Huawei E173 usb modem not connecting F15

[mackissack]

Hello.
I hope the supportive information doesn't come too long but I want to show enough details so the issue can be solved.

A Huawei E173 USB modem was plugged onto a laptop with Fedora 15 32 bit version Linux.
CD would be recognized as CD-ROM.
But Network Manager wouldn't allow to create the broad band connection.
Device woudn't be shown as alternative.
After googleing around I found about idVendor, idProduct, usb_modeswitch
and rules.
This modem is assigned to Movistar México.

Found a lot of information to digest.
In the end I followed this blog (in Spanish) which proved to be understandable.

It told to:
a) lsusb to detect ids (12d1:1c24)
b) create modem configurations at /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/12d1:1c24 with
following content

#############################
# Huawei E173

DefaultVendor= 0x12d1
DefaultProduct=0x1c24

TargetVendor= 0x12d1
TargetProduct= 0x1c23

CheckSuccess=7


MessageContent="5553424312345678000000000000001106 0000000000000000000000000000"

c) Blog mentioned swap of idProduct from 1c24 to 1c23 which I also had
noticed.
lsusb would give one value or the other at different plugging ins.

Furthermore, asking

/usr/sbin/usb_modeswitch -c /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/12d1:1c24

would find and switch at some times and wouldn't at others, depending on
the value given by lsusb.

So, i decided to create [I/etc/usb_modeswitch.d/12d1:1c23[/I] with following
content

################################################## ######
# Huawei E173

DefaultVendor= 0x12d1
DefaultProduct=0x1c23

TargetVendor= 0x12d1
TargetProduct= 0x1c23

CheckSuccess=16


MessageContent="5553424300000000000000000000001106 0000000000000000000000000000"

Curiously, in the beginning of my search, 1c23 would not appear.
It did after messing around some time.

d) That being done, rule to recognize modem was created at
/lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules
Again, I thought it would be wise to create 2:

# Huawei E173 (product 1c23)
ATTRS{idVendor}=="12d1", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1c23", RUN
+="usb_modeswitch '%b/%k'"

and

# Huawei E173 (product 1c24)
ATTRS{idVendor}=="12d1", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1c24", RUN
+="usb_modeswitch '%b/%k'"


e) Blogger then instructed to download driver from here and install it.

After this, Network Manager would recognize the device when plugged in.
But it would not operate as modem still.

I found out three ttyUSB ports were created -0, 1 and 2.

ls /dev/ttyUSB* --> /dev/ttyUSB0   /dev/ttyUSB1   /dev/ttyUSB2

Blog says another rule should be created in
/etc/udev/rules.d/50-myrules.rules
which says

KERNEL=="ttyUSB2", RUN+="/bin/ln -sf /dev/ttyUSB2 /dev/ttyUSB0"

(I wondered if it should go to /lib/udev/rules.d/; anyway).

After all that, Network Manager would show the Broad Band option.
But when clicked to connect, it would try about three times
connecting... connecting... connecting...
But no connection would be established.

However, Huawei E173 modem works.
I tested it with wvdial and minicom

To do this I linked ttyUSB* to /dev/modem to run minicom.
Tried with all ports.

ln -s /dev/ttyUSB2 /dev/modem

allowed connection.
My knowlegde of minicom is not that good so I didn't know what to do
after connection was established but connection was set.

With wvdial result was similar
These were parameters wvdial connected with
[Dialer Defaults]
Modem Type = Analog Modem
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB2
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1
ISDN = 0
Phone = *99#
Username = movistar
Password = movistar
Baud = 9600

This was the wvdial output
-bash-4.2# wvdial
--> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.61
--> Initializing modem.
--> Sending: ATZ
ATZ
OK
--> Sending: ATQ0 V1 E1
ATQ0 V1 E1
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Sending: ATDT*99#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99#
CONNECT
--> Carrier detected. Waiting for prompt.
--> Don't know what to do! Starting pppd and hoping for the best.
--> Starting pppd at Wed Oct 19 23:48:13 2011
--> Pid of pppd: 6174
--> Using interface ppp0
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> local IP address 10.77.86.214
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> remote IP address 10.64.64.64
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> primary DNS address 200.76.88.11
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]
--> secondary DNS address 200.76.80.11
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08] #here led in modem lighted up
^CCaught signal 2: Attempting to exit gracefully...
--> Terminating on signal 15
--> pppd: �J�[08]�J�[08]

But output was enough to prove modem could connect.

