[BronzeHotel]

I have a Power Mac, using OS X, version 10.2.3.
It seems to have an internal modem -- when I set up the PPP connection, under "modem" it had a listing for an internal modem.
I set up my PPP connection using the information from my free ISP (nocharge.com).
My phone line apparently does not go directly into the back of the computer, but into a little adaptor box that itself connects to the computer via a mouse-like connection into the phone port.
Every time I click Connect on the Internet Connect box, it waits a few seconds, then tells me there was something wrong with the modem (doesn't tell me what).
What can I do? (Please note that I am computer-illiterate)
Thanks

[Nobody]

How about starting with what machine you are using... perhaps, someome might know the actual configuration of your specific model, which would help them in giving you more accurate information.
You can also make use of Apple System Profiler (under Apple menu) to learn whether or not you have built-in modem.
In any event, the modem and internet related settings have to be taken care of correctly for everything to work properly. Sometimes, it may be as simple a matter as adding *70, before the telephone number of your ISP, if you have call waiting/caller ID type of service with your line.

[BronzeHotel]

Thanks Alam,
"How about starting with what machine you are using"
I'm not sure what all you need to know: this is a Power Mac G3 computer.
"You can also make use of Apple System Profiler (under Apple menu) to learn whether or not you have built-in modem."
I've looked in the Apple System Profiler: under the further subdivision of "Network", then "Modem" it will show up to three different internal modems -- how do I know which one is the correct one, or whether there even EXISTS one at all?
"the modem and internet related settings have to be taken care of correctly for everything to work properly. Sometimes, it may be as simple a matter as adding *70, before the telephone number of your ISP, if you have call waiting/caller ID type of service with your line."
I don't have call waiting or caller ID.
But I suspect that my problem could be as elemental as merely how I am entering the ISP phone number:
should it be all one string of numbers with no dash?
Should I include the area code?
If yes, should the area code be separated from the rest of the phone number by a space?
Should the area code be in parentheses?
Etc.
These kinds of basic things are answered nowhere, apparently, in the Apple System Profiler or the PPP set-up box or even in the "Contact" program that opens up when I double-click on the telephone icon on the upper right of my desktop.

[Typhoon14]

In reply to:

---

should it be all one string of numbers with no dash?
Should I include the area code?
If yes, should the area code be separated from the rest of the phone number by a space?
Should the area code be in parentheses?

---

The modem works just like any phone when it comes to dialing. You should enter the number exactly as you would enter it if you were calling it yourself. No spaces, dashes, parenthesis, or anything else you wouldn't normally dial. If the number you use for dialup service is outside of the area code for your phone line, you will need to enter the area code.
It doesn't really sound like the phone number is the hold up here though, based on the error message being received.
Anyway, if there's a place anywhere on the back of your machine for a phone jack (Aside from the ethernet port), it means you have a modem. I'm kind of confused by this adapter box though. What exactly do you mean by "mouse-like connection into the phone port" ? Where are you plugging the line into the computer? If it's plugging in via USB, it could be a USB modem.

[macnuke]

the old G3's using an external modem had an Apple serial port.. which looks like an ADB plug.

[BronzeHotel]

Typhoon:
"I'm kind of confused by this adapter box though. What exactly do you mean by "mouse-like connection into the phone port" ?"
In the back of the computer, there is a round hole in which there are nine little holes for pins (3 on top, 4 in the middle, 2 on the bottom). The adaptor box is a gizmo that came separately -- not attached to the computer. This adaptor box has a short cable at the end of which is a round plug that looks exactly like the plugs by which you connect your keyboard or your mouse to the computer. The box part has, at the other end, two phone jack holes. I am assuming that my phone line goes into one or the other (I have tried both).
"Where are you plugging the line into the computer?"
The round hole I described above is in the back of the computer and has a symbol of a phone receiver next to it. It is underneath a similar round hole that is the printer port (has a symbol of a printer next to it).
"if there's a place anywhere on the back of your machine for a phone jack (Aside from the ethernet port), it means you have a modem."
There is no phone jack in the back of my computer. However -- and this is the main point I need to clear up -- is there such a thing as an indirect way to plug a phone line in -- through the phone port I described above, using an adaptor which itself has a phone jack hole (in this case, two phone jack holes) in it?

[BronzeHotel]

More info on my computer for those who wish to help:
The computer is a Power Macintosh G3
300 MHz
1 MB cache
64 MB / 6GB
HD/24X
CD/Zip
(no USB ports)
System:
Mac OS X
Version 10.2.3 (6G37)
Memory 320 MB
Processor 533 MHz.

