Ubuntu 10.10 and Cell C ZTE MF190

Hi All

I can't get my Cell C dongle to register.

Plugged in usb-devices gives me this snippet:

T: Bus=02 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#= 9 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D: Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=19d2 ProdID=1224 Rev=00.00
S: Manufacturer=ZTE,Incorporated
S: Product=ZTE WCDMA Technologies MSM
S: SerialNumber=MF1900ZTED010000
C: #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=500mA
I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage

Which, I guess, means that usb-modeswitch isn't working - but it is installed.

Does anyone know how to get this to work?

uname -a gives:

2.6.36-020636-generic #201010210905 SMP Thu Oct 21 10:17:53 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux

dmesg gave:
[ 2468.212113] usb 2-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 9
[ 2468.348724] scsi12 : usb-storage 2-1:1.0
[ 2469.349783] scsi 12:0:0:0: CD-ROM ZTE USB SCSI CD-ROM 2.31 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 2469.356220] sr1: scsi-1 drive
[ 2469.356521] sr 12:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr1
[ 2469.356708] sr 12:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 5
[ 2486.781986] ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 1
[ 2486.783461] ISOFS: changing to secondary root

I think that should tell any guru what's wrong

Nothing shows up in the network manager at all.

Lots of forum posts imply it should just work on 10.10 so any pointers would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks

Mark

I don't know the modem but make sure you do not have an SD card in the modem as it can prevent the modeswitcher from working at times.

People using these modems with routers seem to be running into similar problems.
One of the solutions is to send an AT command to the modem to disable the virtual CD-ROM device:
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/273744?p=5647723#post5647723

This setting is stored in the modem's NVRAM so it will stay that way until you decide to change it back.

I find CuteCom easier to use for this kind of thing than minicom.

Hi I am having pretty much the same thing, though I can get ubuntu to detect the modem - I cant get ubuntu to establish a connection with CellC. The signal bars are 3/4.

Here's what I've done and what you need to do to get the modem working.

Right click the CellC icon that appears on you desktop after insert the modem and right click on the icon and the click eject.

Ubuntu now detects the modem and you'll be able to set up the connection in 'network connections'
The connection does not need a user name or password, so blank those fields.

I can get this far but I cant get the connection to establish connectivity. When I connect, the connection animation does it thing but never connects. The pop up says "GSM Network - disconnected, you are now offline"

why is this under vodacom ?

dread said:

why is this under vodacom ?

Click to expand...

Broaden your horizons, this forum is linked to from all the cellular forums, not just the Vodacom forum.

Nou ja toe ! never noticed this section under Cell C ... something appears to be wrong when viewing from that side - as it appears to be an empty sub section, and only shows stuff when u click it

My bad ... Horizons broadened !

dread said:

Nou ja toe ! never noticed this section under Cell C ... something appears to be wrong when viewing from that side - as it appears to be an empty sub section, and only shows stuff when u click it

My bad ... Horizons broadened !

Click to expand...

Cool!

out of interest, do you a 64-bit processor?

Yes I do have a 64bit processor but my copy of Ubuntu is 32bit.

marknewlyn said:

Hi All

I can't get my Cell C dongle to register.

Plugged in usb-devices gives me this snippet:

T: Bus=02 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#= 9 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D: Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=19d2 ProdID=1224 Rev=00.00
S: Manufacturer=ZTE,Incorporated
S: Product=ZTE WCDMA Technologies MSM
S: SerialNumber=MF1900ZTED010000
C: #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=500mA
I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage

Which, I guess, means that usb-modeswitch isn't working - but it is installed.

Does anyone know how to get this to work?

uname -a gives:

2.6.36-020636-generic #201010210905 SMP Thu Oct 21 10:17:53 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux

dmesg gave:
[ 2468.212113] usb 2-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 9
[ 2468.348724] scsi12 : usb-storage 2-1:1.0
[ 2469.349783] scsi 12:0:0:0: CD-ROM ZTE USB SCSI CD-ROM 2.31 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 2469.356220] sr1: scsi-1 drive
[ 2469.356521] sr 12:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr1
[ 2469.356708] sr 12:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 5
[ 2486.781986] ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 1
[ 2486.783461] ISOFS: changing to secondary root

I think that should tell any guru what's wrong

Nothing shows up in the network manager at all.

Lots of forum posts imply it should just work on 10.10 so any pointers would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks

Mark

Click to expand...

