well, i didnt get a response last time i posted about this. i'm beginning to 
think that the problem may lie with my usb card (cheapo CMD chipset ohci). 
i've tried it with the alcaudsl.sys from the (working) windows box as well as 
the file taken from the alcatel linux drivers. does this look like a problem 
loading the microcode, is it a timing issue? the leds are green and amber 
during the i/o error messages, the amber starts to flash green at the 
pusb_control_msg and eventually they both end up steady green.

here is the result of using modem_run:

Script started on Wed Jan 30 22:19:48 2002
carlton# pwd
/etc/rc.d
carlton# modem_run -v -f /usr/pkg/libdata/alcaudsl.sys
Gotcha, I found your ADSL ALCATEL SpeedTouch USB modem!
best offset   2772 with probability  87%
best offset 528943 with probability 100%
BLOCK1 :    991 bytes   uploaded : OK [5.938000 ms]
BLOCK2 :    511 bytes downloaded : OK [308.125000 ms]
80 00 00 00 04 01 01 03 00 00 00 ce 01 a0 e3 09 ................
00 c7 e5 80 00 a0 e3 01 00 c7 e5 53 00 a0 e3 00 ...........S....
f0 29 e1 94 11 9f e5 21 03 a0 e3 00 10 80 e5 10 .).....!........
10 a0 e3 22 01 a0 e3 00 10 80 e5 04 00 8f e2 01 ..."............
00 80 e2 10 ff 2f e1 5e 4f b8 78 40 1e fc d1 38 ...../.^O.x@...8
78 f9 7a 09 02 bc 7a 21 43 09 02 7c 7a 21 43 09 x.z...z!C..|z!C.
02 3c 7a 21 43 11 38 01 28 2d db 03 28 2b dc 80 .<z!C.8.(-..(+..
00 55 4c 24 58 a7 46 46 4b 0e 33 7a 7b 12 02 3c .UL$X.FFK.3z{..<
7b 22 43 12 d0 14 1c f4 3c ff 3c 0e d5 40 07 02 {"C.....<.<..@..
d0 1c 1c 0b 1c 21 1c 52 1e 8c 5c 9c 54 fb d1 3b .....!.R..\.T..;
a4 14 23 23 60 c0 0f 64 30 00 e0 66 20 78 70 cb ..##`..d0..f xp.
e7 01 a2 10 47 00 00 01 f0 a0 e1 04 20 8f e2 01 ....G....... ...
20 82 e2 12 ff 2f e1 60 20 f0 e7 04 e0 4e e2 00  ..../.` ....N..
40 2d e9 00 e0 4f e1 07 40 2d e9 a8 10 8f e2 00 @-...O..@-......
00 91 e5 01 00 20 e2 00 00 81 e5 00 00 50 e3 03 ..... .......P..
00 00 0a 0d 10 a0 e3 cc 20 9f e5 00 10 82 e5 02 ........ .......
00 00 ea 0f 10 a0 e3 bc 20 9f e5 00 10 82 e5 01 ........ .......
00 a0 e3 90 10 9f e5 00 00 81 e5 6c 10 8f e2 00 ...........l....
00 91 e5 01 00 40 e2 00 00 81 e5 00 00 50 e3 02 .....@.......P..
00 00 1a 94 00 9f e5 94 10 9f e5 00 00 81 e5 90 ................
20 9f e5 00 10 92 e5 07 40 bd e8 0e f0 69 e1 00  .......@....i..
80 fd e8 00 00 00 8c 20 00 00 88 50 00 00 01 02 ....... ...P....
00 00 00 f4 00 00 00 39 00 00 00 10 40 08 00 00 .......9....@...
40 00 00 20 40 00 00 30 4e 00 00 00 00 00 a0 15 @.. @..0N.......
80 00 00 15 2f 8c 9b 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 78 ..../..........x
00 00 00 00 00 00 04 5d 02 00 00 5d 02 00 00 97 .......]...]....
02 00 00 ff ff 00 00 40 00 40 01 64 00 50 01 70 .......@.@.d.P.p
