heh heh. OK so after compiling a new 2.4.18 kernel, I compiled in the ppp parts, rather than as modules. So I rebooted,and modprobe couldn't find ppp deflate (cos they were compiled in! duh!), and ppp wouldn't work. SO I thought what the heck, and moved /var/lib/modules/2.4.18, and recompiled, this time with ppp deflate as a module.
So I try to connect... it calls, handshakes, then drops out just at the time it would normally complete the connection. In /var/log/messages I get:
tcsetattr:Invalid argument Exit
???? Any ideas?
(btw the X locking up when transferring large files thing appears to be an IDE problem- it works fine now in the new kernel... just wish ppp did!)