We have a machine with Ubuntu 7.10 loaded on it. We've got a Diamond "SupraMax" 56K external modem (V.92) attached that connects with a serial cable. We are trying to dial in to our ISP (Earthlink), but are having problems getting connected. When we do a "subo pppconfig" everything looks okay, but when I go to the terminal and type in "sudo wvdial", I get an error that says "Configuration does not specify a valid login name". We check our user name for the ISP and that is correct, but I think it's actually looking for some other kind of user name.

I also tried the "pon # connect to the ISP configured as "provider" " command. Usually it just does nothing after I enter this command in. It'll just go to another prompt. Sometimes I hear the modem make noises like it's trying to connect but it the noises don't stop for a while and it still won't connect. Only 1 time did it actually work and I got to the internet, Google's homepage came up. I can't figure out why it only worked that one time. I am pretty new to Linux, so can someone help me out here? How do I get the external modem to dial-in to our ISP with Ubuntu? Thanks.

More details:
The COM port is set to /dev/ttyS0 which is the correct port linux detected. The authentication method is set to 'PAP'. The modem init string looks fine when I use the 'sudo wvdial' command.

1) Choose either pppconf or vwdial, don't use both as they're two different ways of doing the job. Pick up your favourite; I like wvdial because it's straightforward to configure (just edit wvdial.conf found in /etc/ if I'm right; fill in the needed information, save and run wvdial). If you use pppconf, then you should probably use 'pon' to connect (and 'poff' to disconnect).

2) Usually if a command does not print output it means "good". Typically output is given if there's some information the program wants to give to the user, if there were errors or something else that the user should know. In case of a simple "connect to the configured provider" command the program needs not print anything if things went ok; you simply get a new command prompt. After this you should be able to surf the web, or at least ping some sites (provided that you got all the needed information trough dhcp or something similar, or configured DNS servers manually).

So, if you use pppconf, use pon/poff. If you use wvdial, see
and if wvdial.conf has it's own manpage, that too. Then edit wvdial.conf, which basically means "add in dial number, username and password and save", then try running wvdial.

There are graphical ppp programs too, if you prefer them; such as kppp (for KDE; there are similar programs for Gnome desktop too).

The best way to set up wvdial is to issue the command: sudo wvdialconf /etc/wvdial.conf and it will look at all the ports and may find your modem if it's turned on, then write a /etc/wvdial.conf file with the right technical information. You'll still have to edit the /etc/wvdial.conf file to include your user name, password and ISP phone number after it finds your modem.

Wvdial usually has a couple semicolons or something at the beginning of those three lines for your user name, password and phone number, those semicolons have to be removed. Below is a sample of what the contents of the file should look like.
To edit the /etc/wvdial.conf file, issue command: sudo gedit /etc/wvdial.conf, make the changes and save the file. Then try to dial out.