Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[tallboy]

I originally wrote this as a post in the thread How to use ZTE MF636 GPRS USB modem?, but in afterthought I thought it could be a new thread, as it is related to a dpup, sorry to confuse you all by publishing it twice!

I have mobile broadband from the norwegian company Netcom, which uses the ZTE MF636 USB modem stick that also has a 4Gb MicroSD memory slot. This linuxbox of mine has a 32 bit AMD Athlon 1200 Mhz, 512 Mb ram, with USB1(!), cannot remember what old mainboard. I have followed the various recipes for different pups to make it work, installing lots of pets to no effect, although one of them actually made the modem blink it's lights, but that was all. But right now I am using a live-cd with dpup484beta4-2.6.30.5 (love those beautiful dpups), and it works right 'out of the box' - well, almost.
When I plug in the modem, whether before or after booting, it comes up on the desktop with a CD icon as sr1. (if I had stored the text in connection wizard, it may have detected the modem on bootup as sdc/sdd, I haven't tried that). I mount sr1, and then unmount it again, and it disappears and after a little while it pops up again with a memory stick icon as sdc or sdd, depending upon which other drives I have mounted. I open the Internet connection wizard: Internet by wireless gprs modem, and see that it auto-detects /dev/ttyUSB0, which is total bullshit. I manually enters /dev/ttyUSB2, and then APN: internet.netcom.no, username: netcom, password: netcom, phone number: *99#, phone pin: yeah, right...
I then get that little dialog window that tells me to activate by going to 'PGPRS Connect' in the network menu. More bullshit, it doesn't exist! I guess it may be a daemon that make the PGPRS entries pop up in the menu, anyway they are not there. So I open a console window and just write 'pgprs-connect' and press enter, text start rolling- and this is what I get at the end of the first try:
.......
local IP address 178.2xx.xxx.xxx
remote IP address 10.0.0.1
primary DNS address 10.11.12.13
secondary DNS address 10.11.12.14
disconnecting
So, the dialog promts me to write 'r' and enter for a retry, or enter to quit (and start over again). I have tried both with equal result, and this time it connects:
local IP address 89.x.xx.xxx
remote IP address 10.0.0.1
primary DNS address 212.1xx.xxx.xx
secondary DNS address 212.4x.xxx.xxx

Connection OK, blue light in modem indicating turbo 3G is active, ssh and Firefox is alive!

The SMS-function may or may not work - I don't know how to, I haven't tried the memory slot, mounting sdc bring up the useless Findus manual, and I don't think I have a way to access to the up/download log - haven't really bothered trying.

Running lsusb:
# lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 19d2:0031 ONDA Communication S.p.A. ZTE MF636
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 059f:101a LaCie, Ltd
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Closing the console or pressing Ctrl-c in the console window closes the connection again, so I just let it rest in the menuline instead.
I also tried it in Lupu_5.1.1 and quirky_1.2. When I looked at the files in dpup, lupu and quirky, there is a difference in the setup. In dpup484beta4 there is a file in ~/ named '3G_USB_modem_README.txt', and it tells that the code in usb-modeswitch.conf (about 1200 lines, commented out) has been included in /etc/udev/rules.d, here it is:

3G_USB_modem_README.txt:
Readme for usb_modeswitch-0.9.7, compiled Apr 22, 2009
=====================================================

The usb_modeswitch configuration file is /etc/usb_modeswitch.conf. It contains the configuration values and notes for various models of multiple-device USB modems to switch from "storage" to "modem" mode. That information has been integrated into udev rules files in /etc/udev/rules.d, with names beginning with 7n-udev-rules-usb_modemswitch. So the configuration file is included only for reference.

