How to use 3G wireless dongles in Puppy?

[davelectronic]

Hello to the community.
Been a long time now since i tried and failed with multiple usb 3G dongles on various networks, just wandering has anyone found a fix yet for this problem ?

I've ploughed through a lot of distro's to date and the majority will allow this type of interface internet connection. As an avid Linux user now i would really like to add Puppy to the list, and possibly keep it as a distro for main general use on a current machine.

Be appreciated if anyone knows any more yet. I really like Puppy and its so frustrating as its the only issue holding up the show for me.

Thanks for reading, i've looked about and nothing new jumps out at me.

[Ted Dog]

if your 3G wireless is not supported by modeswitch then puppylinux will not help. almost 3G dongles need to be switch from usb mode to modem mode to function. Try network setup choice of dialup and see if it can be seen.
You will also need to know the phone number called by your 3G dongle and connection settings User ID password. Generally settings are buried in windows installer program ini file.

[vicmz]

This is valid for both USB dongles and mobile phones. I was not able to test Android phones, but it may also be possible for those.

Make sure you are informed about your company data plans, some companies offer cheap, unlimited plans, others have expensive plans or charge you on a pay-as-you-go basis (usually per minute or per data transfer, say every 100k of downloaded content), this is not convenient as it can quickly spend all of your phone credit or get your phone bill high.

Search your company connection details (APN, user name and password, make sure they're the ones for your country/area), you'll need that to get your device connected. For mobile phones, make sure the phone has the connection details set, if you can browse the Internet with your phone then it's already configured (however, this steps may not work for certain phones).

As of this date, there is no need to install any packages for modem compatibility. I've been able to connect by this method with Puppy 5.3 and later, including the latest at the time of writing this.

This type of connection is usually solid, but slower than the average broadband for mobile phones. However, it can be useful for simple tasks such as search, mail, shopping, forums, downloading small files, and basically any web site that does not heavily depend on multimedia content. USB dongles are meant to be broadband modems, yet the speed may vary depending on the data plans and areas covered by your ISP.

To connect to the Internet by USB dongle or mobile phone:

1. Plug USB dongle, or mobile phone through USB cable. Make sure the USB dongle doesn't have an SD card. Mobile phones show a list of options in the display, don't choose mass storage, select data transfer, data connection or similar option (for Nokia phones choose Nokia mode).

2. Menu > Setup > Internet Connection Wizard.

3. Click Dialup, Analog or Wireless Modem button on the left and wait.

4. Tick the box in the dialog to detect external modem and wait.

5. You will be offered to test for an initialization string, cancel instead.

6. In the new window (it is the PupDial GUI) click CHOOSE button.

7. Now click PROBE button and wait.

8. You should see a button with the name of the port where your USB modem is plugged, usually ttyUSB2 or similar (for mobile phones it is always ttyACM0 [A C M zero]) do not click on it, just write it somewhere to remember and close the window.

9. Again Menu > Setup > Internet Connection Wizard.

10. Click GPRS Wireless Modem button this time and wait. If you do not have this option, see the NOTE at the end of this post.

11. Fill the fields with the path to the port where your USB modem was detected (for example /dev/ttyUSB2 or /dev/ttyACM0) and your ISP (Internet Service Provider) connection data, that is APN (for example gprs.companyname.com), user name, and password (search these details if you don't know). In the fields Telephone Number and PIN leave the defaults and click OK.

12. Menu > Network > PGPRS Connect, a terminal window will open showing the connection details, if at the end you get IP adresses it means Puppy is connected to the Internet, otherwise close the terminal window and try PGPRS Connect again.

NOTE: Some recent puppies, for example Tahrpup 6, do not include PGPRS Connect anymore. PGPRS is a convenient GUI but you can actually use PupDial, too. Just repeat the steps but in step 8, do not close the PupDial window and complete the fields highlighted in the picture below, then click the Connect button on the left. If you get a "bad initialization string" error, click Disconnect or Stop Trying and Connect again. If the problem persists, repeat steps 6 and 7 and click Connect again, that usually fixes it.

[mikeb]

manual method...

plug in...

in a terminal
eject /dev/(whatever drive it shows up as)

then driver may load.... there are a few to choose from.. googling device name and linux might give a clue...that's if it does not load automatically

I used wvdial and entered dial up like settings for the modem taht appeared...again google might help..I had to for virgin

This was on puppy 2 by the way..usbmodewitch just automates the eject...

mike

mike

[davelectronic]

Thanks for all your time guys i have tried all the above probing finding the driver etc in the network configuration with no luck. Guess the second post from Ted dog best sums it up, it not going to show as a modem all the time it see's a mass storage devise /-: oh well just have to wait........ maybe in the future these devises needs will be better met who knows !

Anyway you all have a happy new year guys

Regards,

Dave.

[Ted Dog]

someone posted a more current usbmodswitch.pet a month or so ago.. Search will help you find it. Im on a phone so cut paste will not be easy..