Hi,

Just got one of those too. Are you familiar with usb_modeswitch?

Then i can give you instructions for that. In short, it switches by ejecting the fake cdrom drive and the settings for switching are the same as for vodafone k380* modems.

Mmm... I just right click on the C icon on the desktop, eject and the modem then tries to connect to the network.

Oh before I forget the Network manager gets the connection wrong clear the Username and Password boxes.

[...then tries to connect to the network.] Yes I am one of the people that cannot use the new CellC whoosh. Connection drops, no connections and a browser speed of less than 9.6 kbps Updated Ubuntu the other night 50 Meg in 8 hours (22:00 - 06:00)

I've just done this on a new 10.10 Ubuntu installation. Start a terminal and then type in:

gksudo gedit /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/19d2\:1224 <enter>

Give password in pop-up, then go to the resulting gedit window and paste the following into it (any lines that look like they wrap or have spaces, don't):

########################################################
# ZTE MF190

DefaultVendor= 0x19d2
DefaultProduct=0x1224

TargetVendor= 0x19d2
TargetProduct= 0x0082

MessageContent="5553424312345678000000000000061e000000000000000000000000000000"
MessageContent2="5553424312345679000000000000061b000000020000000000000000000000"
MessageContent3="55534243123456702000000080000c85010101180101010101000000000000"

NeedResponse=1

CheckSuccess=20

Click to expand...

Click on the "save" button and let it do its thing. Then, back to the terminal and type in:

gksudo gedit /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules <enter>

Password, blah blah. In the resulting gedit window, scroll down until you find the entry for the ZTE MF110. After that (it's just for neatness, really), paste the following lines (those that look like they wrap, don't. Spaces, yes.):

# ZTE MF190
ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1224", RUN+="usb_modeswitch '%b/%k'"

Click to expand...

...or you can just copy one of the previous MF110 entries and just change the second number to 1224 - might be neater than cut/paste.

I don't know for certain if a reboot is needed or not. I did one (a reboot) on this netbook that I made the above changes on and the modeswitch worked automagically when I plugged the stokkie in afterwards. Link to Cell-C worked just fine, got 58% signal HSPA, but I always have lousy signal anyway.

I believe that changes to the usb-modeswitch database will include support for the MF190 sometime in the future but, for now, this should work. The above is based on postings made to the usb-modeswitch forum by people that did all the hard work. All credit to them.

*Trybble

similar related: Cell-C MF668 21Mbps USB speed stick in Ubuntu 11.04

Problem: My MF668 was not getting to the modem portion of the device, it loaded the "CD-ROM" portion, and stopped. Network manager could not see the Cell-C modem.
Solution: In Unity on the bottom left I right-clicked on it's CD-Rom icon, and set "eject" then it loaded the 4Gig micro-SD card, so I ejected that as well, then it loaded the modem portion.

I then created a network manager, broadband profile for Cell-C mobile and it could then auto-detect the modem and pre-populate the device for me (it sees it as ZTE something and puts it in the drop-down.)

But I didn't want to have to eject 2 devices each time I wanted to use the modem. I want the modem to load by default, so this is how I did it:

I just got my speed stick to register and autoload by-passing the CD-Rom and memory stick portions of the device, going directly to the modem. used this ref to guide me:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/614071

but I took the lazy route ...

step 1:
lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 19d2:0082 ONDA Communication S.p.A.

step 2:
backup and edit this file:
/usr/share/hal/fdi/information/10freedesktop/10-modem.fdi
ctrl+f look for the MF632 block (scroll down to about 2/3 of the file), copy-paste and edit to new values from your lsusb output.

<!-- ONDA MF668 HSDPA USB dongle -->
<match key="@info.parent:usb.product_id" int="0x0082">
<match key="@info.parent:usb.interface.number" int="2">
<append key="modem.command_sets" type="strlist">GSM-07.07</append>
<append key="modem.command_sets" type="strlist">GSM-07.05</append>
</match>
</match>

step 3:
save and reboot.

on log-in, Cell-C modem auto-connected, and Firefox restored too, so I went straight to speedtest.net and got this result:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1285827365.png

beginner - how to get cellc to work - please assist

Hi,
If I go to the available networks icon, vodacom and cellc displays. if i click on cell c it asks for a password?
i never got a password from cell c. on windows it connects without a password.
any help will be highly appreciated!
regards.