IsdnHowto

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This page describes how to connect to the internet or send a fax using ISDN. This page describes how to connect to the internet or send and receive faxes using ISDN.
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=== Asterisk ===

 * The [http://www.asterisk.org/ Asterisk] Project

 * [http://scottstuff.net/blog/articles/2004/03/28/faxing-with-asterisk Blog post] by Scott Laird on faxing with Asterisk

 * [http://asterfax.sourceforge.net/ Asterfax], an email (SMTP) gateway for the transmission of faxes using Asterisk

 * The spandsp [http://www.dynx.net/ASTERISK/spandsp/ library]

 * [http://www.asteriskguru.com/tutorials/spandsp.html Sending and receiving faxes with spandsp]

This page describes how to connect to the internet or send and receive faxes using ISDN.

ISDN and Linux

What is isdn4linux?

isdn4linux is a set of kernel modules. It consists of the main module "isdn" and a set of hardware drivers (mostly "HiSax") that control specific ISDN cards. In addition, the package "isdn4k-utils" contains utilities to make use of ISDN-specific features.

What is mISDN?

mISDN is the successor of isdn4linux following the adoption of the CAPI interface with Linux kernel 2.6. Like isdn4linux, it consists of kernel modules (it has been rewritten from scratch).

The following diagram offers an overview of the differences between the older kernel module architecture based on isdn4linux and Terminal-emulation (ochre), and the newer mISDN architecture (blue) based on mISDN and the CAPI interface.

BR What ISDN cards are supported?

isdn4linux supports both "active" (built-in firmware) and "passive" cards that plug into a desktop PC's PCI slot as well as PCMCIA cards (for laptops) and USB adapters.

mISDN currently supports AVM Fritz!Cards and most HFC-PCI based cards via its hardware drivers.

For a comprehensive list of supported ISDN cards, see the [wiki:/HardwareSupport Hardware Support] wiki page.

BR Can I use my ISDN card to send and receive faxes?

At present, fax support for most passive ISDN cards is only available in conjunction with the older isdn4linux kernel module package. The GPL-licensed [http://0pointer.de/lennart/projects/ivcall/ ivcall] software is able to send and receive voice calls and faxes via passive cards (using isdn4linux, not mISDN). It makes use of the spandsp library which is part of the [http://www.asterisk.org/ Asterisk project].

Users of (passive) AVM cards are somewhat luckier: they can take advantage of a binary CAPI 2.0 driver that supports faxing in tandem with the mISDN modules.

mISDN does not offer fax support for passive ISDN cards (other than AVM). There are plans to extend mISDN with layer 2 and layer 3 protocols for fax. Once this works (e.g. with the Sedlbauer Speedfax card) then the layer 1 protocol (modulation/demodulation) could also be implemented via the [http://scottstuff.net/blog/articles/2004/03/28/faxing-with-asterisk spandsp library].

See [http://www.isdn4linux.de/faq/i4lfaq-3.html#ss3.4 this section of the isdn4linux FAQ] for details.

BR

BR

Connect to the Internet using ISDN

attachment:IconsPage/info.png This tutorial has been successfully tested with the ISDN cards specified with the Hardware header in each section of the tutorial. It may work with other cards (or it may not). Please help to expand this page if you have tested this tutorial with a different card or if you can supply more information.

BR

Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog) and Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger)

To connect to the internet with an ISDN card in Ubuntu 5.04 or 5.10, you will need to install the restricted kernel modules package (it contains the binary drivers for AVM ISDN cards), the AVM firmware driver package, and the pppdcapiplugin package.

attachment:IconsPage/apt.png Install the linux-restricted-modules package that corresponds to your kernel version and system architecture (for example: linux-restricted-modules-2.6.12-10-386 is the right package to use for the 2.6.12-10 kernel on the i386 architecture), the avm-fritz-firmware package that corresponds to your kernel version (avm-fritz-firmware-2.6.12-10 for example) and the pppdcapiplugin package. (Note: The restricted-modules package comes pre-installed on Ubuntu 5.10.)

attachment:IconsPage/terminal.png Enable the "capi" kernel module in the kernel modules configuration file. To do that, open 

  • /etc/modules
    in your favourite editor and add a line saying 
    capi

BR attachment:IconsPage/eyes.png The following steps depend on the specific hardware you are using. Follow the instructions for your card.

attachment:IconsPage/IconNIC.png Hardware: AVM Fritz!Card A1 (2.0)

attachment:IconsPage/terminal.png Create or open the file 

  • /etc/hotplug/backlist.d/isdn
    and add the following two lines: 
    hisax
hisax_fcpcipnp

  • Reboot. Confirm that the avm and capi kernel modules are properly loaded by typing 

    lsmod
    at the command line.

attachment:IconsPage/IconNIC.png Hardware: Fritz!Card PCMCIA2.0

attachment:IconsPage/terminal.png The PCMCIA configuration file needs a few changes. Open 

  • /etc/pcmcia/config
    in your editor and remove the line that says 
    avma1_cs
  • Add the following lines: 
     device "fcpcmcia_cs"
   class "avma1" module "fcpcmcia_cs"

 card "AVM S0/PC ISDN"
   version "AVM", "ISDN A"
   bind "fcpcmcia_cs"

attachment:IconsPage/IconNIC.png Hardware: Fritz!Card DSL USB

attachment:IconsPage/terminal.png The capi configuration file needs changing. Open 

  • /etc/isdn/capi.conf
    and add the following line:
    fcdslusb        fdsubase.frm    DSS1    -       -       -       -

attachment:IconsPage/eyes.png For all Hardware configurations:

BR

ToDo

Things not working in hoary:

  • network-admin can't activate the connection directly
  • modem-applet can connect too
  • what about non-AVM hardware? Where does configuration differ?

To be added:

  • Tutorials for Dapper
  • capiutils tutorial
  • more on capi configuration and hardware initialization
  • troubleshooting section: using dmesg, modprob, modconf, modutils, lsmod, lspci to handle kernel modules

For More Information

Linux and ISDN

ISDN card manufacturers

Standards Bodies, Working Groups

Asterisk

Other Tutorials

man pages

CategoryDocumentation CategoryCleanup

IsdnHowto (last edited 2008-08-06 16:39:51 by localhost)