Monday, January 18, 2010

Connect To PTCL EVDO(Evo) from Ubuntu Linux

PTCL Evo connection comes with ZTE AC2726 USB modem. Its really easy to use it on Windows and Mac as there drivers are provided in the modem's memory but to use it on Linux is a bit tricky. Recently I succeeded in installing and configuring it on Ubuntu 9.10 and below are the steps which worked for me.
When you attach the modem to your linux machine it gets detected as a usb storage device and not as a usb modem. To use it as usb modem we need to convert it from usb-storage device to usbserial device in ubuntu. To do this I used -modeswitch utility which can be installed using following command:
sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch
Unplug the modem and plug it back in. Use lsusb command to see list of usb devices attached to your system. You should see a line similar to
Bus xxx Device xxx: ID 19d2:fff1
Here 19d2 is vendor id for ZTE and fff1 is the device id for AC2726. If you dont see this line or see one with device id fff5 then you will need to restart your system. Now issue following command to load proper driver module in kernel:
sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0xfff1
And thats it. Your modem is ready to be used. You will now need a dialer app to dial and establish the connection. I used gnome-ppp as it has the ability to dock. To install gnome-ppp issue following command:
sudo apt-get install gnome-ppp
You can now run gnome-ppp. You will need to run it as root. After it starts click on setup. On setup window click Detect so that it can detect your usb modem. Set type to be USB MODEM and speed to be 460800. Set phone line to Tone and volume to off. Now go to options tab and check the following:

  • Dock in notification area
  • Auto reconnect
  • Ignore terminal strings..
Now click close. You will be taken back to smaller window. Enter vwireless@ptcl.com as user name and ptcl as password. Enter #777 as phone number and click connect. and you will get connected to ptcl evo service.

UPDATE: if you are using Ubuntu 10.04 or later you can use a simpler method mentioned here

27 comments:

zudha said...

Hi, i have ac2726 running on linux too, but i have problem to reconnect modem after disconnect. It's must replug in to work again. Do u have any similiar problem too?

Shahzad said...

That's good, kindly give some idea to connect HUAWEI Fixed Wireless Terminal ETS-2558 in UBUNTU 9.10, in another post some one did so but for Fedora 9. Link http://sbjaved.blogspot.com/2008/06/huawei-ets-2558-setup-guide-for-linux.html

According to writer "The modem is detected but the Serial-to-USB Cable (which actually is a TIUSB3410 Multi-point Adapter) couldn't be configured"

using (dmesg -c) command I got the following output, Writer said search the following lines in output

ti_usb_3410_5052 1-1:1.0: TI USB 3410 1 port adapter converter detected

ti_usb_3410_5052: probe of 1-1:1.0 failed with error -5

I got output with a little bit difference

ti_usb_3410_5052 2-2:2.0: TI USB 3410 1 port adapter converter detected

ti_usb_3410_5052: probe of 2-2:2.0 failed with error -5

ti_usb_3410_5052 2-2:2.0: TI USB 3410 1 port adapter converter detected
usb 2-2: TI USB 3410 1 port adapter converter now attached to ttyUSB0

do something or at least tell me how to edit the above output.

Thanks & Regards
Shahzad

Unknown said...

i tried the above procedure but every time i enter any command ubuntu tries to connect to remote server to download specific software. i dont have any other internet source than PTCL EVDO. how can i install those software without being connected to internet.

Shahzad said...

why don't u try the driver available at ptcl's official site link: http://ptcl.com.pk/contentb.php?NID=199#drivers
look in for "Download EVDO USB Huawei Drivers (FOR LINUX)"

Take care
Shahzad

Fawad said...

Awesome! thanks :-)

Adnan said...

@Shahzad
Drivers on PTCL web site are for huawei and not ZTE. If u got Huawei modem from PTCL then u can use them but for ZTE you have to do this.

Shahid Ali Khan said...

I did the steps as you described but when I tried to detect the modem using gnome-ppp, it cannot detect the modem and the default device /dev/modem does not work. How do I fix it?

Adnan said...

@shakwave
if you did the steps mentioned above then your modem will be detected as /dev/ttyUSBXX. If you dont have any other USB serial device then it will be /dev/ttyUSB0. If your modem is not detected by gnome-ppp then set modem manually to /dev/ttyUSB0 and set the type to analog modem and now try connecting. If it it still doesnt connect then unplug and replug your modem and paste the output of dmesg command here.

Adnan said...

@vu_askari
Are u running gnome-ppp using sudo i.e "sudo gnome-appp". gnome-ppp uses pppd to connect and pppd requires root permisions to run.
Other thing is that huawei drivers are available from ptcl website (http://www.ptcl.com.pk/images/files/uploads/file/linux%20SW.zip) and you can just install them to use your device.

Unknown said...

I am using RHEL5.5, i am using AC2726. It detect like that

Bus 003 Device 017: ID 19d2:fff5 ONDA Communication S.p.A.
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 15d9:0a37 Trust International B.V. Mouse
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

But i did not create entry in /dev/ttyUSB*

Though i register with modprobe as mention but still it did not work.
Please guide

Adnan said...

