we want to dial in, or am I wrong here?

Does anyone have any ideas? I have e-mailed the drivers to my dads mate who will copy them to floppy for him but I dont have much faith in it working.

Thanks in advance.

[NooNoo]

check the com1 port in device manager is not clashing with anything else. Check in bios that the com1 port is enabled. The only other thing it could be is that the cable between the computer and modem is bad.

[riddellcomp]

Thanks Noo Noo I will give that a try.
If the Com port and cable is okay is there anything else we could try? The previous owner of the modem said it was working fine when he last used it. He upgraded to ADSL so didn't need it anymore.

[riddellcomp]

Well I am not sure why, perhaps because today is Saturday but we managed to finally get it to work with standard Windows modem drivers. We didn't really do anything different that we had already done but it just seemed to detect the modem this time on COM1. I just received my first test e-mail from my dad so he must of managed to follow my instructions in using OE.

Thanks again for the ehlp.

[confus-ed]

Glad its fixed ... finally ! :eek2: don't you just love computers ?!?;)

Dunno what was going amiss, maybe the parent/son interface was having intermitent communications difficulty ? :D :D :D - seems that's all fixed up now though !:thumbs:

[riddellcomp]

Glad its fixed ... finally ! :eek2: don't you just love computers ?!?;)

Dunno what was going amiss, maybe the parent/son interface was having intermitent communications difficulty ? :D :D :D - seems that's all fixed up now though !:thumbs:

ROFLMAO Yes perhaps that was the reason why. I just copied your reply and sent it to Dad in an e-mail. As you know its hard enough trying to explain things to someone who's never used computers when your in the same room as them. Let alone when you live on the other side of the country.