Setting up the MODEM ZTE MF636 in openSUSE 11.1

**Easgs** · 09-Jul-2009, 14:14

MODEM ZTE MF636 in openSUSE 11.1 32 bit Step by step guide

Step 1

Install the packages usb_modeswitch and wvdial, these are included in the installation media so you don’t need internet to install them

Step 2

Modify the file /etc/wvdial.conf so it looks like the following.

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB2
Baud = 460800
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2
Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet.movistar.ni"
Area Code =
Phone = *99#
Username = movistarni
Password = movistarni
Ask Password = 0
Dial Command = ATDT
Stupid Mode = 1
Compuserve = 0
Force Address =
Idle Seconds = 300
DialMessage1 =
DialMessage2 =
ISDN = 0
Auto DNS = 1

Step 3

Modify the file /etc/usb_modeswitch.conf

Comment all except the following lines, I added the ZTE MF636 line, to make comments place a # or ; character at the beginning of the line.

########################################################
ZTE MF628+ (tested version from Telia / Sweden)
#
ZTE MF636
# Contributor: Joakim Wennergren

DefaultVendor= 0x19d2
DefaultProduct= 0x2000

TargetVendor= 0x19d2
TargetProduct= 0x0031

MessageEndpoint=0x01
MessageContent="55534243123456782000000080000c85010101180101010101000000000000"

########################################################

Step 3

When I tried to connect the first time I received this error

–> primary DNS address 200.39.10.1
–> pppd: (�[06][08]
–> secondary DNS address 200.36.160.237
–> pppd: (�[06][08]
–> Script /etc/ppp/ip-up run successful
–> Default route Ok.
--> warning, no nameserver found `/etc/resolv.conf`
--> Nameserver (DNS) failure, the connection may not work.
--> Connected... Press Ctrl-C to disconnect
--> pppd: (�[06][08]

So I had to add the DNS in YAST – Network Device – Network Setup – Host/DNS – Name Server 1 – 200.39.10.1- accept

You can find this address even I you don’t know it, but I will send the error showed above, but this give us the chance to find out the DNS IP address, This Number is different for each provider

Step 4

If the MODEM is prepaid, take out the SIM from the MODEM y insert it into a cell phone, reload and activate the service, take out the chip from the cell phone insert it into the MODEM, the insert the MODEM into an available USB port

Step 5 Setting up the MODEM

Step 5.1

Execute the command

eduardo@suse-blue:~> lsusb

This is the output

Bus 002 Device 004: ID 19d2:2000 ONDA Communication S.p.A.
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:0111 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Card Reader
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0458:003a KYE Systems Corp. (Mouse Systems)
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Where the MODEM is the part that says “Bus 002 Device 004: ID 19d2:2000 ONDA Communication S.p.A.” but this tell us that it is not working as a MODEM, this parameter is to make sure that the device is being recognized as a CDROM

Paso 5.2

Execute the following as root

suse-blue:/home/eduardo # usb_modeswitch

You will see something like this.

* usb_modeswitch: tool for controlling "flip flop" mode USB devices
* Version 0.9.5 (C) Josua Dietze 2008
* Works with libusb 0.1.12 and probably other versions

Looking for target devices
No target device found
Looking for default devices
Found default devices (1)
Prepare switching, accessing latest device
Looking for active default driver to detach it
No driver found. Device probably not initialized. Trying to continue ...
Setting up communication with device
Trying to send the message
OK, message successfully sent.
-> See /proc/bus/usb/devices (or call lsusb) for changes. Bye

Step 5.3

Now execute

modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0x0031

modprobe is a Linux program written by Rusty Russell used to add/remove a module to/from the Linux kernel (to add/remove a loadable kernel module).

Source

modprobe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Step 5.4

We wait a few seconds and execute

suse-blue:/home/eduardo # ls /dev/ttyUSB*

You will see something like this.

/dev/ttyUSB0 /dev/ttyUSB1 /dev/ttyUSB2

This indicates that the MODEM is being recognized as such, this command is to verify that everything is working as it should be.

Step 5.5

Now execute

suse-blue:/home/eduardo # wvdial

You will see this

--> WvDial: Internet dialer version 1.60
--> Cannot get information for serial port.
--> Initializing modem.
--> Sending: ATZ
ATZ
OK
--> Sending: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2
ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2
OK
--> Sending: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet.movistar.ni"
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet.movistar.ni"
OK
--> Modem initialized.
--> Idle Seconds = 300, disabling automatic reconnect.
--> Sending: ATDT*99#
--> Waiting for carrier.
ATDT*99#
CONNECT
--> Carrier detected. Starting PPP immediately.
--> Starting pppd at Thu Jul 9 06:42:17 2009
--> Pid of pppd: 4834
--> Using interface ppp0
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> local IP address 10.57.120.183
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> remote IP address 10.64.64.64
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> primary DNS address 200.39.10.1
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> secondary DNS address 200.36.160.237
--> pppd: (�[06][08]
--> Script /etc/ppp/ip-up run successful
--> Default route Ok.
--> Nameserver (DNS) Ok.
--> Connected... Press Ctrl-C to disconnect
--> pppd: (�[06][08]

Now open FIREFOX and test the connection

Step 5.6

To close the session press ctrl-c with the session window open, this is the windows that shows the output of the wvdial command, you will see the following

^CCaught signal 2: Attempting to exit gracefully...
- -> Terminating on signal 15
- -> pppd: (�[06][08]
- -> Connect time 18.1 minutes.
- -> pppd: (�[06][08]
- -> pppd: (�[06][08]
- -> pppd: (�[06][08]
- -> Disconnecting at Thu Jul 9 07:24:54 2009

IMPORTANT

Once done this and with the conf files as they must be, the procedure is the following every time we want to connect to the internet, the other procedures are not needed anymore because the are only initial setup.

