Xref: utzoo comp.dcom.modems:1194 comp.sys.att:1990
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!van-bc!sl
From: sl@van-bc.UUCP (Stuart Lynne)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems,comp.sys.att
Subject: Re: Hayes modem & AT&T 3b2
Message-ID: <1653@van-bc.UUCP>
Date: 5 Jan 88 18:36:57 GMT
References: <2394@dasys1.UUCP> <5853@jhunix.UUCP>
Reply-To: sl@van-bc.UUCP (Stuart Lynne)
Organization: Public Access Network, Vancouver, BC.
Lines: 39

In article <5853@jhunix.UUCP> ins_anmy@jhunix.UUCP (Norman Yarvin) writes:
>In article <2394@dasys1.UUCP> samperi@dasys1.UUCP (Dominick Samperi) writes:
>>I'm trying to get a Hayes smartmodem 1200 setup for dialins AND dialouts
>>on a 3b2/300 running System V Release 2. I have a PD mgetty (modem getty)
>>program that is supposed to provide this capability, but I get the error
>>'mgetty respawning too fast' when I try.
>
>This message comes from init.  Init respawns certain processes whenever they
>die. (those processes which have a respawn entry in /etc/inittab) If init
>has to respawn any process more than 10 times in 2 minutes, it will print an
>error message and refuse to respawn it again for another 5 minutes.  Thus if
>there is a syntax error in the command, it will not be respawned
>continuously and eat cpu time.
>

I had this problem with Hayes on our 386 system at work. With the Hayes
configured to auto-init on DTR change. The problem is that the Hayes takes
about 1 second to go through it's init cycle. 

At the Unix end getty has already fired up but when the modem completes its
initialization the Unix asynch driver thinks the modem has "hung up" and
does a SIGHUP on getty. 

And around we go, init fires up getty which does a hangup on the line which 
forces the modem to re-init again, which tells the driver to SIGHUP getty which
dies, and init fires up another getty......

The solution was to create a small script /etc/mgetty:

	sleep 2
	exec /etc/getty $*

Then use /etc/mgetty in your inittab instead of /etc/getty. The modem then
gets a chance to complete it's re-initialization before getty can complete
its open and everyone is happy.


-- 
{ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision,uunet}!van-bc!Stuart.Lynne Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532