Why can't I connect to my CID modem?

[Mastiff]

I have a newly set up server with most of the stuff virtualized. The one thing I haven't got on a VM is the CID stuff, since I couldn't get the modem to work on a virtual machine. Not a big deal, though. What is a big deal is that when I fire up the computer, Girder will sometimes connect to the modem, while other times I get "Error [Connection failed]" in the Caller ID Modem settings. If I then go to Windows' Phone and Modem Options and do a diagnostic, with Query modem, it works as it should. Any ideas what this can be, or at least how I can get a better explanation of the problem than "Error [Connection failed]"?

Edit: The modem is designated SoftV92 Data Fax Modem with SmartCP. It's a creative DI5732, but I'm running Server 2003 x64, and there are no Creative drivers for this. Still, when I can see the modem in diagnostics, it shouldn't be that. Right?

[Rob H]

What happens if you don't start Girder with Windows but start it manually?

Or if that makes no difference then what happens when you reset Girder?

Just wondering if something else is grabbing the COM port at the same time (like the X10 remote drivers).

[Mastiff]

That doesn't matter. But I know that something funky's going on now! I had a phone call, and the modem took it as a fax! But there's nothing here that's configured as a fax, so I'm really wondering what's going on!

Edit: I forgot one thing: If I restart Girder after having started it with the computer, the modem always fails.

[Rob H]

Sounds like there's some software that's grabbing the com port then.

[Mastiff]

Yeah, it does. But how the hell do I find out what? I haven't installed anything that should do that! I don't even have a fax program!

[Rob H]

You could check the processes running in task manager. Might also be worth running PortMon from www.sysinternals.com or one of their other utilities.

[quixote]

How do you know that it's a fax connection? Are you sure it's not just the modem trying to connect to the call as a dialup connection?

[Mastiff]

Rob, that won't work on a 64 bit system, I'm afraid.

Quixote, you're my hero of the day!!!! :D :D :D Actually you were right. I didn't know. I just had modem beeping in the phone when I had a call. Your question reminded me that I have enabled VPN remote access on this server (which I didn't have on my previous server), and wouldn't you know it! The modem was automatically put in as a connection, so Routing and Remote Access was listening on it!!!!! Disabled that, and everything works as it should! I'm very glad I have smart people like you and Rob to help me out! :) Thanks!

[quixote]

Nice! Glad I could provide a different perspective. You reminded me of way back when I had my BBS around 15 years ago. That noise used to be music to my ears.
See you around. :D

[Mastiff]

I remember those days as well! I didn't have a BBS, but I did frequent quite a few before Internet was opened in Norway (by a company called Oslonett, and I was one of the first customers). Still I will say that there has been progress to the better! Nostalgia is overrated... ;)

[Mastiff]

A new day, more progress! I can now dump the internal modem, which is one of the only two hardware thingies left running on the physical server, because I managed to get an external modem working by using an USB to Serial adapter and then hook an age old (anybody else than me and quixote still remembering the days of 28.8 kbps?) modem to that. So if I can find a way to hook the ATI Remote Wonder to the virtual Girder server I will be totally virtualized! Talk about virtual reality! :D

[Rob H]

I can remember the days of 300 baud and split 1200/75 baud modems.

I can also remember buying a 9600 baud Courier HST for something like £800!!!

[quixote]

Ouch!

Remember when a 120Mb hard drive was something to drool over? hahaha

[Mastiff]

120 meg? Loxury! We had to lick the road clean... Sorry, wrong beginning! I could not afford a hard drive for my first PC, an Amstrad PPC512 (sort of portable, with a green LCD, full size keyboard and two 1.44 meg floppies). It was 20 meg, and it would have cost me around $1500 back then, probably close to twice that in current value! And today I bought a 750 gig drive for $160!

[Rob H]

My first hard drive was for the Amiga and that was a 20Mb SCSI one - can't remember how much that was, but a while later I did get a huge 84Mb one for £600

[Mastiff]

And you try and tell the young people of today that ..... they won't believe you.

[quixote]

You guys are a little more advanced than me; my first computer was a 386. At the time 486s were available, but at 14 or 15 years old I couldn't afford the bleeding edge. I still shelled out around $3500 for the thing, though. That was a lot of newspapers to deliver and other assorted crappy jobs, but I still remember how much fun I had with it, starting with the original wolfenstein 3d and Stunts racing. :D We sure have come a long way.

[Mastiff]

Oh, yeah! Wolfenstein was better than almost all the games nowadays! Loved it! :D Btw, you should have gone for an Overdrive (I think they were called that). You put it on the 386 (on the outside, replacing the cooling fan) and made it a DX something.