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=89847

[mikeb]

plug in...

in a terminal
eject /dev/(whatever drive it shows up as)

does that help?
mike

[rameshiyer]

I have been using 3G dongle for the past 2 years on many Puppy Variants. My modem Hauwei make. In the case of Huawei Hi-link modem, connection is established automatically during booting time and shows 3G modem detected and ready for use. Simple network option may be configured for permanent use with wireless LAN and ready for use all the time. Very very useful.

Mobile Phone will also work with Puppy without any problem. You can also install Mobile Partner software. In which you can send SMS, check balance m data balance etc.

I have both type modem. Both are working in Puppy Linux (all different versions) working very fine. In latest Quirky also, 3G is working excellent.!!!!

[rerwin]

davelectronic,
You haven't given us anything to work with, to try to resolve your dilemma. Which puppy version are you using? Have you tried simply using pupdial to make the connection?

As I am the originator of pupdial's 3G support logic, I would like to see what you are encountering that results in failure. The diagnostic tool for this is the 'pdiag' command. Please attempt to connect with pupdial in a new/clean puppy environment (puppy pfix=ram). When you get as far as you can, open a console window and type:
pdiag

That will put a "pdiag...tar.gz" file in your home directory. Please attach that to a posting or PM to me.

Dealing with diag data is probably more productive than helpers speculating on your situation. But thanks for reporting your problem, so that we might solve it.
Richard

[mikeb]

I did get a bit involved with the testing of usbmodswitch at the time so might actually have some insight on the subject too....

but I think the op has already made up his mind...

Mike

[peterw]

Hi davelectronic

I use a 3G dongle in Puppy and it is very easy once you have done it once. Mine is a Huawei usb stick that was once locked to "3" but I have unlocked it so that I can use it with various providers when abroad, etc. When you get a SIM card you need to get: APN, username and password. Different ISPs have different settings. Sometimes you only need the APN. Examples are: APN = 3 if you use sambamobile in the UK: if you user vodafone in Spain APN= airtelnet.es username=vodafone, password=vodaphone. Sometimes you also need a Phone PIN. If you buy a SIM card over the counter they should know the details. With other more full distros such as Ubuntu they have a list of providers and you can then go through a selection procedure which can help.

1. Put you SIM card in your stick and plug it into your laptop BEFORE you power it up. Mine doesn’t like it if you try to add the usb stick after powering up.

2. Under Network you should now have menu entries PGPRS setup and PGPRS connect. You might have to first go to the network wizard the first time, can’t remember.

3. Click on PGPRS setup and you will get a dialog box. Copy the detected device into the Serial Modem Device File; insert your APN reference. Generally, you can leave the other details as is, but I can remember that some ISP’s have wanted some of the other details as well. You just have to try combinations until it works.

4. Click on OK and you get a box telling you to use PGPRS connect.

5. You should note that you only have to complete the above once and it will remember the details. However, if you change ISP then it only remembers the last one and it can be useful to keep a note of the details on the laptop.

6. Click on PGPRS connect and a terminal box will open up showing what it is up to. When it has got a good connection you get a primary and secondary DNS address lines. Minimise this box, but leave it open. You can now use the internet.

7. When you want to stop CRL and C does it.

8. On occasions the connect hangs and CTRL C and try again. Don’t know if this is the ISP or the system.

9. In the past I have installed a programme to check my usage, however, hovering over the connection icon tells you about the traffic.

Hope this helps.
Best of luck

[vicmz]

I updated my post. When you try to connect by USB dongle, remove the SD card first. Mobile phone users, as soon as you plug the phone by USB cable select data transfer, data connection or similar option on your phone screen, then follow the steps.

[jakobcornelis]

Hi, vicmz: I have tried for years to get my ZTE MF668 modem to work with Wary Puppy, unsuccessfully. The need for this increased exponentially with the imminent demise of Windows XP, which I have been hanging on to to do some things I could absolutely not get Puppy to do. The only thing that changed since my earlier attempts was that I upgraded from Wary 51 to Wary 53. Well, I decided courageously to follow your directions to the letter. I plugged in the modem (#1). Oho, it fired up right off; I could see this from the little red light it displayed. And this little red light soon changed to blue. Now, from past experience I know this means the modem connects to G3. Noting, however, I did not have an internet connection I went to Barry K's 'connect' button (which confirmed I was not connected to the internet). Normally that's set up for my ethernet connection. I switched to the wlan0 interface, and after entering the WEB key pressed 'CONNECT'. Lo and behold, I was on-line. Nothing fancy, no lines of code in the console, no downloads of ancillary applications; only Barry's Simple Network Setup, which is in my view a work of genius.

I did not need the rest of your directions, thank you very much. And this after having expended hours on this problem before. I can only conclude Wary had gotten better in the meanwhile. Or something. It certainly wasn't me (that got better, or something).

I think I have now got to the point where I can finally say goodbye to Windows. I'll hang on to it, just in case, until April 1. After that I expect it to start eating viruses.

