i've tried using tons of things, i even went out and bought a creative modem blaster v.92 (model DE5621) and i attempted to use PengAol to dial into my ISP (i use aol on windows...i'd use another ISP if there was one that was free and had a local access number) anyways i think i have set the initialization strings and everything right...this is the setup aol uses for my modem:

Setup modem string: AT&F&C1&D2S95=1S6=5S7=60S10=15^M
escape string: +++~~~~
dial prefix: ATD
dial suffix: ^M
reset string: ATZ^M
disconnect string: ATH^M

here is my configuration file for PengAol:

[CModemDriver]
#Author: Birdy57
#Msg: Vers 0.5 Linux
#GUID: 1711
FullDuplex=Yes
DeviceModem=/dev/ttyS0
InitStr1=ATZ^M
InitStr2=AT&F&C1&D2S95=1S6=5S7=60S10=15^M
PhoneNbr=4961201
ModemSpeed=Auto
DialCommand=ATDT
CheckString=AT
ForceDetect=Yes
AutoDetected=/dev/ttyS0
DialAt9600baud=No
ServerType=English
ServerLogin=*********
ServerPass=*********

now when its supposedly 'dialing in' i hear the noise and everything but after a while it gives me an error saying it was unable to initialize the modem... is there anything i can do to access aol's internet service from slackware 8.1 linux?

any help is greatly appreciated

Pengaol is the older name for the project. AOL sued the developers to remove any reference to AOL. The developers have released newer versions of the project now called Penggy at the Peng Website. Are you using the latest version?

English Peng Website

you helped me a ton with that *is using linux to write up this reply*

today's been such a good day, thank you