[HowTo] GPRS/3G/HSDPA/UMTS USB modem Huawei E220 on Asus router

[newbiefan]

-when connection is lost: can you post the output of 'top' Hmm what do you mean by that?

Telnet to your router and do a 'ps -axf >> /tmp/mnt/output_of_ps.txt'
Or you can do a prtsc (printscreen) on your computer, then use just
'ps -axf' on your router-console.
maybe that the command 'top' is available, if so - do a printscreen and copy your screen to any editor.
On windows xp: start, run, cmd
then telnet ipofyourasus
then user: admin, enter
passwd.: admin
then you are on the console of your router - all linux commands should work.
If interested you can install something according wengis howto......

[m.klinge]

Telnet to your router and do a 'ps -axf >> /tmp/mnt/output_of_ps.txt'
Or you can do a prtsc (printscreen) on your computer, then use just
'ps -axf' on your router-console.
maybe that the command 'top' is available, if so - do a printscreen and copy your screen to any editor.
On windows xp: start, run, cmd
then telnet ipofyourasus
then user: admin, enter
passwd.: admin
then you are on the console of your router - all linux commands should work.
If interested you can install something according wengis howto......

Ok ill try that out next time it happens - but as i said earlier i dont know sh*t about linux

//M

[newbiefan]

no prob at all - we can do it step by step -just let me know.
I'll guide you and you'll see, linux is nothing special.
And after a couple days, you'll become a regular linux user.
It's just the starting.........

[Malks]

Hi,

Thought I might also jump on this response too The first time I notice there is a problem is from what ever PC I'm using. Skype seems to be the most affected by any network outages. I'm pretty sure what is happening is the router is rebooting but there mustn't be an actual power drop on the USB as the modem stays connected. The only way I can get it to reconnect is to unplug/replug the modem or to do a cold startup (i.e. full power down) of router. A normal reboot does not work.

What exactly is the modem doing after

-startup

It does the flashing green thing (three quick flashes, searching for n/w I think), then goes to a slower blue flash and a blue solid light.

-when online

When the link is required it goes from a solid blue to a solid aqua.

-which koppel FW

I'm currenlty using 1.9.2.7-10-USB-1.69a but have had similar issues with 1.70a and 1.71.

-is there any other device connected to usb?

No it is the only USB device

-after connection is lost: wait at least 5 minutes - do you get the connection again?

I can see pppd stopping and starting again with a new PID and trying to connect. But I get "Connect script failed" in /tmp/chat.log. If the modem was actually doing something at the time I get it's output as well. For example if I am doing a email send/receive as it dies I can see my actual emails in /tmp/chat.log

Contents of chat.log

[admin@WL-001FC660CF29 root]$ more /tmp/chat.log
~!E^@^@(M-FA^@^@+^FZ^CBM-#M-5M-<sM-^B^CM-*^SM-:^L]M-!M-G}^M-^v#M-AM-^[P^PM-^@RGz
^@^@M-^Sa~Failed
Connect script failed

/tmp/resolv.conf is empty.

-when connection is lost: can you post the output of 'top'

See below, I've included a comparison with top when the connection is up.

-is any other sw installed?

Nothing except for base firmware.

Top from when disconnected.


Mem: 14760K used, 15564K free, 0K shrd, 1748K buff, 6452K cached
Load average: 0.53, 0.52, 0.45 (State: S=sleeping R=running, W=waiting)

