I just started messing around with openSUSE 11.3 (64-bit version, KDE environment), so on this one problem I probably need somebody who can patiently guide me…
My desktop computer has an internal fax/modem card (PCI version, mod. USR5610C). **I am very confident that this card works with Linux and U.S. **Robotics guarantees that much on their web site.
I connect to the Internet via DSL but I am attempting to set up the internal analog modem card as a back up should the DSL line be temporarily down. I went to YaST → Modem and I see that my card was detected as “U.S. ROBOTICS 56K FAX INT Modem Not configured”. I pressed Edit and the Modem Parameters page says that the device is in “/dev/ttyS4”. I am not sure that this is indeed where the modem is located (is there a way to make sure??) but I accepted it and proceeded to entering the name of my Internet service provider, the access phone number, user name, and password. So far, so good – I think!
Eventually, I come to a window where YaST2 wants to install the following:
jack Jack-Audio Connection Kit v. 1.9.5-2.8
smpppd SuSE Meta PPP Daemon v. 1.60.46-1.1.1
So far I have not installed them because of the Jack-Audio Connection Kit software. Do I really need to install it in order to get the modem working? The reason I am being careful is that I just spent weeks and weeks in trying to get my audio card (ASUS Xonar DX 7.1, PCI-E) to work with openSUSE and I sure do not want to mess things up and start all over again!
Could I get some guidance from the experts on this group? Also, is there a step-by-step guide on the Internet on how to set up an analog modem with openSUSE 11.3?
**Ideally, I would like to set up and use my fax/modem card with the GUI software provided by YaST (KDE environment). If at all possible, I would like to stay away from command-line instructions (wvdial/wvdialconf, etc.) because I am a newbie and have troubles with command window instructions… **
I can understand you wanting to be cautious here. Although you have a nice descriptive title (pertinent to your problem), it might miss the attention of users who have a better understanding of openSUSE audio systems. Hopefully, someone can advise you better than I on this. (I was hoping it would be just a simple modem config problem). FWIW, I think you should be alright letting YaST install the required packages, as it is not to difficult to remove them should it be necessary for some reason.
Installing Jack should not affect your audio if it is installed, and you choose to ignore it.
BUT in case I am wrong, you could do somethings to mitigate any risk such that you can roll back your audio afterward.
Make a backup copy of your /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf file and store it under /home/your-username/backups. Do NOT store backups in /etc/modprobe.d !
Open your mixer and make a screen print of all your mixer settings. Save it under /home/your-username/backups.
Run the the following diagnostic script and copy the /tmp/alsa-info.txt file it creates and save it under /home/your-username/backups:
/usr/sbin-alsa-info.sh --no-upload
It will record all configuration aspects of your audio. After messing installing any rpms for jack, you can run the same and compare the new alsa-info.txt with the old alsa-info.txt to look for any changes.
Determine the LAST rpm that you updated, so you can see which changes were made after this last rpm. You can do that by navigating to /home/your-username/backups in a terminal, and then run as a regular user
and with a text editor compare last-rpms-before-installing-jack.txt to last-rpms-when-trying-to-get-modem-to-work.txt and you should have a good handle on exactly WHAT rpms you may wish to roll back or remove, in case the update impacts your audio
Note I do not think installing jack should affect things, but I concede this ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 is a difficult card to configure.