Edge, 3g And Linux

[BugJackBaron]

So I hear good things about edge and 3G - an inquiry at the Mac center found out Mac can

connect and so can windows(of course) How about Linux? The people at the IT building seem

to think "no" but I'm not so sure.

Any success stories?

[Richard-BKK]

No problems connecting to anything, it is similar as connecting with a Mac. You need to be a bit more careful then buying MS Windows stuff, but then how many people have after upgrading to Vista useless Wireless USB devices.

I belief even that one of the people in this Linux topic posted a few days back a complete how-to connect manual....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=177116

It is officially for a CDMA USB device, but the working is not much different....

Edited April 24, 2008 by Richard-BKK

[Gary A]

I guess I'm stupid. I have Ubuntu 7.1 on a separate hard drive. I have been trying to get Ubuntu to work with GPRS EDGE for a month. I have followed directions from here on the board and have put in MANY lines of code that I got from the Internet. It's been a pain in the ass and it still won't recognize my Nokia modem through the cable or Bluetooth. I question if it is worth it. When I can plug in a device and Linux recognizes it, then and only then will Linux be ready for prime time. If not for being bullheaded, I would have given up on Linux long ago.

[dave_boo]

Using a Series 60 phone and Linux is super easy to setup for Edge/GPRS. In fact there's less things to install; and if you bring a phone from overseas, less configuring. I did set up a N70(?) on a Windows machine where the phone was bought in Thailand, and it actually had the AIS settings already in the Nokia program.

[Gary A]

Using a Series 60 phone and Linux is super easy to setup for Edge/GPRS. In fact there's less things to install; and if you bring a phone from overseas, less configuring. I did set up a N70(?) on a Windows machine where the phone was bought in Thailand, and it actually had the AIS settings already in the Nokia program.

With Windows XP, I plug my Nokia E51 into the USB port, one click and I am connected. As I mentioned, I must be stupid because I can't get it to work with Ubuntu 7.1 even though I followed the step be step instructions.

[autonomous_unit]

Gary, I cannot give individual help since I have never used a Nokia phone. But let me give a general answer to the OP and maybe it can help you too?

In general, data connections via mobile phones with Linux are easy (unless they're impossible ). The USB cable connection is the easiest and most reliable method in my experience. The main trick to understand is that when properly detected, your phone will appear to the Linux PC as a connected USB modem. Then, dial-up (PPP) settings can be used to get data services. Different dial strings (and modem initialization strings) can be used to access data services.

As to the original post, EDGE is no problem with my Motorola phone. In fact, it is the same setup as regular GPRS, except it just goes faster when the phone is in range of EDGE service and the right SIM is installed in the phone. I don't have personal experience with anything newer than EDGE.

If trying to connect a new phone, I would start by looking at the kernel messages (in /var/log/messages and via 'dmesg' command) to see that the USB layer detects the hardware on insertion. If so, then the next question is whether or not it correctly identified it as a modem. Normally, the kernel driver for all standard USB modems is "cdc-acm" so I would also go on to try inserting that module manually just in case...

With some phones, there are two (or more) modes it can be in via USB, and this may affect how it is detected. For example, my wife's Motorola V360 has a setup option in the phone menu to either act as a USB data/fax modem or to act as a USB storage device. We have to set it to data/fax mode to use GPRS/EDGE services with Linux. Under Windows, a device-specific driver may know how to change this mode on the fly, but with Linux it is easiest to set the correct mode before attaching the phone.

For technical help, I find it best to get the device USB vendor/device code from the 'lsusb' command and start googling for this code and Linux, GPRS, etc. The code is the colon separated hex numbers, e.g. 'lsusb' will print a line of the form 'UD xxxx:yyyy' for the connected phone.

[Richard-BKK]

I just installed Ubuntu 8.04 and with this latest release Ubuntu improved a lot in the section phone recognition.

More and more I'm thinking of switching from Fedora to Ubuntu..... but that is another story...

[Gary A]

I think my Ubuntu 7.1 had a problem. I took it off and installed Mandriva. I am online with it now. Thanks for the help.

[Crushdepth]

I was trying to get edge via bluetooth working on Ubuntu a week or two ago. Turns out there are a couple of things broken in Ubuntu, basically its not working at the moment.

[Gary A]

I did an overnight download of Ubuntu 8.04. Surprisingly enough I was able to burn a CD and it installed OK. Unfortunately I could see no improvement and regretted taking off Mandriva. I didn't spend a lot of time playing with it. I went ahead and put Mandriva back on. At least for me, Mandriva is a lot easier to work with than either of the two Umbuntu versions that I have.

[Richard-BKK]

You must have another Ubuntu 8.04 Linux then I have, the latest release of Ubuntu is so easy that I can even recommend it to people who never used a computer. For example if you now browse the internet and come across a website which needs a plugin you will get the choice to install the plugin (completely automatic, Ubuntu opens the package manager points out the options you have and installs it, and reloads the website).

