I recently got myself an Asus eeePC 4G. I wasn’t that impressed with the pre-installed Xandros linux, so I went on installing a brand new Ubuntu 8.04. I also got myself a Novatel Ovation MC950D USB HSUPA modem, which allows me to connect to my local 3G carrier, Sunrise T@ke Away, Switzerland. I had no problems running the card with Ubuntu, since it was detected and auto-loaded immediately without any problems and allowed me to access the modem through the serial device /dev/ttyUSB0.
After a while though, I got a little bored with Ubuntu, especially by the fact that it took about two minutes to boot, compared to a mere 10 seconds that the original Xandros distribution required. So I decided to go back to the original Asus distribution and give it another try.
I then realized, that I wasn’t able to load the kernel module for my modem anymore and that the built in connection manager wouldn’t allow me to choose my Novatel modem for a GSM connection.
I know that the Huawei E220 would load without any problems and since the Novatel modem is just another USB serial device, I started tinkering with the usb-serial kernel module. After a while I found out, that loading the “option” module would load the device driver correctly. The only problem was to tell the driver, which device to connect to. The vendor and product ID for the Novatel modem is 0×1410 (vendorId) and 0×4400 (productId). I read on a forum post, that these settings could be supplied after the module had been loaded. So I went on and added the following two lines to my /etc/rc.local file, after opening a terminal with ctrl-alt-t:
sudo vi /etc/rc.local
Add these two lines before “exit 0″:
/sbin/modprobe option
echo "0x1410 0x4400" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id
For those not proficient in VI, just hit “ESC :wq” and the file saves and closes. Now, enable the execution of rc.local at boot time:
sudo echo "rc.local" > /etc/fastservices
Save the file and reboot your machine. You could also supply these two lines manually on the shell every time you restarted your machine. Now you’re able to select the Novatel USB modem in your connection manager and setup up a new 3G/GSM/HSDPA connection.
If you have another modem which uses the same option module, you can simply exchange the vendor and product id by your device’s ids. To find out your device’s id just look at this file:
less /proc/bus/usb/devices
Locate your device and use the vendor and product id that you find there. This should work for most Novatel devices, such as EVDO and 3G modems. Novatel devices should always have 0×1410 as their vendor id, so look for a device with that denomination.
After successfully installing the modem you can move on and configure your network connection. HINT: You might want to disable the PIN code on your SIM card before trying to establish a connection. I think the configuration wizard will not prompt you for the PIN, though I might be wrong.
The following pictures show you how this looks like (German version of the eeePC OS):
1. Select the appropriate connection type:
2. The modem is now showing up:
3. Scanning for GSM networks:
4. Select GSM network:
5. Select your provider’s network settings:
6. Name your connection:
7. Summary of your new connection:
8. Finally, the connection is set up and running smoothly. We’re online 
:
Thanks to “neilmc” to pointing out the option module behavior in his post on http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=940241&r=15131419#r15131419 .
My eee-pc does not show any 3G Devices on picture 2 (Hardware auswählen).
I checked in the file /proc/bus/usb/devices and found my modem MC950D.
And the file /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id exists.
I tried to eject /dev/sr0
Any idea?
thanx max
On my eee-pc, it takes about 30 minutes until modem shows up in the hardware selection box. After connecting the modem, a pop-up is displayed asking which program (file manager, etc) should be used to open the removable storage device. How could this be turned off?
It works. thx Risotto!
You are the best! I just tried it out with my eeePC 4G Surf and can access the Vodafone UMTS network in Germany now. Great. Unfortunately, both the Novatel stick and eeePC produce a lot of heat…. ouch!
I’ve tried and tried but still cannot get this to work
I’m with 02 mobile broadband and have a Novatel Ovation MC930D; works great with XP however even following these instructions I still cannot get my Eeepc 701 4g to recognise the device when setting up a new connection.
Can anyone offer any further advice?
It worked fine with Movistar MC950D usb modem!!!
Thank a lot
ilde
I made a typo at this line
echo “0×1410 0×4400″ > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id
now it looks like everything needed is in the wrong path (option1 instead of optionl) – and it’s not working properly. How can I fix this? Just correct it in rc.local doesnt seem to work.
I gave up in the end – way to techical for me..
A Hawuiuw modem worked straight out of the box.
it seems that it works ok on eeepc 701 (Xandros) but I see that ppp MTU its only 552 so I can’t connect via ssh. I tried to connent mtu line but the connection is not very stable.
any idea?
Like Matt I’m using O2 – the ID is slightly different: 1410 / 5010
I’ve tried just changing this and it still doesn’t work. The problem is, it thinks it’s a storage device. when I do the “less devices” command, iy says that the device driver is usb-storage. Rather than being in the bus/usb/usbserial directory, it is in bsuu/usb/drivers/usb-storage.
Any ideas?
Can you help me whit my aspire one and the same mc950D keys?
Same error
Thanks
I’m using O2 broadband – i follow the instructions exactly including the ID (1410/4400) and it worked.
Ignore the fact it thinks the modem is a mass storage device (default eeePC usb setting) just make the edits to “rc.local” and remember to enable the its execution during the boot up, then restart.
If your still having trouble with PC thinking the modem is a mass storage device then have a look at this post on how to change that setting.
http://overuseee.pistooli.com/?p=7
I have followed this instruction exacty.
After trying to save
/sbin/modprobe option
echo “0×1410 0×4400″ > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id
A dialogue appears at the bottom of the terminal stating ‘recording.’
Nothing seems to happen after this. It remains in this state indefinitely (I have left it for hours) without closing.
I can physically find the file with File Manager and can open it with ‘Text Editor’ but I am unable to save the change in this way. Its error is that I don’t have either enough space or write access.
Is there something I am obviously overlooking?
You is a top dog mate. This thing worked like a charm
brilliantios
Sagar
Thanks, sin este blog me hubiera sido imposible conseguirlo.
Works Great. I have O2 in UK. This was the LAST PIECE OF PUZZLE for me. I needed to install usb_modeswitch program (having read http://dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=254 and located the source via http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/)
There were a couple of issues – 1) compiling modeswitch required that i run synaptic from command line and install usb_dev and ….2) Mr draisberghof has a suggestion for mdifying /etc/udev/rules.d files….well, I found a file (99-novatel-ovation.rules) and that called a script in /usr/sbin/ovation.sh. The suggested mod was to make this script call usb_modeswitch AND modprbe usbserial vendor=blah etc…..but….that (as someone else pointed out) didnt work with the usbserial module that I had. ****BUT*** the “modprobe option” command suggested by Risotto – fixees the problem.
So……whew!!! – **AT LAST I have /dev/ttyUSB0** and so the connection mangler now works!!.
THanks to all…..works much better than XP under virtualbox (which I keep just in case)
i recently unlocked my modem it’s being recognized, i keep getting a message to contact my provider re: the modem, because the item was unlocked they won’t help is there anything else i can do (not a techie) thanks any help would do
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