try pon it is a command line dialup . It is a good dialup program to have if you happen to run into problems like this. it will help you get on line. If your GUI program "kppp" dies or locks up your system. below is a link of programs that will help.
http://packages.debian.org/cgi-bin/search_packages.pl?keywords=pon+poff&searchon=all&subword=1&version=stable&release=all
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