PID USER STATUS RSS PPID %CPU %MEM COMMAND
1090 admin R 432 1076 2.8 1.4 top
1 admin S 612 0 0.0 2.0 init
715 admin S 576 107 0.0 1.8 pppd
1076 admin S 560 63 0.0 1.8 sh
78 admin S 552 1 0.0 1.8 nas
107 admin S 508 1 0.0 1.6 dial
80 admin S 496 1 0.0 1.6 upnp
76 nobody S 488 1 0.0 1.6 dnsmasq
110 admin S 480 1 0.0 1.5 watchdog
68 admin S 408 1 0.0 1.3 httpd
73 admin S 400 1 0.0 1.3 syslogd
72 admin S 360 1 0.0 1.1 klogd
111 admin S 348 110 0.0 1.1 ntp
99 admin S 348 1 0.0 1.1 rcamdmain
97 admin S 340 1 0.0 1.1 waveservermain
63 admin S 332 1 0.0 1.0 telnetd
109 admin S 312 1 0.0 1.0 infosvr
92 admin S 276 1 0.0 0.9 lpd
94 admin S 260 1 0.0 0.8 p910nd
3 admin SWN 0 1 0.0 0.0 ksoftirqd_CPU0
81 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 khubd
7 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 mtdblockd
2 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 keventd
5 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 bdflush
6 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 kupdated
105 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 usb-storage-1
106 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 scsi_eh_1
103 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 usb-storage-0
104 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 scsi_eh_0
4 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 kswapd


Top from when connected successfully.

Mem: 15572K used, 14752K free, 0K shrd, 1824K buff, 6652K cached
Load average: 0.00, 0.03, 0.02 (State: S=sleeping R=running, W=waiting)

PID USER STATUS RSS PPID %CPU %MEM COMMAND
201 admin R 432 196 4.7 1.4 top
161 admin S 656 107 0.0 2.1 pppd
1 admin S 612 0 0.0 2.0 init
183 admin S 560 63 0.0 1.8 sh
196 admin S 560 63 0.0 1.8 sh
78 admin S 552 1 0.0 1.8 nas
107 admin S 508 1 0.0 1.6 dial
193 admin S 496 1 0.0 1.6 upnp
74 nobody S 492 1 0.0 1.6 dnsmasq
110 admin S 480 1 0.0 1.5 watchdog
68 admin S 432 1 0.0 1.4 httpd
75 admin S 400 1 0.0 1.3 syslogd
73 admin S 360 1 0.0 1.1 klogd
63 admin S 348 1 0.0 1.1 telnetd
111 admin S 348 110 0.0 1.1 ntp
99 admin S 348 1 0.0 1.1 rcamdmain
97 admin S 340 1 0.0 1.1 waveservermain
195 admin S 332 183 0.0 1.0 tail
109 admin S 312 1 0.0 1.0 infosvr
92 admin S 276 1 0.0 0.9 lpd
94 admin S 260 1 0.0 0.8 p910nd
81 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 khubd
3 admin SWN 0 1 0.0 0.0 ksoftirqd_CPU0
7 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 mtdblockd
2 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 keventd
106 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 scsi_eh_1
6 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 kupdated
104 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 scsi_eh_0
105 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 usb-storage-1
4 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 kswapd
5 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 bdflush
103 admin SW 0 1 0.0 0.0 usb-storage-0

[newbiefan]

@Malks

Well, when your /etc/resolv.conf is emty it means, there is no connection.
Hence we are able to detect a lost connection. First of all, we should find a way to reconnect without rebooting.
Can you try the following when connection is lost:

'killall pppd'

It can take some seconds to reconnect....

If it doesn't work, try:
'reboot'

further, when you have a working connection do a:
'cat /etc/resolv.conf'
and write down ip of nameservers. Then enter webif, ipsetting, wan&lan and enter under item wan dns servers your nameservers - apply & finish.

keep me posted....

[Malks]

Hi Newbiefan,

And that's the core of the problem. The pppd actually determines there is no connection and detects that correctly. The problem is it tries to send it's AT commands to the modem as part of its connect script and instead of getting a response like 'OK' it gets the actual stream of data and so the connection fails. Doing a 'killall pppd' doesn't help as the modem stays connected. Even doing a reboot doesn't help as the USB port doesn't seem to get powered down as the modem stays connected after a reboot. A cold shutdown/restart does work though.

Thanks for your input.

Regards,
Anthony.

[newbiefan]

Funny, when I kill 'dial' , I get the pretty same behavior.

