I am trying to set up my old computer for my aged parent who has only
dial-up internet access.

Installed Mint 2.2 and love it (ubuntu derivative)

Added serial modem and installed gnome-ppd

It dials, connects and then disconnects.

I tried sudo gnome-ppd and got this terminal output:

GNOME PPP: Connecting...
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Ignoring malformed input line: ";Do NOT edit this
file by hand!"
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.56
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Initializing modem.
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Sending: ATZ
GNOME PPP: STDERR: ATZ
GNOME PPP: STDERR: OK
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Sending: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
GNOME PPP: STDERR: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
GNOME PPP: STDERR: OK
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Modem initialized.
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Sending: ATM1L3DT08456040462
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Waiting for carrier.
GNOME PPP: STDERR: ATM1L3DT08456040462
GNOME PPP: STDERR: CONNECT 115200
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Carrier detected. Waiting for prompt.
GNOME PPP: STDERR: ~[7f]}#@!}!}!} &}"}&} }*} }
}#}%B#}%}%}&XV9F}'}"}(}"}1}$}%t}3})}!BTMDIPO8~~[7f]}#@!}!}"} &}"}&} }*}
} }#}%B#}%}%}&XV9F}'}"}(}"}1}$}%t}3})}!BTMDIP?~~
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> PPP negotiation detected.
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Starting pppd at Thu Mar 29 09:23:57 2007
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Pid of pppd: 6330
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Using interface ppp0
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> pppd: �I���#[06][08]`[12][06][08]

(gnome-ppp:6265): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_text_buffer_emit_insert:
assertion `g_utf8_validate (text, len, NULL)' failed
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> pppd: �I���#[06][08]`[12][06][08]

(gnome-ppp:6265): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_text_buffer_emit_insert:
assertion `g_utf8_validate (text, len, NULL)' failed
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> pppd: �I���#[06][08]`[12][06][08]

I've googled the error message but it seems to be an error that can
occur almost anywhere in any app so that didn't help much.

Would welcome suggestions as to what to try next.

Derek

(gnome-ppp:6265): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_text_buffer_emit_insert:
assertion `g_utf8_validate (text, len, NULL)' failed
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> pppd: �I���#[06][08]`[12][06][08]

(gnome-ppp:6265): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_text_buffer_emit_insert:
assertion `g_utf8_validate (text, len, NULL)' failed
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Disconnecting at Thu Mar 29 09:24:25 2007
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> The PPP daemon has died: A modem hung up the
phone (exit code = 16)
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> man pppd explains pppd error codes in more detail.
GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Try again and look into /var/log/messages and the
wvdial and pppd man pages for more information.
audrey@audrey-desktop:~$

On Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:14:03 +0100, Derek Turner wrote:

> assertion `g_utf8_validate (text, len, NULL)' failed

Wrong username and/or password?

Dan

On Thu, 29 Mar 2007, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.debian, in article
<18863$460b81d9$53d9ae04$14001@news.vispa.com>, Derek Turner wrote:

>I am trying to set up my old computer for my aged parent who has only
>dial-up internet access.
>
>Installed Mint 2.2 and love it (ubuntu derivative)
>
>Added serial modem and installed gnome-ppd
>
>It dials, connects and then disconnects.

Yes - the "helper" program thinks that this is still 1995 or before,
and are unaware that microsoft has invented the telephone, or dialin, or
some similar crap.

>GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.56

Ah, no wonder. The author of this software is one of the mystical past
types - and thinks that the only way to connect to the internet is to
find a UNIX style Login: prompt - that only went out of fashion twelve
bleeding years ago. So he's a bit slow. Depending on the ISP, you use
either PAP or CHAP (there are microsoft versions of CHAP which will
also work but no one uses those). Text? Forget it.

>GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Sending: ATZ

COMMENT: Read the manual for the modem - usually, a more appropriate
init string is 'AT&F0' or 'AT&F1'

>GNOME PPP: STDERR: --> Carrier detected. Waiting for prompt.

'man wvdial' and set 'Stupid Mode' (named after the program author)

>(gnome-ppp:6265): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_text_buffer_emit_insert:
>assertion `g_utf8_validate (text, len, NULL)' failed

That _may_ be a bad username or password. Are you SURE that the username
and/or password are supposed to be using UTF-8 characters? That would be
HIGHLY unusual - ASCII is almost unique for this.

Old guy

Derek Turner wrote:
> I am trying to set up my old computer for my aged parent who has only
> dial-up internet access.

Thanks for those replies. In effect it was wrong username and password
because chap-secrets wasn't allowed to be modified by gnome-ppp. FWIW I
logged in as root in console mode and rm'd chap-secrets* and
pap-secrets*, rebooted, ran gnome-ppp as user and it worked fine.