Editing wvdial

English Network/Internet
1

Hi,
Before I start with my query, I would just like to say that OpenSuse 11.1 is really a cool distro. Thanks to all those behind this release. I hope this becomes my permanent distro as I use it more and more.

Now coming to my problem, I am trying to setup my Nokia 5700 as a USB modem in OpenSuse 11.1. I am following the wvdial method.

As I enter;

kwrite /etc/wvdial.conf

The kwrite doesn’t openup & I am unable to edit the wvdial.conf. :frowning:

Additional Information :

1)Phone is properly detected.
2)I am doing the above with root privileges.
3)I am running Opensuse 11.1 RC1 KDE

2

my reply to this is get rid of rc1 and download the full version since it just came out on the 18th of this month and maybe give what your doing a try again

3

Works for me, I typed su into the terminal, entered the root password and then pasted your command into the terminal.

Perhaps the location of wvdial has changed or some other unforeseen thing. Have you tried opening up your text editor of choice with superuser privileges (I use Kate) and then manually navigating to the wvdial.conf file from your text editor?

That’s what I would try.

4

Ohh sorry, I am using the same version which was released on 18th of this month. I thought it was RC1.

The location of the wvdial isn’t changed. I better give kate a try.
Will let you know soon.

5

Kate is not working.

When I issue the kwrite /etc/wvdial.conf, I get a blinking cursor but nothing happens after that. :frowning:

Also the title of the terminal window changes to kwrite after executing the above command.

Help me out guys !!!

6

Sounds like your wvdial.conf file is empty. Either that or it doesn’t exist. Why not open kwrite or kate, then click on Open (or File > Open) and navigate to /etc? If you can find wvdial.conf in that directory, then double click to open it. If not, then it doesn’t exist and you’ll have to create it.

7

Are you sure wvdial is installed? It does not come pre-installed, you have to use YAST to install it. There are several dependencies, but YAST should tell you what they are.

Also, make sure you enable smpppd in YAST / System / Run Level Services, otherwise you’ll get errors when you try to start up your dial up connection.

8

I checked that before posting here itself. Wvdial is present in the /etc directory and contains the default strings. I am not able to save it as it says you need to be root. Is it possible to login as a root in the GUI mode?

9

Yes, go to terminal, type su (this stands for “super user”) then enter root password, then type kate. From there you can navigate to the wvdial.conf file, edit it and save it.

To start wvdial, you need to be logged in as su. Once you are logged in type wvdial, and the program will attempt to start, and tell you what’s going on in the terminal. HTH!

10

I downloaded kwrite from softpedia, the package name was kdebase. It was in a tar.bz2 format. I extracted it & then ran a ./configure command.

Now how to proceed with installing kwrite? The extracted directory contains several folders.

11

BUMP… Help me guys, I am still stucked at the same point :frowning:

12

Why can’t you use Kate to edit the file? Are you using a Live CD version of OpenSuse or something?

Tell me what happens when you do the following, or I can’t help you:

Go to terminal, type su (this stands for “super user”) then enter root password, then type kate. From there you can navigate to the wvdial.conf file, edit it and save it.

To start wvdial, you need to be logged in as su (your username will be shown in red type if you are logged in as super user). Once you are logged in type wvdial, and the program will attempt to start, and tell you what’s going on in the terminal. HTH!

13

I get this;

gaurav@linux-93q1:~> su
Password:
linux-93q1:/home/gaurav # kate
bash: kate: command not found
linux-93q1:/home/gaurav # wvdial
→ 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 +FCLASS=0
ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
OK
→ Modem initialized.
→ Idle Seconds = 300, disabling automatic reconnect.
→ Configuration does not specify a valid login name.

14

The kate editor is part of kdebase package, so this may not be installed if not using KDE. However, you could try another CLI editor like vi, nano, or pico.

If not installed, do (as root)

zypper in pico (or vi or nano)

Then you can edit with

pico /etc/wvdial.conf

Alternatively, you can use the ‘wvdialconf’ utility to directly create the required file. (The modem device must exist for this to work though).

15

Where can I get wvdial utility in OpenSuse 11.1? I have installed the KDE 4.1 edition.

16

dean@linux:~> rpm -qf /usr/bin/wvdial
wvdial-1.60-31.1

Check if installed with:

rpm -qa |grep wvdial

Try using zypper to install if required:

zypper in wvdial

17

I got a similar output :

wvdial-1.60-31.1

Now how to proceed?

18

I think you need to start over. Open a terminal (console) and do

cat /etc/wvdial.conf

Post output so we can see (if it exists) what this file contains. You can edit this config file directly, but as I have already outlined, there is a utility called wvdialconf, that can be used to configure a serial modem device if it is connected and detected. So, try that first. Just type

su (to become root)
wvdialconf

at command prompt, and follow the prompts given. See how that goes…

19

use simple editor called ‘vi’.
but, difficult for beginers.

20

Hi guys, I have tried various methods of doing this but the simplest is:: just log in as “root” at the time of booting and edit the file…That’s all!