Monday, May 25, 2009

Reliance Net Connect on UBUNTU / KUBUNTU 9.04 by using ZTE MG880 Modem (With out wvdial)

If you google around for configuring your reliance USB modem on ubuntu / kubuntu 9.04 then almost all links will lead to wvdial configuration. But there is also another way of doing it with out touching wvdial is by using pppconfig. This post is not restricted to ZTE MG880 Modem. To avoid confusion and errors please copy and paste commands. Here we go...

Note:: 1. Screen shot have been taken from Kubuntu but procedure is same for Ubuntu too.

1. Firstly we will have to find out modem vendor id and product id. Use the following command to find it.

sudo lsusb -v

You can see the output like this...

Bus 002 Device 009: ID 19d2:fffd
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 1.01
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 16
idVendor 0x19d2 idProduct 0xfffd
bcdDevice 0.00
iManufacturer 1 ZTE, Incorporated
iProduct 2 ZTE CDMA Tech
iSerial 3 Serial Number

Note down id vendor and id product some where.

2. Loading kernal module with vendor id and product id.

sudo kate /boot/grub/menu.lst --->> for Kubuntu 9.04

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst --->> for Ubuntu 9.04

In the menu.lst file add the following lines at the end of kernal line (Not in the next line)

usbserial.vendor=0x19d2 usbserial.product=0xfffd (Replace the the values with your's)

i.e.
## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
uuid 36b1ffd9-709e-4587-b856-9e92d10fcd12
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=36b1ffd9-709e-4587-b856-9e92d10fcd12 ro quiet splash usbserial.vendor=0x19d2 usbserial.product=0xfffd
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid 36b1ffd9-709e-4587-b856-9e92d10fcd12
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=36b1ffd9-709e-4587-b856-9e92d10fcd12 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid 36b1ffd9-709e-4587-b856-9e92d10fcd12
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet


3. Reboot/Restart your computer

4. Type the following command in the terminal

tail -f /var/log/messages

insert your modem. Now you can see entry like this...

May 25 20:44:48 sundar-laptop kernel: [ 4123.136919] usb 2-2: generic converter now attached to ttyUSB0 (Note down ttyUSB0 some where)

5. Close all terminal. Open new terminal and type

sudo pppconfig

in the new (below) window select Create and give ok...



Type provider name (say reliance) and give ok



Select Dynamic and give ok



Select PAP and give ok



Enter your Reliance Number and give ok



Password is same as your Reliance Number, enter it and give ok



Do not change Modem Speed



Select Tone and give ok



Enter #777 and give ok



Enter yes




Select Manual and give ok



Give your modem port. In my (most of the) case it is /dev/ttyUSB0


Now all set. Ensure Everything is fine. Select Finished then ok



Finally in the last wind select Quit and give ok


Now you have configured your modem successfully and all set to connect.

6. To establish internet connection type the following command in terminal...

sudo pon reliance

7. Ensuring connection is established use this command...

ifconfig

Now you should see entry like this...

ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
inet addr:121.245.187.27 P-t-P:172.23.119.14 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1400 Metric:1
RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:5 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
RX bytes:64 (64.0 B) TX bytes:97 (97.0 B)


Once the connection is established you can close the terminal.

8. To disconnect...

sudo poff reliance

Extra

In case if you want to monitor internet speed then install pppstatus package (sudo apt-get install pppstatus) and type sudo pppstatus in the terminal. Here is the screen shot of pppstatus...


Hope this will help some newbie like me...

15 comments:

  1. thank you, it worked for me....

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  2. thank u , it worked for me.... :-)

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  3. Jey,
    To say it in Hindi, "Tum jiyo hazaaro saal". Man, you just made my day. After 2 weeks of pouring through Google and Ubuntu forums without any solution, I finally found this post through a wrong Google query!!!

    I owe you one. This is the first time I was dabbling in Linux (Ubuntu) after being scared of it for more than 2 yrs. There were others on RCom site as well as in Ubuntu forums who needed help. I will go ahead and give this link to them.

    If you can help somehow, here are 2 problems though -
    1) If you don't use the connection for some time, it somehow disconnects.
    2) After upgrading Jaunty to kernel 2.6.28-13 from 2.6.28-11 through the update manager (and doing a 3-way merge of the menu.lst) , the same formula does not work out.
    This is what I have added in menu.lst -

    ## ## End Default Options ##

    title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-13-generic
    root ()/ubuntu/disks
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-13-generic root=UUID=963CF7D63CF7AF7D loop=/ubuntu/disks/root.disk ro quiet splash usbserial.vendor=0x19d2 usbserial.product=0xfffd
    initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-13-generic

    At boot up, I get an error message like "...usbserial.vendor=0x19d2... ignored...usbserial.product=0xfffd ignored". It still shows the device in lsusb, but the 'tail -f /var/log/messages' command does not shows ttyUSB0 anymore.

