
[The image is for illustration only]
I’ve been using this HSDPA USB modem since it was openSUSE 11.1 (and it’s tested also on openSUSE 11.2 Milestone 8), no other easy way except through wvdial. Hopefully it will be easier using KnetworkManager-KDE4 on openSUSE 11.2 in final release stage. [updated: October 28] It is now OK to use KNetworkManager as mobile Internet connection manager (i did not know when this feature’s announced for the first time tough).
It’s said here nicely how to use it on openSUSE 11.1, now I’m just taking a little workaround on openSUSE 11.2 RC1.
Here are the steps to make an Internet connection with this ZTE MF626 Mobile USB modem on openSUSE 11.2 RC1:
Plug it to your USB interface
Just to make sure that it is detected well by the kernel (tail -f /var/log/messages, see my complete log here):
[ 94.324031] usb 1-3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
[ 94.450274] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=19d2, idProduct=2000
[ 94.450286] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=1, \
SerialNumber=0
[ 94.450296] usb 1-3: Product: ZTE CDMA Technologies MSM
[ 94.450303] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: ZTE,Incorporated
[ 94.450454] usb 1-3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[ 94.452491] scsi2 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[ 94.474102] usb-storage: device found at 3
[ 94.474106] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[ 95.477571] scsi 2:0:0:0: CD-ROM ZTE USB SCSI CD-ROM 2.31 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 95.498640] sr1: scsi-1 drive
[ 95.499839] sr 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr1
[ 95.500442] sr 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 5
[ 95.501517] usb-storage: device scan complete
It’s detected as an optical device (bolt), not a HSDPA modem. Here’s other properties of the device (through lsusb command):
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 19d2:2000 ONDA Communication S.p.A.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 058f:9254 Alcor Micro Corp. Hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Then we can see KDE 4 Device Notifier tells us a new device is coming:
Change It to Be a Modem Seen by The Kernel
Because openSUSE (its kernel) does not recognize well[*] that it is a modem, so we have to let the kernel knows it. The usual way is to convert it to be a serial device interface through usb_modeswitch command.
Before we proceed, we have to make sure that we have the proper configuration: usb_modeswitch.conf (copy the file to /etc ).
[*] The kernel should handle it without problem (grep MF626 /usr/src/linux-2.6.31.3-1/drivers/usb/serial/option.c):
#define ZTE_PRODUCT_MF626 0x0031
{ USB_DEVICE_AND_INTERFACE_INFO(ZTE_VENDOR_ID, ZTE_PRODUCT_MF626, \
0xff, 0xff, 0xff) },
Looks like it is a bug(?). (lagi…)