The "main" (51-) such rules file contains those rules for devices that are uniquely identified by their vendor and product IDs, and need not be edited. The others (those with 0x... in their names) each pertain to a particular vendor-product identifier value, but require user selection of only one of the rules in each. Each section shows a particular product name and the corresponding rule, which begins with #ACTION=="add". Remove the "#" from the rule for the description that matches your (USB, PC Card) 3G modem.
########################################################
Here is what is entered in /etc/udev/rules.d/51-usb_modeswitch-option-ZTE-Onda-0x19d2-0x2000.rules:
.........
################## Needed in later kernels than 2.6.25.16 ##################
.......
........
########################################################
# ZTE MF628+ (tested version from Telia / Sweden)
# ZTE MF626
# ZTE MF633
# ZTE MF636 (aka "Telstra / BigPond 7.2 Mobile Card")

#SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2000", ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/usr/sbin/usb_modeswitch.sh -v 0x%s{idVendor} -p 0x%s{idProduct} -V 0x19d2 -P 0x0031 -M '55534243123456782000000080000c85010101180101010101000000000000'"

########################################################
.......
The only thing happening when uncommenting the line starting with SUBSYSTEM=, is that the sdc icon comes up instead of the sr1 icon when I plug in the modem, meaning that usb-modeswitch has recognized it. Otherwise the same two connection attemps are needed to make the modem work.
Running from a live-cd, I don't bother to correct it permanently, I just mount/unmount sr1 to get the sdc/sdd icon.

Using live-cd with Lupu_511:
> pgprs-connect
/usr/sbin/pppd: In file /etc/ppp/peers/gprsmm: unrecognized option '/dev/ttyUSB2'
unplug/replug:
nothing happens
The ZTE modem MF636 is not mentioned in /etc/udev/rules.d.
No matter what, if it did recognize the modem, I wouldn't have used that fugly, underdog lupu anyway.

Using live-cd with Quirky_1.2:
Added programs: coreutils-6.9-6-p4, usb-modeswitch-1.1.3-p4, (usb-modeswitch complaints about not finding 'who', which is part of coreutils full version, I think Quirky uses a 'light' version), modem comes up as sdc or sdd when attached after bootup.
I added the following text in /etc/usb-modeswitch.conf: (It is more or less the same content as in the text in /etc/udev/rules.d/51-usb_modeswitch-option-ZTE-Onda-0x19d2-0x2000.rules in the dpup484)
#######################################################
# ZTE MF628+ (tested version from Telia / Sweden)
#
# Contributor: Joakim Wennergren
#
# Also applies to MF627 (Tested 3 UK) JF
# Also applies to MF636 (Tested Netcom Norway)

DefaultVendor= 0x19d2
DefaultProduct= 0x2000

TargetVendor= 0x19d2
TargetProduct= 0x0031

MessageEndpoint=0x01
MessageContent="55534243123456782000000080000c85010101180101010101000000000000"
#######################################################

First attempt:
local IP address 178.2xx.xxx.xxx
remote IP address 10.0.0.1
primary DNS address 10.11.12.13
secondary DNS address 10.11.12.14
disconnecting
Second attempt:
local IP address 89.x.xx.xxx
remote IP address 10.0.0.1
primary DNS address 21x.xxx.xxx.xx
secondary DNS address 212.4x.xxx.xxx

Connection OK, turbo 3G

The bottom lines from /etc/ppp/peers/gprsmm in dpup484beta4 and quirky_1.2, when modem is up and running:

Serial device to which the GPRS phone is connected:
# /dev/ttyS0 for serial port (COM1 in Windows),
# /dev/ircomm0 # for IrDA,
# /dev/ttyUB0 # for Bluetooth (Bluez with rfcomm running) and
# /dev/ttyUSB0 # for USB
#/dev/ttyS0 # serial port one
#/dev/ttyS1 # serial port two
#/dev/ircomm0 # IrDA serial port one
#/dev/rfcomm0 # Bluetooth serial port one
user "netcom"
/dev/ttyUSB2

I originally posted this thread as a post in How to use ZTE MF636 GPRS USB modem?, but i thought it may be better as a new thread.

I also tried the Windoze recipe to activate/deactivate auto-find of the modem - AT+ZCDRUN=8 and 9 - no difference registered!
I don't know if anyone became wiser from these ramblings, but it may indicate to someone with more experience with pups than me, what is the easier way to do things.

A little comment on lupu511 and quirky 1.2 (and retro too...): The fugliest pups I have seen so far, awful mega puke material!

I stick to my delightful dpup484beta4-2.6.30.5, run from a multisession live-cd/dvd. (abiword is a bitch, geany can't decide if iso or utf is storeable, osmo need reinstall of libical to work, and some other issues, but that is small potatoes, it's gorgeous anyway...)

tallboy