    As a result, currently I go into the menu.lst at the boot-up time and select the old kernel 2.6.28-11 to ensure that my Reliance connection works.

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  4. @ Dexter_Greycells

    Thank you for the comment. Finally you have landed in a correct place :-) It seems there is a bug in new kernel.

    Try this:-
    Log in to old kernel install wvdial (sudo apt-get install wvdial). After installation log in to new kernel and try this method http://jeysundar.blogspot.com/2008/12/reliance-net-connect-on-ubuntu-804810.html

    If your modem gets disconnects often then try to connect via gnomeppp. One of my friend had this problem but solved after connecting through gnomeppp...

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  5. hello Jey,

    firstly thanks for the great post. i followed your steps all the way but when i enter ifconfig i dont see
    the ppp properties. only ethernet and local loopback properties are shown.

    how do i fix this?

    Am using Ubuntu 9.04 kernel 2.6.28-11

    Thanks in advance

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  6. @ pkamat

    are you be able to connect to internet? Open web browser and check it. Could you post the o/p message of ifconfig...

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  7. Hello Sundar,

    the problem is fixed i was using EC1260 modem initially. switching to ZTE MG880 fixed that issue.

    however i have another problem now. after connection if i ping www.google.com i get a response but i cant browse that site through firefox !

    Firefox works fine if i connect a wired internet connection but not through ppp.

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  8. check if workoffline mode is enable or not (file--> workoffline). If yes then deselect it and try.

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  9. If not try using another browser. I suggest firefox 3.5. Though it is in beta version works fine and will not remove existing firefox.

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  10. hi Sundar

    I followed the step you have posted. Commandwise it worked well but not able to brows with FF. sudo pon rnc command worked(it did not gave ney error msg) and then sudo poff rnc also gave no problem. But no browsing. Following r some output of command. FF was in online mode.

    lsusb -v

    Bus 004 Device 003: ID 12d1:140b Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Device Descriptor:
    bLength 18
    bDescriptorType 1
    bcdUSB 1.10
    bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
    bDeviceSubClass 0
    bDeviceProtocol 0
    bMaxPacketSize0 64
    idVendor 0x12d1 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    idProduct 0x140b
    bcdDevice 0.00
    iManufacturer 1
    iProduct 2
    iSerial 4
    bNumConfigurations 1
    Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength 9
    bDescriptorType 2
    wTotalLength 108
    bNumInterfaces 4
    bConfigurationValue 1
    iConfiguration 0
    bmAttributes 0xa0
    (Bus Powered)
    Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower 500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
    bLength 9
    bDescriptorType 4
    bInterfaceNumber 0
    bAlternateSetting 0
    bNumEndpoints 3
    bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
    bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
    bInterfaceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
    iInterface 3
    Endpoint Descriptor:
    bLength 7
    bDescriptorType 5
    bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
    bmAttributes 3
    Transfer Type Interrupt

    PPPCONFI

    vishal@vishal-laptop:~$ sudo pppconfig
    $* is no longer supported at /usr/sbin/pppconfig line 1619.
    vishal@vishal-laptop:~$ sudo pon rnc
    vishal@vishal-laptop:~$ ifconfig
    eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:8b:2c:a4:00
    UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
    RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
    RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
    Interrupt:215 Base address:0x8000

    lo Link encap:Local Loopback
    inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
    inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
    UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
    RX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
    RX bytes:376 (376.0 B) TX bytes:376 (376.0 B)

    wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:21:6b:14:9f:40
    UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
    RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
    RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

    wmaster0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-21-6B-14-9F-40-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
    RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
    RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

    vishal@vishal-laptop:~$ sudo poff rnc
    vishal@vishal-laptop:~$
    vishal@vishal-laptop:~$


    I MA USING UBUNTU 8.10. please suggest smthing

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  11. What is your modem no?

    Insert your modem (wait for few second) and execute "sudo dmesg | grep tty". Post the terminal output here. In ubuntu 8.10 loading kernel module is different from ubuntu 9.04.

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  12. or you can try wvdial method (see my previous post).

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  13. Thought about coming back and posting some more useful steps for others to follow.

    With new kernels (after 2.6.28-11) the technique of using the 'modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 vendor=0xfffd' in the menu.lst file does not seem to work. Instead what you can do is issue the same command in the terminal with a sudo after logging in to Ubuntu 9.04 and inserting your modem. Once done, again try and issue the 'sudo pon reliance'. It should work. Also, as Jey said, the wvdial method too works fine but you will need to download and install the wvdial package.

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  14. Thanks for the comments...

    I have uploaded wvdial (along with dependency packages) here http://rapidshare.com/files/253772137/wvdial.tar.gz for the benefit of others.

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  15. Works in Karmic (9.10) too. Just need to use 'sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0xfffd' in the terminal and then try to connect using this method. Trying swapping ttyUSB0 and ttyUSB1 in case it does not recognize the modem somehow.

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