Computerworld Article about Computerbank and our use of Ubuntu

Nice little write up about Computerbank and our use of Ubuntu in Computerworld - 'the voice of IT management' - online news. The interview that was conducted last Friday.

For details see http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/325438/computerbank_installs_ubuntu_recycled_pcs

Enjoy!

More 3G USB Modem Fun!

This time another vodafone modem - K3520 - white. Worked with network manager (ppa 0.7.1) but on disconnect freezes the computer. Reliably. One of our clients had to come back to have this issue resolved. Twice. :(

Works best in Vodafone Mobile Connect Utility. APN vfprepaymbb, we had username web and password web. Also had to put in DNS: 192.189.54.33, 210.80.58.3.

The Vodafone utility has usage meters, but as Barry advised, it counts everything, including the free areas. Probably a good thing really as it will give an over estimate of data used.

New updated Ubuntu Jaunty user guide for Computerbank computers

Computerbank has just updated our custom Ubuntu Linux distro to Jaunty. We've also changed from using KDE on the desktop to Gnome. Busy, Busy, Busy.

Our user guide has been changed to reflect this and now might have more relevance to other newbie Linux users. The guide is plain english and simple to understand. It is for people who are new to computers and new to Linux.

A copy is available from: http://www.computerbank.org.au/shop/computerbank_ubuntu_userguide.pdf/view

We'll be adding more to it as we go along. Send us your feedback and suggestions so we can improve it even more.

Enjoy!

My second *useful* script for starting newer USB mobile broadband modems on Linux Ubuntu Jaunty

My first and only script was for clearing printer queues at Computerbank network sites with every reboot. I've seen other scripts and can figure out what they do.

I attempted a script for initialising different modems - K3565-Z, MF627, U6T. It works! I am polishing it up as well. For eg, it would be good for the thing to have an error message if the user chooses the wrong modem.

For now it does the job, initialises the right modem (based on user choice). It is also user friendly, with nice dialog boxes. I'm trying to figure out how to put an icon in for disconnected network manager in one of the info boxes. Icing on the cake. I found zenity very easy to use and thank the internets for all the good info and examples that got me started.

Anyway here it is (complete with debugging help by Patrick, David and Barry). Watch out for stray spaces!

#!/bin/sh
# AU 3G Modem Chooser and Initialisation Script
# Needs to be run with gksu (friendly user prompt for password) or sudo when calling
# from the command line.
# Author: Kylie Davies
# Date: 10/10/09
{
# Start with a message, in case user starts accidentally.

if $(zenity --question --text="Use this utility to select and activate USB Mobile Broadband modems." --title="USB Modem Helper")
then

ans=$(zenity --list --text "Choose your USB mobile broadband modem from the list." \
--radiolist --height=220 --column "Pick" --column "USB Modem Type or Model" TRUE Pink\ GRL\ modem\ -\ U6T FALSE White\ Vodafone\ modem\ -\ K3565-Z \
FALSE Black\ and\ green\ Three\ modem\ -\ MF627 FALSE Not\ Listed.);

echo "||$ans||"
if [ "$ans" = "Pink GRL modem - U6T" ]
then
echo "1111"
sudo modprobe option && echo "0x05c6 0x9000" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id && sleep 1 |zenity --progress --text "Starting Modem" --title "Starting Modem"
zenity --info --title "Modem Ready" --text "Your modem is ready. Left click the icon at the top right of your screen to create or use a mobile broadband connection."

elif [ "$ans" = "White Vodafone modem - K3565-Z" ]
then
echo "2222"
sudo modprobe option && echo "0x19d2 0x0052" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id && sleep 1 |zenity --progress --text "Starting Modem" --title "Starting Modem"
zenity --info --title "Modem Ready" --text "Your modem is ready. Left click the icon at the top right of your screen to create or use a mobile broadband connection."

elif [ "$ans" = "Black and green Three modem - MF627" ]
then
echo "333"
sudo modprobe option && echo "0x19d2 0x0064" >> /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id && sleep 1 |zenity --progress --text "Starting Modem" --title "Starting Modem"
zenity --info --title "Modem Ready" --text "Your modem is ready. Left click the icon at the top right of your screen to create or use a mobile broadband connection."

elif [ "$ans" = "Not Listed." ]
then
echo "555"
zenity --info --title "More Info Needed" --text "Call Computerbank for advice."

else
echo "444"
fi
fi
}


Mobile Broadband USB Modem Fun - Ubuntu Linux - GRL Mobile, Three and Crazy John!

I have spent a lot of time working this out and patching us I go. I am pleased to say I can get three different modems (K3565-z, ZTE MF627, and the U6T) working one after the other without a reboot. I can repeat with success. Happy Happy Joy Joy!

For the benefit of others I thought I'd write about it and include my notes at the end (normally these are inside the computerbank intranet and sometimes make it on to google code issue tracker for our computerbank project).

It all started out with our upgraded Jaunty Jackalope Computerbank distro. The bugs i encountered exist in a straight JJ install too. It is not just us.

A few things that had to be resolved first; Nautilus crashes whenever you try and eject the USB modem media (GRL) from the desktop. You need to do this to switch the modem.

