What a sad tale of woe, Gunner :-(

I can say that 'cause I've been there.

Take a look at www.linmodems.org

These people are very helpful at analysing information from your
machine and explaining how to get set up.

BTW, I have found that a SmartLink, PCI modem with an SL1900 chipset
will operate Mepis very well on several different computers.

Hope this helps.

Lewis.

*****