Huawei's hsdpa modem Model E220

[bryan4134]

The E220 provides mobile broadband via USB 2.0 and works flawlessly under Windows. While I can "see" the modem in Device Manager...see attachment.... I am too much of Linux newbie to know how to proceed from here. I would be interested to hear if anyone has managed to get this neat little 3.6mbps wonder working with Ubuntu.

Any help advice appreciated.

Thanks, Bryan

[nickwallingford]

I, too, would need more help than I've been able to find so far...

http://the.taoofmac.com/space/Huawei/E220 gave me a bit to get started, but I'm still struggling.

I've had previous similar devices (the PCMCIA card version) working with both Fedora and Ubuntu, but haven't got enough nous to do this on my own!

Any clued up out there?

[mips]

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/per...-terminal.html
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/9/22/57
http://www.pharscape.org/component/o...47c9e61f3c55c/
http://tuxmobil.org/index.html
http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ftp...CIA-HOWTO.html
http://www.google.co.za/search?as_q=...s=&safe=images

[bryan4134]

Nick - I am still searching for a solution - let me know if you come up with anything...

Bryan

[nickwallingford]

Thanks, mips - I recognise you and some of those links from a year or so ago when I was getting Vodaphone's 3G card working...

Some of the stuff on the pharscape.org page starts to make sense to me, but I'll have to do a bit more reading to phrase meaningful (read: not stupid!) questions...

Nick

[nickwallingford]

The Huawei E220 seems to be being recognised - after plugging it in, I can see (tail /var/log/messages):
usb 4-1: reset full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 8
(then more info re: SCSI bulk storage aspect of the modem)

I've then used:
mknod /dev/ttyUSB0 c 188 0
mknod /dev/ttyUSB1 c 188 1
mknod /dev/ttyUSB2 c 188 2

I *think* the blue flashing light on the vodem indicates it is both recognised and is detecting a 3G network within range (a good thing, as far as that goes...)

But I've not been able to use wvdial to communicate with it - doesn't appear at any of the three device names above. I've previously used a script (3g.sh) with the PCMCIA card device that Vodaphone uses, and I'm using that but can't find the right device to open to aim the dialling info at.

Hope that isn't too obscurely written!

Nick

[nickwallingford]

I've made some progress - at my most optimistic, I'd even claim it to be in a forward direction (heh, heh...)

The page at http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=21726 applies directly to making the Huawei E220 work with Ubuntu.

I downloaded the nozomi-source package (ftp from a link you can find at http://packages.debian.org/unstable/net/nozomi-source)

Unable to compile it initially, getting an error. Followed that one through to find the answer at http://www.pharscape.org/component/o...088d9ce00ce9f/ - and that led to a clean build.

I saw various comments that for whatever reason, it could not be used as 'modprobe -r nozomi', but rather had to be done as 'insmode nozomi.ko' - and it seems to accept that happily.

As this as the first time, I had to create the nodes with 'mknod /dev/noz0 c 241 0' and repeat that 3 more times, making noz1, noz2 and noz3.

By then I had the wvdial.conf file that was linked from the www.pharscape.org link above.

And finally, I should be able to use 'wvdial hsdpa' to connect. But that is where it falls down. I get the error 'Cannot open /dev/noz0: No such device or address' I've tried the other three noz? devices as well, but the modem isn't being seen at any of them.

I think I'm close, and I know I've been reasonably methodical and thorough at looking for the info I'm after (If anyone hasn't read the info that mips has in a sig file as http://www.catb.org/%7Eesr/faqs/smart-questions.html, you should!).

I'd appreciate a gentle steer (hell, I'll take an ill mannered tirade - I'm not proud...) as to the next direction I should try, or the next piece of testing that can move me on. I think I can say I'm at my current limits of expertise/understanding - so I'm ready to learn!