Ubuntu comes with the latest Gnome 2.22 windows manager and supports more mobile phones then any other distribution.....

[Gary A]

You must have another Ubuntu 8.04 Linux then I have, the latest release of Ubuntu is so easy that I can even recommend it to people who never used a computer. For example if you now browse the internet and come across a website which needs a plugin you will get the choice to install the plugin (completely automatic, Ubuntu opens the package manager points out the options you have and installs it, and reloads the website).

Ubuntu comes with the latest Gnome 2.22 windows manager and supports more mobile phones then any other distribution.....

This is what I tried;

Origin: Ubuntu

Label: Ubuntu

Suite: hardy

Version: 8.04

Codename: hardy

Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:41:44 UTC

Architectures: i386

Components: main restricted

Description: Ubuntu Hardy 8.04

I'm satisfied with Mandriva 2008 and have updated everything it recommended. At least I can connect to the Internet with my Nokia E51. As I mentioned before, I am no techie and still wonder if it is worth it to learn.

[Gary A]

I got brave and partitioned the hard drive. I now have Mandriva and Ubuntu on it. Since I still am not able to connect with Ubuntu, I am on Mandriva.

[Gary A]

Any idea how to check my Ubuntu setup? Something is obviously not working or missing. It doesn't even recognize my E51 Nokia and USB cable. The system seems to work other than that.

[dave_boo]

Any idea how to check my Ubuntu setup? Something is obviously not working or missing. It doesn't even recognize my E51 Nokia and USB cable. The system seems to work other than that.

I'm assuming that the ports that you're plugging the phone into allow the phone to be recognised on other Operating Systems? If so, can you copy and paste your lsusb and lspci for us to look over?

[Gary A]

Any idea how to check my Ubuntu setup? Something is obviously not working or missing. It doesn't even recognize my E51 Nokia and USB cable. The system seems to work other than that.

I'm assuming that the ports that you're plugging the phone into allow the phone to be recognised on other Operating Systems? If so, can you copy and paste your lsusb and lspci for us to look over?

Here it is;

gary@Nokia:~$ lsusb

Bus 005 Device 004: ID 0951:1607 Kingston Technology

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 004 Device 002: ID 15ca:00c3

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1131:1001 Integrated System Solution Corp. KY-BT100 Bluetooth Adapter

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

gary@Nokia:~$

gary@Nokia:~$ lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP Controller (rev 02)

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)

00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)

00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)

00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)

00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE Controller (rev 02)

00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller (rev 02)

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller (rev 02)

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200] (rev a1)

02:03.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 80)

02:04.0 RAID bus controller: Promise Technology, Inc. PDC20378 (FastTrak 378/SATA 378) (rev 02)

02:05.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8001 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 13)

gary@Nokia:~$

ADDED - I tried it with the Bluetooth dongle also with no success. I'd rather use the cable but would be satisfied with Bluetooth.

Edited April 30, 2008 by Gary A

[dave_boo]

Any idea how to check my Ubuntu setup? Something is obviously not working or missing. It doesn't even recognize my E51 Nokia and USB cable. The system seems to work other than that.

I'm assuming that the ports that you're plugging the phone into allow the phone to be recognised on other Operating Systems? If so, can you copy and paste your lsusb and lspci for us to look over?

Here it is;

gary@Nokia:~$ lsusb

Bus 005 Device 004: ID 0951:1607 Kingston Technology

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 004 Device 002: ID 15ca:00c3

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1131:1001 Integrated System Solution Corp. KY-BT100 Bluetooth Adapter

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

gary@Nokia:~$

gary@Nokia:~$ lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP Controller (rev 02)

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)

00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)

00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)

00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)

00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE Controller (rev 02)

00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller (rev 02)

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller (rev 02)

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200] (rev a1)

02:03.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 80)

02:04.0 RAID bus controller: Promise Technology, Inc. PDC20378 (FastTrak 378/SATA 378) (rev 02)

02:05.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8001 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 13)

gary@Nokia:~$

ADDED - I tried it with the Bluetooth dongle also with no success. I'd rather use the cable but would be satisfied with Bluetooth.

Yeah, your phone isn't being recognised (I didn't tell you to plug it in though before doing lsusb--I hope you corrected that oversight before posting your lsusb!), unless it's Bus 004 Device 002...I don't think so since the id listed to that seems to be for a mouse; specifically a Textech International Ltd. Mini Optical Mouse . It appears that you have 4 USB ports; is that correct? If so, than all your ports are being recognised. If you want to use your phone under bluetooth, you're going to need to run hcitool-dev. This will tell you if your adapter is being recognised correctly under Ubuntu. Assuming it's configured properly, and you have your phone set to be discoverable, do a sudo hidd --search. All devices found will have an aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff type address (actually the MAC address if you're interested). For a single time connection, do a sudo hidd --connect aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff where the aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff is obtained from the previous command. If all this works, I'll help you configure your install further.

