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Huawei E160 and Linux

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:40 - Daniel - Other - Comments (7)

I recently got a Huawei E160 3G modem and use it on my Asus EEE 701 for mobile browsing. Since the E160 has two modes. In the default mode it acts like a read only USB drive, in the second mode, the modem is available. To change between these modes, you need a tool called usb_modeswtich.

The solution I'm describing here works on my EEE with fluxflux (a PCLinuxOS-remaster). It should work with other distributions too, but I havn't tested it. This solutions is based on Thomas Schönhütl's post about how to get the E169 working with fluxflux (german).

First, we need to get usb_modeswitch and compile it. You need libusb-dev (or libusb-devel on some distros) installed for this.

wget http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/usb_modeswitch-0.9.4.tar.bz2
tar -xjf usb_modeswitch-0.9.4.tar.bz2
cd usb_modeswitch-0.9.4
./compile.sh
cp usb_modeswitch /usr/local/bin/

Now install ivman. Ivman is a daemon to auto-mount and manage media devices. We'll use ivman to run usb_modeswitch when the E160 is connected. I tried to do this with udev but failed. If anyone is successfull by doing it with udev, let me know.

apt-get install ivman
ivman

Add ivman to you autostart. In ubuntu you can do this by going to System->Preferences->Sessions and adding a new Startup Program.
Now, lets adjust the ivman config file. Open $HOME/.ivman/IvmConfigActions.xml and add this befor </ivm:ActionsConfig>

    <!-- Change Huawei E160 Mode -->
    <ivm:Match name="hal.storage.physical_device" value="/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_12d1_1003_noserial_if0">
            <ivm:Option name="exec" value="xterm -e $HOME/.e160.sh" />
    </ivm:Match>

Now create a file named .e160.sh in you home folder and open it with you favourite text editor. Paste this to the file

!/bin/bash

if [ -z "`/bin/ls /dev/ttyUSB0`" ]; then
        if [ "`/usr/sbin/lsusb | grep 12d1 | cut -d : -f3 | cut -b -4`" = "1003" ]; then
                /usr/local/bin/usb_modeswitch -v 12d1 -p 1003 -d 1
                /usr/local/bin/usb_modeswitch -v 12d1 -p 1003 -H 1
        fi
fi

Save the file and make it executable.

chmod +x .e160.sh

Restart ivman (or reboot) and the next time you connect you E160 3G modem, it should be switched to the correct mode automatically.

Tags: e160 linux huawei 3g umts ivman

Comments

Dan Finnimore, United Kingdom - Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:53

Many thanks for the above help.

I have a e160g and am using debian 2.04 etch. I have managed to do all of the above except pasting the script into /ivm:ActionsConfig&gt, as I cannot locate the correct place to paste.

Your extra help would be appreciated

Dan

Daniel, Austria - Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:47

In your home folder should be a file named .ivman/IvmConfigActions.xml containing some xml code. Just past the above snipped at the bottom of the file but before the last xml tag () and you should be fine.

Mubarak Adam, Kenya - Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:15

Hi,

Was refered here by Mr. Alan Orth of alaninkenya.org.

Same scenario, did what you have said here and voila... works like a charm.

Good day.

tix tux, Unknown - Tue, 17 May 2011 18:06

To get your USB dongle (Huawei E160) to work: (Slackware Linux 13.0 - kernel 2.6.38.6 but may work on other linux versions)

Step 1: Ensure PPP is compiled into your kernel

Step 2: Ensure that you kernel does not spew any errors or does not panic (see kernel compilation howto in /usr/doc/Linux-HOWTOs)

Step 3: Ensure that your kernel supports USB storage

Step 3a: Ensure that kernel supports USB-Serial (generic usb_serial driver should work)

Step 4: Obtain software called comgt (http://sourceforge.net/projects/comgt/)

Step 5: Boot your computer (LOL!)

Step 6: At command prompt login (duh!)

Step 7: su as root user (login as regular user, issue command "su" and put root password - risky to login directly as root)

Step 8: Uncompress comgt.032.tgz (tar -xvzf comgt.032.tgz)

Step 9: Build the comgt and install comgt

Step 10: Insert Huawei modem

Step 11: Huawei modem shall be detected as CD-ROM drive (/dev/sr1 or /dev/sdb) instead of a 3g modem (check using "dmesg")

Step 12: To switch modes of modem from CD-ROM to a modem, you need to eject the Huawei CD-ROM device using the command (eject
/dev/sr1 or eject /dev/sdb or eject /dev/)

Step 13: To switch modes of Huawei modem, use comgt
"comgt -x -d /dev/-usb device-" where -usb device- is ttyUSB0 or ttyUSB1 -- e.g. "comgt -x -d /dev/ttyUSB0"
Some message should display giving you the network provide name and the signal strength!

Step 14: Point /dev/modem to your Huawei modem at e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0. If /dev/modem does not exist, then create it LOL! "ln -s /dev/ttyUSB0 /dev/modem"

Step 15: Exit as root user and login as regular user! (if using "su" simply type exit)

Step 16: Start your dialer program - wvdial or kppp

Step 17: Konfigure your dialer and dial! :)

Step 18: A new device "ppp0" will be listed in list of networking hardware (check this using "ifconfig")

Step 19: Make sure your put your DNS server addresses in "/etc/resolv.conf" in format "nameserver -DNS server-" where -DNS server- is ip address of DNS server of your ISP

Step 20: Enjoy surfing!
-END-

ty tower, Australia - Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:06

I run puppy 5.28 as operating system
It loads and connects properly to the 3G USB Huawei E160E modem but I want to include the necessary commands in an Arduino sketch and use an arduino and a usb host to send an sms on a specified event..My question is what do I put in my C++ sketch to switch the device to modem as it starts as a storage device?

April, Australia - Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:16

For a ZTE MF626 and others
With access on a windows machine in hyperterminal send
disable/enable flashdrive
AT+ZCDRUN=8 enable
AT+ZCDRUN=9 disable

With CD disabled modem should be available

April, Australia - Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:18

That is
disable/enable flashdrive
AT+ZCDRUN=8 (enable)
AT+ZCDRUN=9 (disable)

 

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