Gprs/edge/ev-do(?)

dave_boo · December 6, 2008

So, there's seems to be a lot of confusion on how to get on to the internet using your mobile phone. And a lot of those people seem to want to use Ubuntu so I decided to whip up a little guide to get them on. Firstly, I'm not native to Ubuntu, so please forgive the burquse tone I may take.

I'm going to get started using the LiveCD version (Ubuntu 8.04). This should work on 7.04 (tested) onwards.

First, I highly recommend getting a Series60 phone. Nokia is the brand I'm most familiar with, but there are others. Series60 seems to work extremely well with Linux.

Secondly; don't forget to plug your phone in to the charger if it doesn't charge over the connectivity cable. I'm currently typing this on a connection with a 5300 that offers a mini-USB but doesn't charge though it. Of course your phone may, but if it doesn't using a phone as a modem will suck the life out of it faster than being married to Janet Reno.

First thing we're going to do is to open up a terminal. Applications->Accessories->Terminal.

Then we're going to keep it simple. Simply type in

sudo wvdialconf

Then you need to edit the configuration file for the phone number, username and password

sudo gedit /etc/wvdial.conf

Make it look something like this:

Note that you'll have to take out the ";" in front of phone number, user name and password. The user name and password are incidental since the carrier actually gets the information from your SIM. You don't have to worry about modem or anything else.

Finally you can issue the command

sudo wvdial

And voila you're connected to the internet. Easiest way to disconnect is to yank the connection cable out; but this can cause problems because when you plug it in again it most likely won't be reassigned the /dev/ttyACM0 designation. You can run sudo wvdialconf again, but that's a bit troublesome, but you don't have to edit anything else. Also I don't know if it's just this phone, but if I Ctrl-Z it (the standard way of killing a process in a terminal) it still shows as being connected to the internet. I'm still researching that problem.

Finally; if you want a pretty graphical dialer, use KPPP because for some reason gnome-ppp won't work without some tricks.

Gary A · December 10, 2008

Dave, thanks for the installation guide. I still have Mandriva on a hard drive and it connects easily via Bluetooth. Since I am now using CDMA EV-DO, I have not re-installed Ubuntu to try it. Looking at my CDMA connection, I can't see my user name or password. It just shows a series of stars (******). When the novelty of having a decent Internet connection wears off, I'll re-install Ubunto try to use my EV-DO modem.

dave_boo · December 11, 2008

Dave, thanks for the installation guide. I still have Mandriva on a hard drive and it connects easily via Bluetooth. Since I am now using CDMA EV-DO, I have not re-installed Ubuntu to try it. Looking at my CDMA connection, I can't see my user name or password. It just shows a series of stars (******). When the novelty of having a decent Internet connection wears off, I'll re-install Ubunto try to use my EV-DO modem.

Actually, it should be extremely quick to figure out if my mini-guide will work for you; just reboot into Mandravia and follow the instructions. Granted you'll need to put in your phone number, CAT CDMA username and password in the "sudo gedit /etc/wvdial.conf (looks to be phone number #777, user name [email protected], password catevdo), but it should work.

Please try and get back to me about whether it does or not. Also, if you're interested I can tell you how to set it up to start at boot or when needed for network access.

Gary A · December 12, 2008

Dave, thanks for the installation guide. I still have Mandriva on a hard drive and it connects easily via Bluetooth. Since I am now using CDMA EV-DO, I have not re-installed Ubuntu to try it. Looking at my CDMA connection, I can't see my user name or password. It just shows a series of stars (******). When the novelty of having a decent Internet connection wears off, I'll re-install Ubunto try to use my EV-DO modem.

Actually, it should be extremely quick to figure out if my mini-guide will work for you; just reboot into Mandravia and follow the instructions. Granted you'll need to put in your phone number, CAT CDMA username and password in the "sudo gedit /etc/wvdial.conf (looks to be phone number #777, user name [email protected], password catevdo), but it should work.

Please try and get back to me about whether it does or not. Also, if you're interested I can tell you how to set it up to start at boot or when needed for network access.

Actually I went ahead and re-installed Ubuntu 8.04. It recognizes my CCU 680 as a storage device. Using sudo wvvdialconf results in a no modem found. I didn't try it with Mandriva.

Niloc · December 13, 2008

I set it all up and it worked perfectly. I then tried to edit the menus and create a startup command 'sudo wvdial' which does not work as sudo needs my password. Is it possible to include the password in the start command?

I am using Ubuntu 8.10

Colin

dave_boo · December 13, 2008

I set it all up and it worked perfectly. I then tried to edit the menus and create a startup command 'sudo wvdial' which does not work as sudo needs my password. Is it possible to include the password in the start command?
I am using Ubuntu 8.10

Colin

Actually, you don't need to use sudo to start wvdial; that was a bit of a typo on my part. Simply using wvdial should get you connected.

At GaryA;

Sorry it took me so long to get back; didn't see this notification until the other poster replied. Apparently there's a couple ways you can fix your problem. It seems that if you force the stick to be a modem only on windows.

Or you can follow this handy guide (which I've read in various places doesn't work on 8.04) and hope for the best. Don't know what Ubuntu did to break compliance; but there you have it.

Niloc · December 14, 2008

Dave,

Here is the output from a terminal, it just goes into retries without a result...

--> 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.

--> Sending: ATDT*99#

--> Waiting for carrier.

ATDT*99#

CONNECT

~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~

--> Carrier detected. Starting PPP immediately.

--> Unable to run /usr/sbin/pppd.

--> Check permissions, or specify a "PPPD Path" option in wvdial.conf.

~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~~[7f]}#@!}!} } }2}#}$@#}!}$}%\}"}&} }*} } g}%~

Then it goes into :

--> Sending: ATDT*99#

--> Waiting for carrier.