3e 00 00 e0 3c 00 00 20 00 00 90 20 00 00 a4 85 >...<.. ... ....
40 00 00 00 00 00 04 78 03 00 00 58 00 50 01 70 @......x...X.P.p
c3 00 00 60 00 50 01 04 00 00 84 a0 e3 04 00 a0 ...`.P..........
e3 05 00 c7 e5 01 00 a0 e3 06 00 c7 e5 01 00 a0 ................
e3 07 00 c7 e5 03 00 a0 e3 08 00 c7 e5 00 00    ...............
BLOCK3 : 526187 bytes   uploaded : OK [2058.537000 ms]
BLOCK4 :    511 bytes downloaded : OK [3.403000 ms]
80 00 00 00 03 02 08 00 00 00 00 72 01 07 00 cd ...........r....
ab 07 00 f1 ab 07 00 e5 9a 07 00 7d 9b 07 00 a1 ...........}....
9b 07 00 11 9c 07 00 99 9c 07 00 25 9d 07 00 09 ...........%....
9e 07 00 21 95 07 00 d5 96 07 00 f9 96 07 00 d5 ...!............
97 07 00 7d 98 07 00 19 8e 07 00 71 8f 07 00 95 ...}.......q....
8f 07 00 59 90 07 00 73 90 07 00 8d 90 07 00 59 ...Y...s.......Y
91 07 00 e9 91 07 00 ad 8c 07 00 55 8d 07 00 19 ...........U....
8b 07 00 7d 8b 07 00 51 87 07 00 c9 88 07 00 ed ...}...Q........
88 07 00 ad 89 07 00 41 8a 07 00 9d 82 07 00 59 .......A.......Y
84 07 00 99 83 07 00 bd 83 07 00 f1 84 07 00 e5 ................
85 07 00 71 86 07 00 d9 ac 07 00 a1 ad 07 00 c1 ...q............
ad 07 00 b9 ae 07 00 41 ae 07 00 61 af 07 00 83 .......A...a....
af 07 00 a5 af 07 00 c7 af 07 00 e9 af 07 00 0b ................
b0 07 00 71 66 07 00 09 b1 07 00 a9 b1 07 00 5d ...qf..........]
b2 07 00 cd b1 07 00 e9 b2 07 00 19 b6 07 00 df ................
b6 07 00 f1 b6 07 00 c9 da 07 00 d3 ca 07 00 1b ................
d3 07 00 e5 d0 07 00 dd cc 07 00 00 00 00 00 b7 ................
d7 07 00 eb d6 07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 cd 66 07 00 e5 66 07 ..........f...f.
00 8d 68 07 00 b5 68 07 00 d5 68 07 00 69 6b 07 ..h...h...h..ik.
00 a1 6b 07 00 bd 6c 07 00 dd 6e 07 00 b1 70 07 ..k...l...n...p.
00 69 71 07 00 21 72 07 00 f1 72 07 00 17 73 07 .iq..!r...r...s.
00 01 74 07 00 e1 74 07 00 5d 75 07 00 77 ac 07 ..t...t..]u..w..
00 81 9f 07 00 9d 9e 07 00 d9 9f 07 00 19 ab    ...............
Reference     : 3EC 18607GAAB 02 (see under your modem box)
URB147: Input/output error
URB148: Input/output error
URB149: Input/output error
URB150: Input/output error
modem_start_synchro: pusb_control_msg: Input/output error
=== modem state at Wed Jan 30 22:21:22 2002 ===
c0 12 0007 : 00                                              .
c0 12 000b : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00                         ........
c0 12 000d : 00 00 00 00                                     ....
c0 01 000e : 00                                              .
c0 01 000f : 00                                              .
ADSL line is down
carlton# ^Dexit

Script done on Wed Jan 30 22:21:29 2002

any help would be greatly appreciated - this is driving me nuts!

GREG