New installation: Hanging when trying to dial out

[John Adams]

Hi, folks,

	I've got a brand-new installation of FreeBSD and the next thing I want 
to do is upgrade from 4.6 (the CD I had) to 4.9 or 5.1. However, first 
I need to dial out, and there I'm having a problem.

	I've followed the instructions (I hope!) in Chapter 18 of the 
handbook, and whatever approach I take to dialing out, the box hangs--I 
can't even Alt-F3 to a new shell. This happens whether I'm using cu or 
trying a manual connection in ppp. When I do the latter, after I type 
term, I get the responses, but, after type '~?' for help, the keyboard 
stops responding. ~. doesn't get me out of it--nothing does. The box is 
an eMachines etower 600is and the modem is a Microcom Deskporte 28.8P.

	Any help would be greatly appreciated.

All the best,

	John A