All this makes me think inability to connect resides within Network
Manager.
Huawei E173 wouldn't be listed as supported device here
Only these GSM/UMTS/HSPA models
* Huawei E160G
* Huawei E220 (firmware versions older than 11.117.09.04.00 (Vodafone
only) are known to be problematic; make sure you have
11.117.10.00.00 or later)
* Huawei E1550
* Huawei E226

Hope having made myself clear?
Hope not having messed it up?
Any hint?

[mackissack]

Hi there.
Well, something gained.
I was able to make the Huawei E173 recognizable without the need to install any driver.

1st, uninstalled any driver related to the USB modem.

Theb I just leaved following configuration at /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/12d1:1c24

#############################
# Huawei E173

DefaultVendor= 0x12d1
DefaultProduct=0x1c24

TargetVendor= 0x12d1
TargetProduct= 0x1c23

CheckSuccess=7

MessageContent="5553424300000000000000000000001106 0000000000000000000000000000"


Then left following rule at /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules:


# Huawei E173 (product 1c24)
ATTRS{idVendor}=="12d1", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1c24", RUN
+="usb_modeswitch '%b/%k'"


Reset system.
After system restarted, plugging in Huawei E173 USB modem, Network Manager recognizes it.
However, it cannot connect.
It tries about three times without success.

Curiously,

lsusb /dev/ttyUSB*

shows 4 ports, 0 to 3.

[rtguille]

I opened a bug-report some weeks ago:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=744639

(BEFORE using usb_modeswitch):
ID 12d1:1c05 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

I an not sure if it is the exact revision, but it is an E173s
I never had an issue with the E220.

The only workaround i have found is to plug the modem while
the laptop is off, and power it on only after attaching the modem
to the usb port. Booting that way NM detects the gadget and
it can be normally used.

[mackissack]

Thank you, rtguille.
It didn't work on this Fedora 15 system.
Huawe iE173 already created connection only shows up when usb modem is plugged in.

System already included usb_modeswitch version 1.1.7-1.fc15.

I really do not know it is an issue regarding Network Manager.
As said above, connection could be made with wvdial.

[David Batson]

Try setting up the connection with nm-connection-editor for using Network Manager.

At any rate, Network Mangler looks pretty, but doesn't work so good. I prefer wvdial or kppp - at least they are somewhat reliable.

[mackissack]

Thank you for your annotation, David Batson.
That's right with wvdial.

Try setting up the connection with nm-connection-editor for using Network Manager.

At any rate, Network Mangler looks pretty, but doesn't work so good. I prefer wvdial or kppp - at least they are somewhat reliable.

As you might have seen in my post above, Huawei E173 connected with wvdial.
IP addresses were even shown.
However, I didn't know what to do once connection was estableshe.
Modem led was bright blue when it was connecting.
Thereafter it was permantly dimm blue.
I opened another terminal and pinged outer IP addresses.
It did.
What I couldn't do is get firefox to navigate. It said was without connection.

I have to be honest to say I haven't looked after a deeper explanation on wvdial.

[rtguille]

Check the that the dns nameservers shown were put in /etc/resolv.conf, if they were not, add them.

[David Batson]

See if dhcp is running. If I am not mistaken, if you start wvdial in console, at the end of the connection dialog it should show what DNS server(s) it is using.

http://fedora.wikia.com/wiki/DHCP

The command: cat /etc/resolv.conf should display the nameservers in use. Any edits you make to that file by hand will be overwritten sooner or later by the system.

---------- Post added at 06:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:17 PM ----------

Another possible issue. Don't really know what was happening, but an admin over at Mandriva Forums experienced a similar issue awhile back (I recall reading it).

I'm on dialup and use kppp. It connected but Konqueror is the only thing that will use the connection. Firefox, SeaMonkey, pidgin, etc. just complains about no connection. I can ping and Konqueror will connect to any site I try.

I started firefox from CLI and there are no error messages.

http://forum.mandriva.com/en/viewtop...477094#p477094

I deleted ~/.kde after backing it up and kppp works as expected. Guess there was something in there but I couldn't find it.

[cyrusmvahid]

I do use Fedora 15 on ACER Aspire One and just purchased an O2 Huawei in Germany. The driver is installed out of the box and if you are not crazy about editing text files and typing in commands, then just use your connection manager and create a new connection under broadband network.
At least here in Germany the APN name is "internet" for O2.

you should open your network manager by clicking on it in the task bar, going to network setting, turning off airplane more (if on), and creating a new network. For that you need the name of your provider, your plan type, and your APN name.
In Germany and for O2:
provider O2 (can be selected from drop-down menu)
APN: internet
Plan type: can be selected from the list. if you use flat rate, then choose the 'not listed' option.
Hope that it works.