Reload and activate the SIM from a cell phone (In case of prepaid services)

Execute the following commands with a 5 or 10 seconds interval between the command modprobe and the command wvdial to le the system load the MODEM, The all process takes about one minute because Linux remember the last commands so all you have to do is press the up arrow and down arrow key to see the commands, but you must respect the order

eduardo@suse-blue:~> lsusb

As superuser execute

suse-blue:/home/eduardo # usb_modeswitch
suse-blue:/home/eduardo # modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0x0031
suse-blue:/home/eduardo # ls /dev/ttyUSB*
suse-blue:/home/eduardo # wvdial

To disconnect from the Internet press ctlr-c with the connection Window open.

Notes:

You must do this every time you want to connect to the Internet, the commands “lsusb” and ls /dev/ttyUSB* aren`t necessary, they are to make sure everything is going fine, this method has the advantage that the MODEM is untouched and you can use it in a Windows machine without having to input extra commands, this configuration is for openSUSE 11.1 32 bit with the MODEM ZTE MF636 but it could work the other linux distros as well and with the MODEM ZTE MF626 with minimal changes, the Username = movistarni the Password = movistarni and the APN which is the part that says "internet.movistar.ni" in the wvdial.conf file are different for each ISP and country.

http://easgs.wordpress.com/2009/07/0...definite-guide

**deano_ferrari** · 09-Jul-2009, 15:56

That manual step of loading the usbserial driver bound to your modem device can be automated via a simple udev rule of this type:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="product", SYSFS{idVendor}=="vendor", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe usbserial vendor=0xproduct product=0xvendor"

So for your hardware (vendor=0x19d2 product=0x0031), you could create a file called /etc/udev/rules.d/95-ZTE-MF636.rules with this line contained:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="0031", SYSFS{idVendor}=="19d2", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0x0031"

Now when this device is plugged in, the hardware will be detected and this rule will be invoked.

**Easgs** · 09-Jul-2009, 16:57

After following the steps explaned above and have created the udev rule explained by deano_ferrari you basicaly only have to run as superuser:

suse-blue:/home/eduardo # usb_modeswitch

wait a few seconds 5 or 10 and execute

suse-blue:/home/eduardo # wvdial

but it is always good to check that the device is being recognized by executing the commands

eduardo@suse-blue:~> lsusb

and

suse-blue:/home/eduardo # ls /dev/ttyUSB*

**ofvergara** · 10-Jul-2009, 14:14

excellent post with important information.
however, �how do i use it in SLED10sp2?

first some background:

right now i have installed opensuse 10.3 (because i re-formatted my working sled10sp2 installation to setup sled11; but didn't like it because of pulse-audio & LILO and then went for 10.3).
i needed to make the move because sp2 wouldn't detect a usb cell modem i acquired (10.3 & 11 detect it correctly and connect to the web with usb_modeSwitch & wvdial; i investigated further on the topic and sp2 doesn't handle ttyUSB0 [which is needed by the usb modem]), instead sp2 uses ttyACM* for usb devices and with this it was impossible to even initialize the modem or i couldn't find how to activate it.

but i'd like to go back to SLED10sp2 due to its stability.

� is there a way to setup the usb modem using /dev/ttyACM* ?
sled10sp2 doesn't supply /dev/ttyUSB*.

if anybody has achieved this in sp2 with a usb-modem and connected to the web, please leave a message right away.

thanks!
<OF>

**amaj1407** · 26-Sep-2009, 10:24

Thank you guys I used it with my zte 627 and it works great but it always hangs the system and can't do any thing but restart the computer. So, what can I do to solve the issue. The two last lines of /var/log/messages always says

Code:

Sep 26 18:08:20 linux-6wu7 kernel: option1 ttyUSB0: GSM modem (1-port) converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
Sep 26 18:08:20 linux-6wu7 kernel: option 1-1:1.0: device disconnected

Please please guide to solve this problem.

**deano_ferrari** · 26-Sep-2009, 15:17

Thank you guys I used it with my zte 627 and it works great but it always hangs the system and can't do any thing but restart the computer.

I'm not sure what the cause of your problem is here, (although its probably a kernel related issue). Ubuntu seems to have more active development and support for these devices. Searching through a few Ubuntu-based threads revealed this discussion. In particular, post#45 mentions some strange behaviour with the way these devices interact. It might be worth starting your own thread with descriptive title including 'ZTE 627', to catch the attention of others who may be familiar with this device.

**KellyJones0** · 28-Dec-2009, 04:51

For those using the ZTE MF636 modem on openSUSE 11.2, here's a small tip. You will probably get the following message after setting up the modem, and running wvdial:

�> warning, no nameserver found `/etc/resolv.conf`
�> Nameserver (DNS) failure, the connection may not work.
�> Connected� Press Ctrl-C to disconnect

This won't happen in openSUSE 11.0. The reason for this appears to be that the primary DNS address is automatically read in openSUSE 11.0, but not in 11.1 or 11.2. The solution for 11.1 is to manually enter the primary DNS address in YaST's Network Devices/Network Setup/Host-DNS field for the Name Server. But there's an extra step before doing that, in openSUSE 11.2, namely, check the "traditional method" box, rather than using the automated Network Manager option (default setting).

This appears to be a problem in openSUSE 11.2 that ought to be automated. I'm not sure how to do that, so I'm just reporting it.