Salix produces strange noises in my cable modem

[barchi]

hi there,

im using the cablemodem my ISP has provided, the Thomson THG570k from the year 2010, everything works fine since 2 years now.

But, since i am using Salix i have noticed strange noises (sounds like high frequent peeps, a little bit like back in the old times where all modems have made these special noises). Anyway, this strange noise is only occuring in Salix and only when i use GSlapt, Sourcery or any other program as sudo or su and it only occurs with Salix, wether my Archlinux nor my Debian systems are producing these noises. It never occured before and it only lasts as lang as the sudo-application is running.

Does anybody know this symptom and what it is?

[Tim CowChip]

Try

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sudo slapt-src -i wireshark

then as root

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setcap cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin=eip /usr/bin/dumpcap

Then you can watch as well as listen to what your modem does.

[barchi]

Try

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sudo slapt-src -i wireshark

then as root

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setcap cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin=eip /usr/bin/dumpcap

Then you can watch as well as listen to what your modem does.

i never used that tool, which wireshark information is useful?
Looking at the tcp/ip packages will not tell me why the cablemodem is cheeping.

[Tim CowChip]

i never used that tool, which wireshark information is useful?
Looking at the tcp/ip packages will not tell me why the cablemodem is cheeping.

"I don't know, but I promise you that we will hunt down and punish those held reponsible"

[mimosa]

I think you have gremlins.

[laprjns]

Does anybody know this symptom and what it is?

Not me, but it does seen hard to believe that Salix is causing this. However maybe there are some things that can be done help narrow this down.
First, do you know if Salix is using a different driver for the network connections?

Anyway, this strange noise is only occuring in Salix and only when i use GSlapt, Sourcery or any other program as sudo or su...

Try using the console equivalent of GSlapt and Sourcery, slapt-get and slapt-src to see if they product the strange noise. If so then I would suggest trying wget from the console to download an iso. Try something like this both as a normal user and root:

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wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/salix/files/14.0/salix-xfce-14.0beta1.iso/download

Do you still get the strange noise both are root and a normal user?

only lasts as lang as the sudo-application is running.

What other applications produce this noise? Only when run ad superuser?

[Tim CowChip]

Try

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sudo slapt-src -i wireshark

then as root

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setcap cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin=eip /usr/bin/dumpcap

Then you can watch as well as listen to what your modem does.

i never used that tool, which wireshark information is useful?
Looking at the tcp/ip packages will not tell me why the cablemodem is cheeping.

I apologe for not taking your question more seriously. After doing some checking I've found that

The THG570 is a DOCSIS/ EuroDOCSIS 3.0 compatible VoIP cable modem. It provides WAN throughput of up to 440Mbps and supports IPv4 and IPv6 addressing.

The modem provides a variety of VoIP features, such as Caller ID, Echo cancellation and 3-way conferencing.

Since you failed to mention that your modem accomodates telephones and is capable of generating DTMF tones, call-waiting beeps and other phone sounds, I assume that you don't actually use these features and that your ISP charges extra for VOIP and so they provide such a modem as part of their service.

If this is the case, then you can either get a replacement from them, maybe they have one without VOIP capability, or you can purchase a cable modem of your own (this could reduce the rate that your ISP charges you).

As far as wireshark providing you with an answer, you might be able to correlate what your NIC is doing at the exact moment the beeps occur. Your NIC, unlike your modem is accessible to and can be controlled by your OS, it doesn't seem be possible for your OS to be causing your modem to beep.

[barchi]

"I don't know, but I promise you that we will hunt down and punish those held reponsible"Image

I think you've found the rights guys for hunting down and punishing. Isnt that the good old Hussein on that picture...

I think you have gremlins.

but i never fed it after midnight, maybe i should trickle some water on it, to validate your suspicion.

First, do you know if Salix is using a different driver for the network connections?

i did not changed any drivers except the video-driver, but i noticed that Salix is not connecting to the internet with a tool like "networkmanager" or "wicd", Salix is using its own "dhcpcd" script to connect, it takes a little bit longer than the networkmanager tool, with the scripts, but it is working fine the dhcp server is answering in 3 seconds or something and the script continues...