@RHCE
did u install usb-modeswitch?
your device is still detected as storage and not as modem. So either you havent installed usb_modeswitch or you dont have entry for your device in usb_modeswitch configuration.
if you have installed usb_modeswitch, can u plz confirm that you have "/etc/usb_modeswitch.d/19d2:fff5" file

Unknown said...

Just want to say thank you for the post. :)

Unknown said...

whatever i do, my device id is 19d2:ffff
, complete line

Bus 006 Device 005: ID 19d2:ffff ONDA Communication S.p.A.

i m using ubuntu 10 x64, can you please suggest, something

also, evo nitro will work on this or not??

hhsadiq said...

Worked like a charm. Thanx bro

Unknown said...

Assalamo Alaikum

It was the simplest method to hook up a usb wimax modem yet I could find on internet. Thanks for that.

I have managed to connect worldcall usb to connect on ubuntu 10.04 with your method. After it connects, firefox does not show anything, does not open any page. I have tried even sudo firefox, but still no luck.

Any help will be soooooo much appreciated.

Thanks again adnan, great work.

Unknown said...

Hi,

Have anyone tried connecting evo directly with nokia n900? Can someone please share how to make evo work on maemo 5 platform?
Thanks in advance.

Unknown said...

this works fine but is anyone able to call their service number 1015 for recharging etc?

huma said...

hay
i am new to ubuntu, i have installed ubunutu 10.10, i have vptcl wireless huawei est2552 set, i am unable to conncet to internet using this set, plz help me, n iam using 64 bit dell inspron,

When i attach the cable it gets detected as a usb storage device and not as a usb modem i used this command to covert it,as mentioned here

sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch

it gives the following output
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
usb-modeswitch is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 158 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue

thn i Unplug the modem and plug it back in. Use lsusb command to see usb modem it gives folloowing output
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 12d1:1010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 012: ID 413c:8162 Dell Computer Corp.
Bus 001 Device 011: ID 413c:8161 Dell Computer Corp.
Bus 001 Device 010: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp. BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046 Bluetooth)
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0bda:0158 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. USB 2.0 multicard reader
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0c45:641d Microdia
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
i donot konw what to do further, and am i going in a correct way, plzzzzz help me in connecting net in ubuntu10.10

huma said...

hay
i am new to ubuntu, i have installed ubunutu 10.10, i have vptcl wireless huawei est2552 set, i am unable to conncet to internet using this set, plz help me, n iam using 64 bit dell inspron,

When i attach the cable it gets detected as a usb storage device and not as a usb modem i used this command to covert it,as mentioned here

sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch

it gives the following output
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
usb-modeswitch is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 158 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue

thn i Unplug the modem and plug it back in. Use lsusb command to see usb modem it gives folloowing output
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 12d1:1010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 012: ID 413c:8162 Dell Computer Corp.
Bus 001 Device 011: ID 413c:8161 Dell Computer Corp.
Bus 001 Device 010: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp. BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046 Bluetooth)
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0bda:0158 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. USB 2.0 multicard reader
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0c45:641d Microdia
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
i donot konw what to do further, and am i going in a correct way, plzzzzz help me in connecting net in ubuntu10.10

Adnan said...

You dont need these steps for Huawei devices as PTCL website has drivers for Huawei Modems. You can find them at http://www.ptcl.com.pk/images/files/uploads/file/linux%20SW.zip

Unknown said...

i'm on OpenSUSE10.3 how do i configure my ptcl evo on it?
the first command ypu mentioned doesn't work from me it doesn't install any modeswitch utility..

Adnan said...

OpenSUSE doesnt have apt tool. It have another tool called yast but I have no experience with SUSE linux

MuhammadJunaidDar said...

Salam,

I have huawei device and m trying to install it on ubuntu 10. Downloaded the setup from ptcl web site and executed the install file from terminal... all went fine and the mobilepartner app also started .. first wasn't showing signals and profile.. i created new and it gives all settings #777 n else automatically.. but now when i dial it just shows the 'connecting' dialog.

ANY HELP PLZ

Junaid

Adnan said...

@junaid
I dont have huawei device so I dont have any idea of what the problem is. I will try to get my hands on one and configure it in Ubuntu.

Unknown said...

Incase anyone wants to use (the ZTE one) for ubuntu (10.04), I installed the usb modeswitches package (as indicated by the author) and then went to Preferences -> Network Connections -> Mobile Broadband. It had the ZTE device showing up already in the drop down, just select it move next, select Pakistan move next and then in the next screen manually enter ptcl as the server provider name. Then you'll be prompted for the standard username and password. Save it and bingo. From the top network icon, just select your connection and it should connect directly.

Sir Maverick said...

Hi all,

My ZTE EVO dongle remains with the same status and show itself as a sub-storage device:

lsusb output:
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 19d2:fff5


pl advice!

Sir Maverick said...

An early response will be appreciated!