HOWTO: Cricket Wireless A600 Broadband Modem

[foresthill]

Thanks, Jeff.

I am working with the UM185c unit, and am not in a location where I have a signal.

Here is what I have done so far:

> Clean installation of Ubuntu 10.04 from disk - check
> Downloaded/installed usb_modeswitch from Synaptic - check
> Reboot into Windows w/Cricket modem plugged in - check
> Windows sees the modem and starts its network manager - check
> Reboot into Ubuntu w/Cricket modem plugged in - check
> Cricket icon shows up in 'Computer' as a CD-ROM icon - check
> Set up Cricket Communications in Network Manager - check
> Rebooted. Now Network Manager shows the following as a choice:

Mobile Broadband
disconnected
Available
Cricket Communications connection 1

When I pass my cursor over the 'Cricket Communications' text, it gets highlighted. I click on it and the Network Manager begins to animate its icon (flowing radio waves upwards).

This means it is attempting a connection, I hope?

After about a minute, it stops and a message appears:

'Network disconnected'

So far, I have not used the command line.

Are there any more files I need to install, either via of Synaptic or via Terminal?

Please advise. Thanks in advance.

Dan

I run a Cricket A600. I just installed 10.4 on my laptop.

I was dismayed to see that 10.4 is not properly "flipping" the unit like 9.10 did.

One temporary solution I found was to boot up in 9.10 (I run a dual boot system) let the modem flip there, and then reboot into 10.4, at which point the modem would be recognized and i could set it up under network connections. I suppose you could also flip the unit in Windows and reboot, that should work as well.

I got online eventually and ran the update manager, hoping a fix would be there, but no such luck. So I guess the next step is to try to flip the unit manually with USB_modeswitch.

Specific to the poster above, I was having a similar problem about a week ago (this was while running 9.10). The modem would take an eternity to connect, and eventually get hung up on by the Cricket server. About one out of ten attempts I could connect, but the speed was less than 1 kb per second, and would quickly stall and I would get hung up on. This lasted for about a week.

What I did to fix the problem was go into Windows and connect with the modem for 10-15 minutes. After connecting in Windows and then going back to Ubuntu, the connection problems disappeared. Now this is complete speculation on my part, or possibly a coincidence, but I suspect that there may have been some sort of firmware upgrade that installed itself when I was in Windows, one that required the Cricket software to install. I have had no problems since.

[foresthill]

The person who stated that USB_modeswitch is already installed in 10.4 is incorrect. You will need to find some way to get on the net and install it from the Synaptics package manager. The Cricket A600 modem should flip automatically once you do that.

Also, I just had the same problem of being unable to connect with my modem after it was detected. It would try to dial out and the connection would terminate.

So I booted into Windows and started the Cricket software. It turns out there was an update, which I installed, and now i can connect in Ubuntu once again. So my guess is that Cricket is keeping modems from connecting to its network until the update is installed.

[drakect]

ok guys i cant seem to find the similar problem in this thread but maybe you have a clue why when did the flip and run the script it added the um device but when i try to configure it or connect it asks me for a pin number

any ideas

[beastrace91]

ok guys i cant seem to find the similar problem in this thread but maybe you have a clue why when did the flip and run the script it added the um device but when i try to configure it or connect it asks me for a pin number

any ideas

Does it allow you to leave it blank?

~Jeff

[drakect]

nope what aver i type in it says make sure your sim card is in :/

[foresthill]

Been having a problem in 10.4 Lucid, where if my modem times out, it will disconnect. Which is fine, but once I get disconnected, my modem is unable to reconnect without a reboot.

What happens when I try to reconnect is that the modem will attempt to dial out and the connection fails for some unknown reason. And since there is no feedback when using Network Manager as to why the connection failed, I have no idea what's going wrong. 9.10 does not do this.

What I did to get around this was install KPPP through Synaptics. I have no problem reconnecting when I use this program, plus I get feedback when I do connect.

Anyone else having this problem?

[Callmesweettea]

I have been reading the forums for hours now and I'm tired. I have just a few questions.
I have a cricket Broadband Modem A600 etc, etc. Now I really want to Install Ubuntu 10.04 onto my laptop. I have burned it do disc already. Now I have been trying to get this thing to work with no luck. Does it make a difference that I am using Ubuntu from boot disc? I downloaded cricket_ mode_switch.tar.gz but not sure where to extract it to. And do I extract it in Windows or Ubuntu? I only have Internet when using windows so I am switching back and forth by reboot because I am a super noob. I downloaded the file in windows and transfered it using the cricket uSb thingy. tried to extract it to desktop then open the terminal and type in whatever it was i was told to in the tutorial which didnt work, got some error Messages again. Nothing worked. and my windows cant even read the file. its jsut like blank. Anyways I post more in a few. Have to go back and try again.

Any help would be appreciated as I want to get things sorted so I can use Ubuntu for good but first Internet is a MuSt

[pdc]

Does it make a difference that I am using Ubuntu from boot disc?

....... yes because you need to save some changes; (you can't do that to a burnt CD ...)

I downloaded cricket_ mode_switch.tar.gz but not sure where to extract it to.

that's where you need a permanent system .

Ubuntu has an ability to burn a copy to a USB stick; and it will save changes to that, so you can try the system; but not install to a hard drive till you need;

if you boot ubuntu; top line: System; Administration: half-way down: create a usb stick (or some such title); you need the .iso file on one stick as the input and a second USB stick to burn it to; then the second USB stick will boot ubuntu and remember changes you have made to it; if the boot system on your system is changed so a removable disk boots first

if you feel like it, you can "dual boot" where you shrink the size of your windows install, and install ubuntu on the remaining part

have you read the very first entry?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1146110

it talks you through how to get this device working; it seems to give some troubles to folks

[CBR_Rob]

Ok I am not sure what I am doing wrong here. I installed the mode switcher and downloaded the cricketum185c.sh file. When I try to run the file in terminal I get a command not found error. I did notice that when I downloaded the .sh file it is saved as cricketum185c.download. I've tried renaming it and also tried the filename in terminal with the .download.

I am fairly new to Linux and am using Linux Mint 8 32bit with the Pantech modem. This modem does work in Windows and is activated. I have included a screenshot of the error.

[beastrace91]

Rename your cricketum185c.download to cricketum185c.sh

For some reason when Chrome(ium) downloads .sh files it puts the file extension as .download instead of .sh

~Jeff