[Discuss] Another telephone question

[David Bronaugh]

Patrick wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:32:27 -0800
> David Bronaugh wrote:
>
>   
>> D. S. wrote:
>>     
>>> If you have wvdial installed, that might be your best bet. For ex,
>>>
>>> $ wvdial
>>> ATZ
>>> ATDT3101010
>>>
>>> adapted from:
>>> http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/bigarch/archive-eighth/msg00206.html
>>>   
>>>       
>> As far as I know, this will attempt negotiation.
>>     
>
> Well, yes.  The manpage describes wvdial as `intelligent',
> meaning it likes to make the more obvious, low-level decisions on
> its own, but `less flexible' as well, for pretty much the same
> reason; you can't take low-level control of what it does, because
> it does that internally.
>
>   
>> If you -don't- want that, read this: 
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_modem_command_set
>>
>> I think you can probably switch from voice to data mode once this is done.
>>     
>
> But after reading the voice-mode bugs mentioned there, I probably
> don't want to.
>
> Seems better to point pppd at an auto-generated chat script
> in /tmp [see below], allow enough time for it to dial an 11-digit
> number, then poff it before any handshaking [read: annoying beeps
> at the receiving end] starts up.  By then I would have picked up
> a real phone on the same line, so if the modem hangs up before
> the first ring, that's fine.  Preferable, even.
>
> I really wanted to avoid writing out a separate chat script for
> each number, but these seem inevitable.  A single database file
> of human-readable names, numbers, and possibly addresses [echoed,
> when calling the script with an -a option or something], seems a
> lot easier to maintain.
>
> No problem, just
> echo -n "[standard `ABORT ON' stuff]
> [...]
> ATDT" > /tmp/[name]
> echo $num >> /tmp/[name]
> echo "[standard end-of-chat-script stuff]" >> /tmp/[name]
> and voila, temp-file!  Let pppd read from that, so I don't have
> to.
>
> Thanks David, and D. S.  I've got a good general idea now, just
> have to do some reading [thanks for the links too, btw] and work
> out the specifics.
>   
Another fun way: ATH1 will take the modem "off hook". Then, if you can 
somehow get audio into the modem, you can dial out -- just generate DTMF 
tones.

Some modems, IIRC, have a "line in" jack.

Modems and telephones are -definitely- not the only way to do this.

David