So I would suggest to try:
killall dial
killall pppd
reboot

[max2950]

Hi Guys,

Maybe i'am stupid, but i can not find the firmware for the WL500g

http://koppel.cz/cdmawifi/download/169

[Malks]

I think the website was having problems, as I tried your link and it didn't work, but it works now, so just try again.

Anthony.

[darius]

Hi,

worked really hard, asked many questions
installed Koppel
and finally connected Huawei E169 modem (works great),
need to test internal microSD memory though,
connected bluetooth dongle, connected Bluetooth gps device
and viola
it works fine

[max2950]

I think the website was having problems, as I tried your link and it didn't work, but it works now, so just try again.

Anthony.

The link was working, i'm just confused on which FW i should use for my plain old WL500G (no deluxe, no premium....)

[max2950]

Hi all,

I had no problems running koppel fw with an E169 modem, recently i changed my modem for an E220 and i am facing the same problem as malks.

Soft rebooting does not restore the connection, the only thing that helps is switching power off/on.
I tried the watch_wan script from newbiefan, but did not help...
Now i am trying to modify the script to send AT reset command to the modem before restarting PPPD. But it seems that using

echo "ATZ" >> /dev/usb/tts/0

is not the good way to do this. Any hints ?

Edit :
Using

serialcomm /dev/usb/tts/1 <ATCOMMAND>

i can send commands and read response from the modem. What is weird is that the log reports that ppd is using /dev/usb/tts/0 and i only get errors when trying to communicate with this device...


Edit 2 :
Here is my modified watch-wan script

#!/bin/sh
#Script watch_wan, controls inet connection, when lost - a new dial in is performed
#Improved script by newbiefan
#Original script from member Anttu @ asusforum (wl500g.info)
#published under GPLx (at your coice)
#a good place to store this script is /tmp/local/sbin/watch_wan
#this script read the content of file address stored anywhere
#Content of file address is google.de yahoo.com aldi.de krone.at
#File address should have at least one address
#Version 0.2-04/2008


maxad=0  #set maxaddresscounter to 0
# read file addresses into a var called addresses and use them one by one
#please change the dirs and filename as well as content to your needs
addresses=google.de yahoo.com aldi.de krone.at   #adjust path if needed 
#access each address to count how many they are
for address in ; do
        let maxad=+1  #how many addresses in list
#        echo 
done
#
#choose any writeable directory and any name for your loglocation
#loglocation=/tmp/harddisk/wan-watchdog#this is your logfile
loglocation=/dev/null #if you don't want a logfile, send any message to linux-nirwana
#

i=1 #start with first address
sleep 300
while [ true ]; do  #endless loop 

for address in ; do
  sleep 60#wait 60 seconds until next ping, change it as you want
  ping_resp=#ping address 1,2,3,4,5 aso
#uncomment the next three lines if you need to control function of script
#  echo -n .Web address:  >> 
#  echo  >> 
#  echo 
  if [  =  ]; then   #if ping is not successful then
      echo -n Connection lost at  >> 
      date >>  
      if [ -n 325 ]; then
         echo Stopping pppd >> 
         echo ------------- >> 
         killall pppd
        else   #if pppd is not running, reboot
         echo Rebooting, pppd is not running! >> 
         echo ------------------------------ >> 
         reboot
      fi
      sleep 60#just wait a bit longer to establish a connection again
  fi
 let i=+1
 if [  -gt  ]; then i=1; fi #end is reached, start again with counter
done
done

I increased the initial delay to 300 seconds, as it seems that 60 secs was too short. Let's see if this helps.......

[samid]

Site http://koppel.cz/cdmawifi/download/169 does not work please attach firmware WL500gp-1.9.2.7-1910-USB-1.69.trx in this topic. Thanks.

[Copter]

http://koppel.cz/cdmawifi/download/169 is old.

http://koppel.cz/cdmawifi/download/171/ is latest stable and the link works again.

[nanopete]

Hi I have a E122 modem from Huawei and think I heard it was very similar to the E220 but I have not had luck connecting it with instructions for E220.
Does anyone know if it is possible?

Thank you for any response