[hcflinux] Troubleshooting the hcfpcimodem

[Mark Harig]

I am having a problem with (Red Hat 8.0) Linux locking up on my
computer.  I have run (for over 9 hours) a test on my memory (384 Mb)
to establish as best I can (8, 16, and 32-bit tests) that it is not the
source of the problem.  I suspect that the problem is being caused by 
my modem driver.  The symptoms that cause me to think that is that I can
cause my computer to lock up (frozen keyboard and mouse cursor, blinking
lights on my keyboard) by starting several applications that access my
modem at the same time, in particular, if I have a CVS update/checkout
access running at the same time as a web browser access.

Otherwise, my system is stable -- I have been able to keep Linux running
continuously without reboot for several days, while dialed into an
ISP/PPP connection.  The problem appears (as far as I can tell) only
when I try to run simultaneously several applications that access the
modem.

It's possible that the problem I'm having is being caused by something
other than the modem driver, but I would like to attempt to troubleshoot
this problem.  Can anyone provide some instructions on how I might get
some information from the device driver?  At present, my system is
locking up, so I have to reset my computer in order to get it working
again.  If necessary, I would rebuild the kernel to turn on some
debugging information, but I don't know if this is worth doing.

During dial-up, the following message is logged in /var/log/messages:

 modprobe: modprobe: Can't locate module ppp-compress-21

Here is information about my O/S and hcfpcimodem driver installation.

# uname -mrv
2.4.18-14 #1 Wed Sep 4 13:35:50 EDT 2002 i686

# rpm -q hcfpcimodem
hcfpcimodem-0.98mbsibeta02101002k2.4.18_14-1rh

# rpm -V hcfpcimodem
(no output)

# modinfo hcfpciserial
filename:   
/usr/lib/hcfpci/modules/binaries/i686/RedHat/linux-2.4.18-14/hcfpciserial.o
description: "HCF softmodem serial port driver"
author:      "Marc Boucher <marc at mbsi.ca> for Conexant Systems Inc."
license:     "GPL"

# modinfo hcfpciserial
filename:   
/usr/lib/hcfpci/modules/binaries/i686/RedHat/linux-2.4.18-14/hcfpciengine.o
description: "HCF controllerless modem driver"
author:      "Conexant Systems Inc."
license:     "Copyright (C) 1996-2002 Conexant Systems Inc. All Rights
Reserved."

# modinfo hcfpciosspec
filename:   
/usr/lib/hcfpci/modules/binaries/i686/RedHat/linux-2.4.18-14/hcfpciosspec.o
description: "HCF controllerless modem driver"
author:      "Conexant Systems Inc."
license:     "Copyright (C) 1996-2002 Conexant Systems Inc. All Rights
Reserved."

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

-mark