Thanks for saving my life .

Jake

Wary Puppy 5.3, frugal
HP Compaq
DC7100 SFF
CPU: P4 3.0 GHz
HDD: 80 GB-SATA
RAM: 1024 MB

P.S. I still have to try this on my Dell Latitude ATG D620, but I don't see why that should be a problem.

Jake

[jakobcornelis]

My apologies to all. This has not been solved. Through a freaky circumstance I mistook a connection by another device for a ZTE connection. So now I have followed vic's full procedure, but without success. The Pgprs Connect tells me:

Code: Select all

 Script /etc/ppp/peers/gprs-connect-chatmm finished (pid 17038), status = 0x3
Connect script failed
Exit status is 0
DISCONNECTED[/b]

What to do now?
By the way, the dongle indication light indicates connection, so it is working, but not connecting with the rest.
Here are the Pgprs settings:
Serial modem Device File: /dev/ttyUSB0
APN: isp.apn (this is what the original "manager" says)
username: gprsuser
password: gprspass
phone number: *99# (as per manager file)
Phone PIN; 1234 (I am guessing here, but I seem to remember this)
Any comments?

Jake

[jakobcornelis]

OK, I have got it working now - for sure, I think. I followed vicwz's 'program'. The final glitch was to get the PGPRS setup right. The CONNECT routine kept complaining that the script failed. It turned out that the setup that did the trick was only different from what I reported in my previous post in one respect: It should (in my case) be /dev/ttyUSB2 instead of /dev/ttyUSB0. N.B.: The modem device file may differ in individual cases. Some of the other entries may also be different, but you have to figure that out for each device.
The way I solved this is not because I was so clever. I was blundering,I just kept trying stuff. I was groping in the dark. But that's not unusual in this business, is it? One thing that may have helped was a file that is part of the original modem install routine (which in my case is a Canadian mobile phone service provider called Rogers). I found this in the directory of the 'manager' that gets installed the first time you stick in the modem - the data directory that creates all the confusion. (It installs automatically in Windows.) In my case this file is called NetConfig.ini, which I opened as text. It has a whole bunch of stuff in it (probably their script), including the APN, which is pretty important, I guess, and which at first I had wrong.
I have rebooted a few times now, and on a few occasions I got the old 'script failed' complaint, I have no idea why, but if you keep doing the PGPRS Connect thing, it seems to give in eventually.
I was told by the host company that sold me the thing that "it can't be run in Linux." I don't know why they give such a stupid response, since I have proven it's not true, and it would, as far as I am concerned, be to their advantage if their modem could be run on Linux, which, I heard, is the upcoming thing, particularly now that Windows XP, which I understand has been one of the most successful Windows OSs and is run by one heck of a lot of people, who are now pretty pissed off, is going to be let die.
What I do not yet know is whether the service provider I use is going to notice any difference. I am not using their 'manager', after all; that means I do lose a few functions, such as the ability to send text, but would they know that at their end? The next bill will tell.
Thanks for the help, folks, particularly vicwz, who saved my life after all, although I am still a bit nervous. And I still have to go through the whole shemozzle again when I install puppy on my laptop.

Jake
Wary Puppy 5.3, frugal
HP Compaq
DC7100 SFF
CPU: P4 3.0GHz
HDD: 80GB-SATA
RAM: 1024MB

This post sent via ZTE MF688 USB Modem

[Fabio T]

I've a Sony Laptop equipped with an embedded OPTION GTM382 3G card.

It works up to 3.4 Kernel Version, after that none Puppy flavor can recognize it.

lsusb at command lline says (to 3.4 Kernel)

bus 001 device 005: ID 0afo:7601 Option Globetrotter

Kernel above this (from 3.6 to actual) cannot see any Option device with lsusb command.

Last Kernel that works fine with this laptop is 3.2.29.

I would use Puppy 64 bit new kernels on this laptop for higher operative speed but only fatdog 610 I've tested has really working 3G.

On Internete forums it seems that option.ko and usbserial.ko driver don't recognize hardware wireless switch state (it is in front of keyboard).

This empasse do not exists on different Option 3g model card ) e.g. GTM378

Any idea?

Thanx4all


Fabio

[davelectronic]

Hello again after a long time now, with the passage of time i have found a compatible dongle for 3G with Puppy Linux using the latest Tahr pup. My daughter gave me a dongle she no longer needed a Huawei hyper link dongle, this worked with the simple network connection LAN option, only as it connects automatically when plugged in to usb, on other distros it auto starts and lets me get online with Puppy, still no luck with the ZTE models though, just a heads up on this auto connect feature that works with Puppy, i did see a mention of it earlier in this thread, but had not come across this dongle unil my daughter no longer needed it, in addition this auto connect model has given me speeds up to 6.5Mbs speeds, twice as fast as the ZTE models i have used, anyway Happy new year to you all here on the forum

PS tonights test in the UK using the above dongle