[Typhoon14]

I think macnuke nailed it. It sounds like you have an old serial modem.

[BronzeHotel]

"It sounds like you have an old serial modem."
And so how do I connect to the Internet?

[Typhoon14]

I would assume, more or less like you would with any modem. Make sure the modem is powered up, make sure the modem is hooked up, make sure the modem works, make sure you have the PPP connect settings for the modem configured properly.

[VidPro]

If there is no standard phone jack on the back of your computer, then you don't have a built-in modem, so you may need to get an external modem that plugs into the serial port (which is what you are describing as having the phone icon next to it), or a USB modem should work as well.
Read this overview of Apple's GeoPort "Modems", paying particular attention to the last paragraph.
Road Apples are Apple's more compromised hardware designs. For the most part, they're not really bad - simply designs unable to provide all the performance they should have.
Some view the GeoPort Telecom Adapter as brilliant; others as a bizarre hardware kludge.
The Centris 660av (later Quadra 660av) and Quadra 840av were the first Macs with GeoPorts, an enhanced serial port. The DMA (direct memory access) ports can operate at up to 2 megabits per second (Mbps). By contrast, the typical Mac serial port ran at 230.4 Kbps or less than 1/4 Mbps.
With the GeoPort serial port, Apple introduced the GeoPort Telecom Adapter, commonly (though incorrectly) known as the GeoPort modem. Not only could the "GeoPod" be used as a 9600 bps modem, it could also fax and turn your Mac into a speakerphone.
Eventually software enabled the GeoPod to run at 14.4 Kbps, then 28.8 Kbps. No other modem ever offered such an upgrade path.
Of course, there was a cost. In the case of the GeoPort "modems," like the earlier Express Modems in early PowerBooks, the cost was CPU time. The faster it ran and the more it did, the more it slowed down your computer.
Worse, it tied up the serial port far more than a conventional modem, affecting printing, MIDI adapters, and LocalTalk networking adversely. And throughput never seemed as fast as with a conventional modem on the same computer and phone line. Never.
Like the Apple /// and the twiggy drives in the Lisa, the GeoPod was a clever hack that didn't live up to expectation. Well after the pod was discontinued, the idea resurfaced as an internal GeoPort Express modem in some Performa and Power Mac models.
Maybe Apple realized the folly of their ways and repented with the Power Mac G3, which explicitly doesn't support the GeoPort Telecom Adapter. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[rossde]

that little box, i would say is your external modem, i've still got one just like it still kicking around here somewhere. i used it for on old power mac that was very similar to the beige g3. when i did use it i also used free ppp to set the connection up. believe it or not you can still download it here
http://www.ucs.uwa.e...intosh/free_ppp
it also gives instructions on setting it up.
hope this helps

[Typhoon14]

In reply to:

---

that little box, i would say is your external modem, i've still got one just like it still kicking around here somewhere. i used it for on old power mac that was very similar to the beige g3. when i did use it i also used free ppp to set the connection up. believe it or not you can still download it here
http://www.ucs.uwa.e...intosh/free_ppp
it also gives instructions on setting it up.
hope this helps

---

Man, talk about outdated documentation . . .
Anyway, the guy is running OS 10.2. He's certainly not going to be able to connect to the internet with a 12 year-old dialer designed for system 7. On that note though, I have no idea if OS 10.2 has support for your ancient modem . . .

[Nobody]

In reply to:

---

There is no phone jack in the back of my computer. However -- and this is the main point I need to clear up -- is there such a thing as an indirect way to plug a phone line in -- through the phone port I described above, using an adaptor which itself has a phone jack hole (in this case, two phone jack holes) in it?

---

This sounded like there was no modem. You mentioned the System Profiler showed 3 types of modems. I going to believe there is none and you might have clicked on the wrong Hardware profile. There should be at least 3 telephone jacks(plugs). Or you can get it here a modem for the G3. You can't have a USB connected external modem since your Mac is old enough not to have one.
The device with 2 phone jacks is probably an external modem that can't be plug to your non-USB Mac.
In OS X check these stuff for a connection thru the modem:

Network:

[*]Network Port Configurations from Show menu
[*]Apple key() and drag the modem(internal or external) to the top of the port list
[*]In Internal Modem pane PPP from Show menu.
Fill-in:
[*]Account Number
[*]Password
[*]Telephone number
In Location:
[*]Choose Automatic

[*]At the Modem button: You most likely want to leave as it is
[/list]
The other button you don't have to worry about since it is at Automatic.
The modem at about $170 from the link is probably a bit pricey. You might want to Google more than I did for reasonable prices.