Nick

[nickwallingford]

OK - PRETTY MUCH DISREGARD MOST ALL OF MY ABOVE POSTINGS AS I BRANCHED OFF THE WRONG TRACKS. MY HUAWEI E220 USB IS NOW WORKING.
================================================== =====================

The Huawei E220 is a USB 'dongle' for HSDPA connection through (for me, anyway) the Vodaphone network in New Zealand.

When inserted into a Ubuntu OS, it is immediately detected as a SCSI/CDROM type bulk storage device, and the files that are used by Windows appear attached to the filesystem similar to any other USB storage device.

Close any window that might be showing you those files. Then unmount the device (eject the CDROM icon you'll find on the desktop created when you inserted the device).

All commands I give here are just the commands - you will likely need to put 'sudo' in front of them so you have the permissions of root to carry them out...

Insert the device and give it a chance to settle down (enjoy watching the lights flash...)

When you insert the device and it gets recognised as a storage device, it will have created /dev/ttyUSB0. You can see that with:

ls -la /dev/ttyU*

You will likely only see one entry: ttyUSB0.

To make the modem work, you must first remove the module that is used for usb-storage devices. You can do that with:

rmmod usb-storage

If you are told it is in use, that is an indication you didn't close windows and eject the device first.

This next command may not be absolutely necessary, but it won't hurt anything (heh, heh...):

rmmod usb-serial

You are now going to re-insert that module, but giving the specific details of your modem. First, make sure you have the right details by using:

lsusb

You should see an entry similar to this in the output:

Bus 004 Device 004: ID 12d1:1003

The Bus and/or Device number might be different for you, but the important part is the ID. If yours is not 12d1:1003, you'll need to modify the next command, but I *think* it will be either that or 12d1:1001...

This command will insert the module with the device specific details:

modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1003

Now, remove the device, wait a bit for things to settle, and then plug it back in.

I *think* you may now have maybe three entries if you do:

ls -la /dev/ttyU*

Basically, what has been done is that you have removed the initial inclination to treat the device only as a bulk storage (removing the module that handles that). You've also manually caused the recognition of the device (using the modprobe command). So that when you re-plugged it, it should now be able to work with the *modem* part of the device addressing it as /dev/ttyUSB0, rather than that being the bulk storage device.

Use a text editor such as pico to edit or create if necessary the file to handle the dialling configuration. My /etc/wvdial.conf file looks like this:

# wvdial for Vodacom Data. Created by Tazz_tux
# Version 1.0

# Change Log:
#
# Added support for HSDPA.
# Added Headers and version control.

[Dialer Defaults]
Phone = *99***1#
Username = username
Password = password
Stupid Mode = 1
Dial Command = ATDT

[Dialer hsdpa]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Baud = 460800
Init2 = ATZ
Init3 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
Modem Type = Analog Modem


I've only put in the relevant sections - the full file can be found at the address below this posting.

You can dial the modem with:

wvdial hsdpa

If all is happy, you'll see the messages in the terminal window to show how it is connecting, your IP address, your remote gateway and 2 nameservers the network provides for you.

Do remember the various need for 'sudo' unless you change ownerships/permissions. In particular, if it looks like you've connected but are not able to connect to any sites, etc, look for a message telling you that /etc/ppp/pap-secrets and /etc/ppp/chap-secrets are not able to be written to - that may well indicate that you for sure need to run the wvdial command as sudo (If you are running it as a normal user, that user would need to have the ability to write to those files for the connection to be able to work...)

I am writing this while standing on the shoulders of the knowledgeable and the helpful. In particular, see http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=21726 - Post 1 in that thread, and Tazz_Tux who wrote and maintains it, has been invaluable. Go there if for no other reason than to get the latest version of wvdial.conf

Enjoy your Huawei E220 under Ubuntu!

Nick

[mips]

Thanks for the feedback!

Maybe post this as a Howto in the Howto/Tips section.

[nickwallingford]

I've now done that, mips - I was impressed with myself getting it working in spite of my own limitations and the general perception among people I spoke with that it was not possible.

Your help and that of Tazz_tux in another set of forums was for sure what kept me going until I did it.

And like most of these things, I sure learned a lot in the process!

Nick