Dial-up Problems

[Amar Joshi]

Hi,
  I have a Powermac 7300/180 running YDL 2.1 on one drive and MacOS 8.6
on the other.  I also have a Best Data Smart One 56k modem.  In the MacOS,
I have no trouble connecting to my ISP.  However, I have not been able
to connect via Linux.  I have tried numerous distributions (LinuxPPC
2000 Q4, Debian 2.2 r4.1, and now YDL 2.1) and I have not been able to
connect in any of them.  So here is the situation:

In KDE, I use kppp to connect to my ISP.  Kppp doesn't have any trouble
finding the modem and dialing the number.  In fact, based on the modem
sounds and kppp log, everything goes just find until just after the modem
connects.  After that, nothing happens and I get an error saying pppd
timed out.  I have tried increasing the timeout time, but that doesn't
help.

I have also tried using Wvdial, but that doesn't work either.  In Wvdial,
pppd doesn't have a chance to timeout, wvdial disconnects immediately
after connecting saying "returned not OK."

I have tried manually inputing the correct modem init string (from the
script for macOS available at the Best Data website) but that changes
nothing.  I have not found any online troubleshooting guides which specifically
address this sort of problem.  What do I do?

Thanks.