Aztech MR2800W 56K Modem

The Aztech MR2800W 56k data/fax modem is the AMR WinModem that is shipped with the Packard-Bell Platinum 6001 machine, amongst others. There is a single AMR slot on the motherboard and support is provided by the VIA Apollo chipset.

Windows Support
The machine came pre-configured with Windows 98 Second Edition with the modem driver already installed. This worked fine and the fact that it was a WinModem was not noticable.

Upgrading to Windows XP was more problematic, as WinXP is not shipped with an appropriate driver. One can be obtained from Aztech or better still from Packard-Bell.

Drivers are also available direct from SmartLink. These seem to be getting significantly more adavanced, and the recent 3.0 driver supports voice as well as data ;-).

Linux Support
Drivers for this modem can be obtained from SmartLink at ftp.smlink.com. These are proprietry drivers and are not open source. They are provided as a set of .o s which are linked into some sources which put the kernel version into the various modules. Version 2.7.5 works with RedHat 8.0 (which uses gcc 3.2), prior versions arre gcc 2.96 only. These drivers are being actively developed and new versions are appearing almost daily (as of 5/2/2004, we are now up to 2.9.6).

The Linux Winmodems page is a useful resource and the MR2800 is listed (this is where I found the Aztech and SmartLink sites).