[Gary A]

Yeah, your phone isn't being recognised (I didn't tell you to plug it in though before doing lsusb--I hope you corrected that oversight before posting your lsusb!), unless it's Bus 004 Device 002...I don't think so since the id listed to that seems to be for a mouse; specifically a Textech International Ltd. Mini Optical Mouse . It appears that you have 4 USB ports; is that correct? If so, than all your ports are being recognised. If you want to use your phone under bluetooth, you're going to need to run hcitool-dev. This will tell you if your adapter is being recognised correctly under Ubuntu. Assuming it's configured properly, and you have your phone set to be discoverable, do a sudo hidd --search. All devices found will have an aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff type address (actually the MAC address if you're interested). For a single time connection, do a sudo hidd --connect aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff where the aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff is obtained from the previous command. If all this works, I'll help you configure your install further.

Yes, the phone was connected. I thought Bluetooth was going to work because it was able to read the memory card although when I tried to open a photo on the phone's memory card, Ubuntu told me there was no file there. I think I'll try to download it again because some other things act a little strange too. I tried both Nokia Suite and data settings. Actually I have six USB ports. All seem to work.

[dave_boo]

Yeah, your phone isn't being recognised (I didn't tell you to plug it in though before doing lsusb--I hope you corrected that oversight before posting your lsusb!), unless it's Bus 004 Device 002...I don't think so since the id listed to that seems to be for a mouse; specifically a Textech International Ltd. Mini Optical Mouse . It appears that you have 4 USB ports; is that correct? If so, than all your ports are being recognised. If you want to use your phone under bluetooth, you're going to need to run hcitool-dev. This will tell you if your adapter is being recognised correctly under Ubuntu. Assuming it's configured properly, and you have your phone set to be discoverable, do a sudo hidd --search. All devices found will have an aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff type address (actually the MAC address if you're interested). For a single time connection, do a sudo hidd --connect aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff where the aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff is obtained from the previous command. If all this works, I'll help you configure your install further.

Yes, the phone was connected. I thought Bluetooth was going to work because it was able to read the memory card although when I tried to open a photo on the phone's memory card, Ubuntu told me there was no file there. I think I'll try to download it again because some other things act a little strange too. I tried both Nokia Suite and data settings. Actually I have six USB ports. All seem to work.

Well, it looks like you have bluez installed, but just to be sure run:

sudo apt-get install bluez-utils bluez-pin ppp sdptool

Next you're going to have to configure your rfcomm device; basically, you're going to set up your phone as a modem and tell Ubuntu to connect to it over bluetooth.

We need to find out which channel it runs on, so pass this command:

sdptool browse aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff

where the aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff is your phone's MAC address found from the search command listed previously.

Under "Service Name: Dial-up Networking"->Protocol Descriptor List:"->"RFCOMM" you should have a "Channel" with a number after it. You're going to want to write that number down and use it in the next step.

Now this is where it get's interesting. Sometimes the RFCOMM channel number is not consistent; i.e. it changes now and again. This seems to be a problem with Series 60 phones.

So, assuming that you want the least amount of problems, you should "bind" the rfcomm 0 to your phone's channel.

rfcomm bind 0 aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff your_phone's_rfcomm_channel

Obviously the aa.bb.cc.dd.ee is your phone's MAC address, and the your_phone's_rfcomm_channel is the number you wrote down earlier.

Now it's time to edit your rfcomm configuration file.

gksudo gedit /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf

Copy and paste this into the file, of course using the correct information.

rfcomm {
	   bind yes;
	   device aa.bb.cc.dd.ee.ff;
	   channel your_phone's_rfcomm_channel;
	   comment "Bluetooth PPP Connection";
}

Save and close. Next run:

sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart

We need to configure PPP. Obviously I love the CLI, however, you may be able to use the Gnome dialer in your start menu to configure it. I'm going to cover the GUI method first.

Open up gnome ppp and put in any old thing for your username and password. It doesn't matter since AIS gets that info from your SIM card. Input *99# for your 'phone number'. Click on "Setup"->"Modem" and change it to /dev/rfcomm0. Clicking on connect should get you online.

Now, you can also do it from the CLI if you want to, but it's more complicated. If the above doesn't work, and you're feeling brave, drop me a line and I'll help you whip some scripts up that will allow you to connect as soon as you computer boots up.

[jackk]

You could have a look here (Ubuntu + E51):

http://amitksaha.blogspot.com/2008/01/usin...m-on-linux.html

[Gary A]

I have come to the conclusion that there are serious glitches in my installation. At this point it won't even detect my bluetooth dongle. It won't restart it and the gnome dialer is no where to be found.

I have now fooled with so many settings that it's surprising anything works. At some point I'll start over with it. I'm frustrated now and since Mandriva works well I can't believe there are any problems with my ports, dongle or phone. I have all your instructions on my data traveler.

Thanks and I'll let you know how I am doing with Ubuntu.