With multiple Mobile broadand services being offered now a days, lot of people are starting to use them for accessing internet. They are very convenient, portable and wireless. But it is unfortunate that most of the broadband vendors are providing support and drivers only for Windows platform. However, there are certain ways in which we can make these broadband devices work in Linux as well. The primary problem in linux with these devices is that they are USB based and are identified as mass storage devices. We have to make them to switch between mass storage device and serial network access device. For this, we need to install the software 'usb-modeswitch'. Also, wvdial is used in this tutorial for accessing the broadband modem device.

This tutorial is an attempt to make a typical mobile broadband device work in Linux when it is not detected and working with regular approaches (through Network Manager, kppp etc.). This tutorial has focused on the device Huawei EC 1262, but the commands and approach can be used to troubleshoot any similar device.

Linux distributions tested:

Linux Mint 7, Linux Mint 9, Ubuntu 9.10

Install wvdial

If 'wvdial' is not already installed, then install it by issuing the following command (you have to download it by accessing internet from other way of accessing internet!)

#sudo apt-get install wvdial

Install usb_modeswitch

For Linux Mint 9, usb_modeswich is available through it's own software manager. For Linux Mint 7 and other variants, the following installation process can be used.

I would suggest Debian packages as they provide one click installation: Make sure that you install the data package first and then main package:

Data Package:

http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/all/usb-modeswitch-data/download

Main Package:

http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/i386/usb-modeswitch/download

Tar Packages:

http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/usb-modeswitch-data-20100623.tar.bz2

http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/usb-modeswitch-1.1.3.tar.bz2

 

I haven't tested using Tar packages but they can be used on Linux distributions where debian packages cannot be installed.

Check that usb modeswitch is working by issuing the following command:

#usb_modeswitch

It should show an error message saying that it cannot find usb_modeswitch.setup file in /etc folder.

Now, open the following file and edit the contents as follows:

/etc/usb_modeswitch.conf

# Configuration for the usb-modeswitch package, a mode switching tool for

# USB devices providing multiple states or modes

#

# This file is evaluated by the wrapper script "usb_modeswitch" in /lib/udev

# To enable an option, set it to "1", "yes" or "true" (case doesn't matter)

# Everything else counts as "disable"

# Disable automatic mode switching globally (e.g. to access the original

# install storage)

DisableSwitching=0

# Enable logging (results in a extensive report file in /var/log, named

# "usb_modeswitch_"

EnableLogging=1

# Huawei, newer modems

DefaultVendor= 0x12d1

DefaultProduct=0x1446

TargetVendor= 0x12d1

TargetProduct=140b

CheckSuccess=5

Note:

The text highlighted in above listing shows the broadband device specific information. This information should match the information returned by the following command:

naveen-laptop ~ # lsusb

Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0a5c:2101 Broadcom Corp. A-Link BlueUsbA2 Bluetooth

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Bus 003 Device 005: ID 0b05:420f ASUSTek Computer, Inc.

Bus 003 Device 004: ID 12d1:140b Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 064e:a101 Suyin Corp. Acer CrystalEye Webcam

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Now, open the file /etc/wvdial.conf and edit as follows:

[Dialer netconnect]

New PPPD = yes

Init1 = ATZ

Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0

Modem Type = USB Modem

Baud = 460800

New PPPD = yes

Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0

ISDN = 0

Username = 93********

Password = 93*********

Phone = #777

Stupid Mode = 1

Auto DNS = 1

Check Def Route = 1

Now remove the the broadband device Huawei EC 1262 if it is already plugged in. Then enter the following commands:

#modprobe -r usb_storage

#modprobe -r usbserial

#modprobe -v usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x140b  

Note for Linux Mint7 (Gloria) having kernel 2.6.28: the third command does not work (reports module 'usbserial' not found), so this needs to be added in boot loader (GRUB is shown here) as a kernel parameter as shown below: 

usbserial.vendor=0x12d1 usbserial.product=0x140b

Plugin the device and see if there is a device node 'ttyUSB0'created in /dev folder. If it is successfully created, then it means it is recognized and can be used by the wvdial script.

Run the following command to dial the broadband modem device:

#wvdial netconnect