2. Preparing for the installation

2.1. System requirements

I have tested these instructions on my i386 system. I started with a fresh, clean, base installation of Debian 2.2 r4. I then installed The X Window System (core) and the Gnome desktop. You don't need to work within X, but you may wish to test the installation using a browser.

You should already have ppp installed. (This is part of the standard base install, so it should already be there unless you have removed it. If it has been removed, it should automatically be re-installed as a dependency of pppconfig in the next section ("Installing pppconfig").

You may wish to have a browser installed so that you can test your connection with it. You can install Mozilla with the command apt-get mozilla.

2.2. Gathering information about your modem

Really, all you need to know is that your modem is

In my case, I bought the cheapest brand new modem I could find. It was up-to-date enough to support 56k V92. I was concerned that it might be too modern for Debian 2.2r4. In fact, it installed and ran perfectly first time.

2.3. Gathering information about your dial-up connection