Acer One Netbook - T Mobile Dongle Problems
 

I have the Acer One Netbook with only supports Linux, not windows. I have recently purchased the T-Mobile dongle for mobile broadband but this does not work. I have installed the contents of the CD which comes with this to a memory stick then uploaded to my netbook but cant seem go any further than this.

Can anyone tell me how to install the drivers to be able to use the T-Mobile dongle.

I have been through the live update which installed the mobile symbol but there is no signal or connection at all when I plug the dongle in.

Is it this model (Huawei UMG181)?. I know other Huawei devices are supported by recent kernels - I use an E220 with my Eee - though this one is very new, so depends whether it uses the same interface as the others.

The reason you can't see any signal when you look at the wireless network is that Linux doesn't treat these devices as wireless cards - they operate as modems. You would use your desktop's PPP utility, or a program like wvdial to make a connection (I use wvdial, after completely failing to get Gnome network manager to work with mine).

In order to connect (assuming it's supported), you would need a number of details from T-Mobile, including:

• The "number" to dial. Probably not a normal telephone number - the number I use for my Vodafone connection is *99***16#
• Username and password. Probably very simple - I use "web" and "web"
• Connection speed (baud rate)

You could have a look at the contents of my wvdial.conf file to get an idea of how mine is set up.

Hope this helps,
Rob

P.S. if it isn't already supported, someone will probably be working on it soon. You could also try running the provided software under Wine!

I googled "linux t-mobile dongle" and the first link was How to set up a T-Mobile (UK) modem dongle. It may not be exactly what you need to do, but it may work for you and it would be a great place to start.

Just bought one, and got it working in record time -- here is how.

Making The T-Mobile UMG181 WebConnect Laptop Stick Work In Linux

I am running Ubuntu Linux v9.04 ("Jaunty") and recently purchased this USB mobile broadband stick. I sort of had my doubts about it working on my laptop since I was not running Windows.

My fears were un-warranted. I figured that I had 14 days to make it work or I would just send it back and cancel the service. Actually, it took me only 15 minutes to have it up and running! So I figured that I would post some instructions for those of you who need to get it running on your Linux box.

The USB storage is, for now, not accessible... but I am working on that using "usb-modeswitch" to flip the device over to USB mass storage mode. Apparently, the two modes won't work at the same time (not even under Windows).

First of all, you have to realize that this stick is manufactured for T-Mobile (and others) by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. -- and there is a little bit of info on the web. Unfortunately, the instructions I have seen make the task of getting it to work seem much too complicated -- I was able to do the same job with just 3 or 4 terminal commands and a couple of minor file edits.

First, insert your Laptop Stick into an open USB port. Then open a root terminal window and type the command

"lsusb"

This will give you an output something like this:

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 12d1:1414 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 046d:c018 Logitech, Inc. Optical Wheel Mouse
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 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 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Now, in the same terminal window, type the command

"modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1414".

Next, type the command

"ls -la /dev/ttyU*"

and make sure that you put the * at the end or you won't get the right info. You will get a response something like this:

crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 0 2009-12-23 18:17 /dev/ttyUSB0
crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 1 2009-12-23 18:17 /dev/ttyUSB1
crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 2 2009-12-23 18:17 /dev/ttyUSB2
crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 188, 3 2009-12-23 18:17 /dev/ttyUSB3

Making sure it works every time you re-boot:

In a terminal window, issue the command

"sudo gedit /etc/modules"

When GEdit has opened the file, simply add the line

"usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1414"

to the file and save it. Now, every time you boot up, the same 4 usb ports will be allocated & assigned and your Laptop Stick will connect right up like it should.

Configuration For Different Connection Methods:

WVDIAL:

Now that you have all the basic information that you need, you can edit your /etc/wvdial.conf file as shown, adding the following block of code to it:

[T-Mobile]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0 # Adjust this for your particular port
Modem Type = Analog Modem
ISDN = 0
Baud = 7200000
Username = voicestream
Password = voicestream
Phone = *99#
Stupid Mode = 0
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = AT&F E1 V1 X1 &D2 &C1 S0=0
Init3 =AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","epc.tmobile.com"

Save & close the /etc/wvdial.conf file. If you did everything correctly, you can issue the command "wvdial T-Mobile" in the terminal window and you should get connected lickety-split.

GNOMEPPP:

You can also use the GnomePPP GUI to do the dialing (I do), simply use the info from your /etc/wvdial.conf file to set it up to dial.

GNOME NETWORK MANAGER APPLET:

If you would like to use the Ubuntu "NetworkManager" applet, simply set up a Mobile Broadband connection named "T-Mobile" using the same information you used for the /etc/wvdial.conf file. Note: Make sure that you disable all authentication in the "PPP Settings" tab or it will not connect.