Bugzilla Bug 60676

The Gentoo ebuild introduces a HW_SLOT parameter in /etc/conf.d/slmodem that is
referenced in the function loadsalsa() in /etc/init.d/slmodem:

start-stop-daemon --start --background --nicelevel=${NICE} --make-pidfile
--pidfile /var/run/slmodemd.pid --startas /usr/sbin/slmodemd --
-country=${COUNTRY} -g=${GROUP} --alsa hw:${HW_SLOT}

However, the slmodem driver itself does not recognize the additional parameter
used with --alsa and always defaults to hw:1. 

Looking at the source code, the driver interprets the "hw:2" in the above
command as the modem device (a required parameter when not using ALSA) and not
as an illegal parameter. This is why the driver doesn't spill its usage
information and the init script appears to work correctly.

I've attached a very small patch to the driver source code that allows the
HW_SLOT parameter to be recognized. The init script should not need any
modification.

I will also sumbit this patch to linux-support@smlink.com.

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. slmodemd --alsa hw:2

Actual Results:  
SmartLink Soft Modem: version 2.9.9 Aug 17 2004 16:30:57 
symbolic link `/dev/ttySL0' -> `/dev/pts/3' created. 
modem `hw:1' created. TTY is `/dev/pts/3' 
Use `/dev/ttySL0' as modem device, Ctrl+C for termination. 

Expected Results:

Created an attachment (id=37599) [edit]
slmodem 2.9.9 driver patch

Patches slmodem-2.9.9/modem/modem_cmdline.c.

Do you still have same problem in version 2.9.10?

Jos - has this been fixed in 0.9.10?

I'll have to get back to you on that, I don't have access to the correct
hardware right now. You can expect more information in a few days.

2.9.10 seems to work correctly now:

JD ~ # slmodemd --alsa modem:2
SmartLink Soft Modem: version 2.9.10 Sep 30 2004 17:35:47
symbolic link `/dev/ttySL0' -> `/dev/pts/0' created.
modem `modem:2' created. TTY is `/dev/pts/0'
Use `/dev/ttySL0' as modem device, Ctrl+C for termination.

The new slmodem README states:

Note: Recent version of 'alsa-lib' (>= 1.0.6) has built-in "modem" device
      name support ('modem:0', 'modem:1', etc). It is recommended to use
      those names with modems (mandatory with ATI IXP modems)

Perhaps the init script should be updated to support this new term "modem". Currently the configuration file uses the variable HW_SLOT. Instead of requiring an integer here, we could require a full device name, such as "hw:1" or "modem:2" for example. This way the script should remain compatible with all versions of ALSA.

Please put a patch here for what you mean. I think I know but I haven't got the
hardware and can't test this.

Created an attachment (id=43650) [edit]
ALSA 1.0.6 modem hardware slot support

This patches the slmodem conf and init files.

As 1.0.6 is stable on x86 and amd64 now, we should maybe change the default to
modem:?

fixed finally. Sorry for the delay. Thanks for the patch. Any problems let me
know and I'll endevor to fix it quicker.