Try using the console equivalent of GSlapt and Sourcery, slapt-get and slapt-src to see if they product the strange noise. If so then I would suggest trying wget from the console to download an iso. Try something like this both as a normal user and root:

ah thank you for the hint, meanwhile i have found out that this strange noise is only occuring in sudo or su mode of some (not all) gtk and/or gtk2 programs. Working/downloading with the console does not produce these noises after i have entered "wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/salix/f ... o/download".

What other applications produce this noise? Only when run ad superuser?

for now i identyfied the tools, gslapt, sourcery and the language selection tool producing noises when started as su or sudo.

- gslapt does not start from console as normal user
- sourcery starts as normal user and is not producing these noises
- the language tool starts as normal user and is producing these noises

no coherent pattern... but it seems to have something to do with connecting to the internet as superuser or in superuser mode with a gtk/gtk2 program.

I apologe for not taking your question more seriously. After doing some checking I've found that

no prob, we probably met before at ICM, so dont mind about my sense of humor
You are absolutely right about my cablemodem and my ISP, they block the VOIP function because i do not pay for it.

Your NIC, unlike your modem is accessible to and can be controlled by your OS, it doesn't seem be possible for your OS to be causing your modem to

for me, the noise sounds like a indexing or searching noise loop and the other OS's (Win7, Arch, Crunchbang) on my computer are not making these noises.

I need to read some tutorials about using wireshark as diagnostic tool since i've installed it (took 15 minutes...), i never dealed with a cablemodem issue, because it is working since 2 years now out of the box without any problems. The disabled VOIP functionality is maybe correlated with these noises...?

Found and installed the tool "cmdiag" with sourcery, here is the output, does anybody know that tool?

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harry[~]$ cmdiag
Console is 79 x 23
This program requires a screen size of at least 125 columns by 43 lines 
Please resize your window 
harry[~]$ cmdiag
Usage: cmdiag -cm <IP> -cms <string> -ct <IP> -cts <string> 
-cm <IP> Cable modem IP address. 
-cms <string> Cable modem SNMP community string, this option is mandatory. 
-ct <IP> CMTS IP address which the cable modem is connected to, if this is not set some parameters are not to be fetched. 
-cts <string> CMTS SNMP community string, you can't omit this if -ct is set. 
Example: cmdiag -cm 192.168.0.2 -cms public -ct 192.168.0.1 -cts private 
Or: cmdiag -cm 192.168.0.2 -cms public 

[jayseye]

Hi, if the noises are coming from the cable modem, rather than from the PC, then I have a thought:

Have read that some modern broadband modems implement the old "Hayes AT command set" for use with proprietary features, such as VOIP in this case. Telnet (rather than ssh) might be the easiest tool to check this.

The "escape" sequence, to enter "command mode," is to type three plus signs in a row (+++) fairly quickly, followed by the Enter key. If the modem responds with something like "OK," that would confirm the protocol. You could then look up the "AT" commands to turn the speaker on and off, to check whether this reproduces / silences the sounds.

Weird suggestion, to match your weird problem, but totally serious.

[barchi]

Hi, if the noises are coming from the cable modem, rather than from the PC, then I have a thought:

Have read that some modern broadband modems implement the old "Hayes AT command set" for use with proprietary features, such as VOIP in this case. Telnet (rather than ssh) might be the easiest tool to check this.

The "escape" sequence, to enter "command mode," is to type three plus signs in a row (+++) fairly quickly, followed by the Enter key. If the modem responds with something like "OK," that would confirm the protocol. You could then look up the "AT" commands to turn the speaker on and off, to check whether this reproduces / silences the sounds.

Weird suggestion, to match your weird problem, but totally serious.

sounds like a good idea, do you mean (+++)+enter in the console?
I get a "command not found" when i did that.

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harry[~]$ +++
bash: +++: Kommando nicht gefunden.

i remember something like "telnet" is needed to communicate with a modem, more than 8 years go under win2k, is that still/also needed under linux?