I am trying to make pppd work through a cell phone (not via GPRS, but
rather using its basic modem capability).  Using kermit I can connect
to the phone, dial, log in, etc.  When I try via pppd/chat though, it
seems like chat times out reading the first expect string.

I suppose one possibility is that this is because the CD signal on the
serial port is not set.  With kermit I need to use the "set
carrier-watch off" option in order to connect.  In my pppd
configuration files I have the "local" option set, which I expected to
work similarly.

I would greatly appreciate ideas on what could be going wrong here and
how to fix it.

Thanks alot for your help.

Cheers,
Brook