Linux Mint not recognising 3G data card

[Inkit]

Hi, I downloaded Linux Mint 9 Isadore only a couple of days back, and installed it on my system. I now have a dual boot system with XP. My BSNL 3G data card (Terracom device, version LW272 V1.0) works fine in XP, but I am unable to connect to the net on Linux. I would be very grateful if anyone could help me out here. I read what Waterhead had written and am pasting the result of running his script. Hope this helps.
Regards


============ lspci ============
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface [8086:2570] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2572] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915
00:06.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P Processor to I/O Memory Interface [8086:2576] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:24d2] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:24d4] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:24d7] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:24de] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:24dd] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge [8086:244e] (rev c2)
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:24d0] (rev 02)
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt, intel-rng
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller [8086:24d1] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller [8086:24d3] (rev 02)
Kernel modules: i2c-i801
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller [8086:24d5] (rev 02)
Kernel driver in use: Intel ICH
Kernel modules: snd-intel8x0
01:09.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ [10ec:8139] (rev 10)
Kernel driver in use: 8139too
Kernel modules: 8139too, 8139cp

============ lsusb ============
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 19d2:2000 ONDA Communication S.p.A. ZTE MF627/MF628/MF628+ HSDPA
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

============ lsmod ============
Module Size Used by
usb_storage 39425 0
binfmt_misc 6587 1
dm_crypt 11331 0
snd_intel8x0 25588 2
snd_ac97_codec 100646 1 snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus 1002 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss 35308 0
snd_mixer_oss 13746 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 70662 3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 1338 0
snd_seq_oss 26726 0
snd_seq_midi 4557 0
snd_rawmidi 19056 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 6003 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 47263 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_timer 19098 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 5700 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
snd 54148 14 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_ oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_ti mer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 6620 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 7076 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
shpchp 28820 0
ppdev 5259 0
psmouse 63245 0
lp 7028 0
parport_pc 25962 1
serio_raw 3978 0
parport 32635 3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc
dm_raid45 81647 0
xor 15028 1 dm_raid45
fbcon 35102 71
tileblit 2031 1 fbcon
font 7557 1 fbcon
bitblit 4707 1 fbcon
softcursor 1189 1 bitblit
vga16fb 11385 0
vgastate 8961 1 vga16fb
i915 282354 3
drm_kms_helper 29297 1 i915
drm 162471 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
8139too 18545 0
i2c_algo_bit 5028 1 i915
8139cp 16186 0
video 17375 1 i915
mii 4381 2 8139too,8139cp
floppy 53016 0
intel_agp 24177 2 i915
output 1871 1 video
agpgart 31724 2 drm,intel_agp

============ dmesg-firmware ============

============ kernel version ============
2.6.32-21-generic

============ ifconfig ============
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:16:ec:c2:37:01
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:21 Base address:0xa000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:132 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:132 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:9424 (9.4 KB) TX bytes:9424 (9.4 KB)


============ iwconfig ============

[waterhead]

Is your modem one of those that also has on-board USB storage? If so, your system may only recognize it as a USB storage device. There is an application that will switch it so that it will be recognized as a modem. Install this:

sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch

You then must run the application, to switch it. I have tried it once, on my sister's Cricket modem, and it does work. I just don't remember the specifics! You can read more on the subject at the developers web site and forum:

Draisberghof - Software - USB_ModeSwitch
USB_ModeSwitch ~ View topic - ZTE MF627

Once you switch it, the modules may load for it. Otherwise you may need to manually load the needed driver modules.

[Inkit]

Hi Waterhead, thanks for the update. I have already installed the modeswitch and the modeswitch_data files, but my computer still does not recognise the data card. When I plug in the device, after about a minute or so I get an error pop-up that says: Unable to mount the device
DBus error org.gtk.Private.RemoteVolumeMonitor.NotFound: The given volume was not found.
I also tried googling "Bus 001 Device 002: ID 19d2:2000 ONDA Communication S.p.A. ZTE MF627/MF628/MF628+ HSDPA" which is what displays for the lsusb command and got a lot of information, but since I am less than a beginner in Linux I am finding it difficult to follow.
I would be really grateful if you could help me out here.

Thanks,
Rex Fernando

[IReallyWantToUseLinux]

I just installed Linux Mint on an old laptop. I'm using a D-Link pcmcia wireless card. I simply downloaded the Windows driver from the manufacturer and selected it in "Control Center/Windows Wireless Drivers." It works perfectly. I don't know if this will solve your problem, but it may be worth a try. Best of luck.

[waterhead]

Inkit: You have to actually run the modeswitch application, so that it will "flip" the device. Until then it will only see it as a USB storage device. Once it is flipped, you can get the specific info of the modem.

I only did this once, with someone else's card. So I am not very knowledgeable on this either. That is why I provided links to sites that explain things more deeply.

[waterhead]

Try manually giving usb-modeswitch the ID of your card:

sudo usb_modeswitch -v 19d2 -p 2000

Also, if you would have read through the links that I provided, you would have read this:

...Another notorious candidate is again 19d2:2000. It may be switched O.K. by an existing rule, but there is no driver loading if your model is new and its ID is not yet added to the "option" module.
Disable the rule running "eject" and the ID will be handled by usb_modeswitch.

[Inkit]

Thanks for the update Waterhead and IreallywanttouseLinux, will try it and let you know what happens.

[waterhead]

You can't use windows 3G drivers in Linux. That only works for wireless WLAN drivers.

[Inkit]

You may be right there waterhead, because I installed the .inf files and when I plug in the device, the installed drivers say "Hardware present: yes" but there is no connection yet. I also tried your code for manually giving the modeswitch the ID and got this response

Looking for default devices ...
No default device found. Is it connected? Bye.

I do not know how to disable the rule running eject. If you could direct me I will follow your instructions.

Another thing, I looked up the user manual for the data card and this is what it said:
2.3 LW272 Installation Procedure for Linux (Ubuntu)

The software is application software for Linux and it is a manager for the mobile device. It will allow you to establish a connection to the Internet using 2G/3G cards, and it will also allow sending and receiving short messages from your computer.
In order to use your 2G/3G device, you should run a fairly recent version of the Linux kernel. The application has been tested on Linux 2.6.20 and newer. If you have an older version installed, we would recommend updating it before going on.
The software currently runs under uBuntu8.04, uBuntu8.10, uBuntu9.04. And we can not guarantee for other Linux version.

Installation:
Make sure you are in root privilege.
Copy "PCL_COMNLG" to Desktop or other path and extract it;
Double install.sh in the directory to install the software;

Relative tools:
The related libs with qt3: libqt3-mt_3.3.8,libaudio2. the installation order of the qt3 related software is as following:
a. libaudio2;
b. libqt3-mt;
The related software with wvdial: ppp2.4.4 or newer, pppd2.4.4 or newer, wvdial or newer. The installation order of the wvdial related
Software is as following:
a. libxplc;
b. libwvstreams;
c. libwvstreams;
d. libuniconf;
e. wvdial

Unfortunately I am unable to find the "PCL_COMNLG" file on windows and on linux I keep getting the error pop up that says unable to mount the device.

I hope this helps. Sorry if I seem to be a dumbass in Linux, but I am really ignorant and installed linux with the purpose of learning to use it.

[waterhead]

You need to determine exactly what your system is doing, when it "sees" your device. Before you plug it in, open a terminal window and run this command:

sudo tail -f /var/log/messages

Then plug the device in. This should give you an idea what is going on. Post the output if you want.