"Line is busy...."

[Guest]

Lately I'm receiving the above message more and more when attempting to
connect to my ISP, even though the MODEM HAS NOT DIALED, AND THE LINE IS NOT
BUSY. This message appears immediately after I hit "Enter" to dial the ISP.
The message comes up EVEN IF THE PHONE LINE IS NOT CONNECTED! [Usually that
results in a "No dial tone" message.]

This happens sometimes after I have had the computer on and dialed the ISP
once or twice (and connected), but tonight it came up the very first time I
tried to dial the ISP. Please note, the modem didn't even dial; it had no way
to know if the line were busy or not. Rebooting usually corrects the problem
and allows me to dial normally.

Any suggestions?

 

[Enkidu]

Lately I'm receiving the above message more and more when attempting to
connect to my ISP, even though the MODEM HAS NOT DIALED, AND THE LINE IS NOT
BUSY. This message appears immediately after I hit "Enter" to dial the ISP.
The message comes up EVEN IF THE PHONE LINE IS NOT CONNECTED! [Usually that
results in a "No dial tone" message.]

This happens sometimes after I have had the computer on and dialed the ISP
once or twice (and connected), but tonight it came up the very first time I
tried to dial the ISP. Please note, the modem didn't even dial; it had no way
to know if the line were busy or not. Rebooting usually corrects the problem
and allows me to dial normally.

Is it internal or external? It may be that the modem is failing. They
do occasionally.

Cheers,

Cliff