I also found that Network Manager in Jaunty is slightly broken (a config file needs some editing for it to use CHAP authentication). Also network manager wizard fires up when it sees the USB nodes created, so sometimes I would get two wizards. Only one connection could be correct. Eventually I ended up using jaunty ppa for network manager as the issues above had been resolved.

I'm not sure about the option module, I guess I need to compile it into the kernel. It must have been used last time because we had one of these modems working (K3565-z) in Hardy with gnome-ppp. Now it needs to be modprobed.

After that happens you can flip the modem by changing its ID. This is done by working out (getting the IDs) what USB ID the device ends up (USB or CDROM) after settling, and what ID it is when it is a modem. Some devices need ejecting to change ID again (GRL). Timing is everything. So wait!

For one of the devices, the MF627 - the UK version is different to the AU version and so are the hex codes! Mad.

For the record:
MF627 0x19d2 0x0064
U6T 0x05c6 0x9000 (needs an eject to get the initial code)
K3565-z 0x19d2 0x0052

The first value is what the device ends up as, and the second is what you want it to be, a modem.

When you get the device recognised as a modem, the /dev/ttyUSBx will be created. One of the modems I tested had five. One had two. It varies.

As soon as this happens network manager sees the USB modem and Creates a "Configure Mobile Broadband Connection" option from the applet. The wizard does not appear as this ended up causing other issues.

I also edited the serviceprovider.xml (warning it is different layout to previous version) so it was correct and had extra info for GRL, Crazy John, Dodo and other plans. Tested and works. I should see about contributing that back. I need more time to look into it.

I'll stick my notes up here soon. I need to tidy them up so they make sense. I'm still not there yet, I need to create a script or a button that runs the modprobe option command and then echos the id to a file. Or I need option already in the kernel. To be discussed...

Phew!

Notes:

Grl Hot Pink Modem: U6T model

GRL Mobile - U6T modem. Hot pink. LEDs are hard to see. The red one is bright.

NB: If the device stays red for a long time and its activated, the SIM is not in
correctly. Even though these are coded it is easy enough to do. wvdial error: Invalid
dial command. NetworkManager error: Can't get broadband capabilities of device.

When ever this device was plugged in it would cause nautilus to segfault. Ditto other
devices.

nautilus[3603]: segfault at 8bf5010 ip b4da4dc6 sp b6df4fb0 error 4 in
libbrasero-media.so.0.1.1[b4d93000+1f000]

Fixed via https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/brasero/+bug/363435

To fix: sudo chmod a-r /usr/lib/nautilus/extensions-2.0/libnautilus-brasero-extension.so

There was also a network manager bug in the jaunty package.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/391608

Something to do with UTMS and authentication.

Error message: No CHAP secret found for authenticating us to UMTS_CHAP_SRVR

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=7563412

Wisdom here http://www.linuxhorizon.ro/nm_root_bug.html

Fix. (only apply to jaunty version)

1. Locate and remove the following section in /etc/dbus-1/system.d/NetworkManager.conf:

send_interface="org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.PPP"/>


2. Restart the NetworkManager

/etc/init.d/NetworkManager restart

Network manager would get confused and throw up a couple of wizards at a time. One
would be wrong. The device would get confused if the wrong wizard was chosen.

I found that the ppa version had tried to solve this. So added the ppa jaunty sources
for network manager.

Sources:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/network-manager/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/network-manager/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Getting the modem working.

* Eject the device from the desktop or using nautilus.

* sudo modprobe option

* sudo echo "0x05c6 0x9000" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id

This creates the devices for USBx and network manager will detect them shortly after.
Wait a bit.

The wizard no longer works - so when the connection appears (click network computer
icon) - it will say Configure Mobile Broadband Connection. Click and the (corrected)
wizard appears.

Crazy John Vodafone Modem - K3565-z model

I can't remember if this made nautilus crash. In any case there is no need to eject the VMC Lite icon that appears. It works ok without doing that. I've done so much testing I can not remember if it works when ejected?

Computerbank systems need to support multiple models of USB modem.

Fix bugs as reported for GRL U6T modem. Get up to date ppa sources for jaunty (see above).

Then when you want to use the modem:

* sudo modprobe option
* sudo echo "0x19d2 0x0052" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id

In a few moments, network manager and Vodafone Mobile Connect will see the modem.

Black and Green Three Modem - MF627 model

I can't remember if this made nautilus crash. I don't think I had to eject anything? It works ok without doing that. I've done so much testing with these things I could be confused.

Fix bugs as reported for GRL U6T modem. Get up to date ppa sources for jaunty network manager.

Then when you want to use the modem:

* sudo modprobe option
* sudo echo "0x19d2 0x0064" >> /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id

In a few moments, network manager will see the modem.

A script has been made for user friendly way to make this happen. Being zenity-fied.

I could not get this working with any version of vodafone mobile connect.

Just felt the earth tremor

Wow, just now, we had an earth tremor. Our house wobbled. It was kind of like a big wind whipping through.

Snippets for February

The Glass House Mountains area of Queensland is very lush. I'd love to live there. Hi and big thanks to Angie, Mark and co. Mooloolabah is the first place for me to see loads of little fish swimming up against a rock wall. Wow. Ooooo. Greg and I were there while Melbourne was sweltering, buckling and burning in the 46.5 degree heat. I'm glad I missed it. Feeling pretty bad about the fires though. :(

Telstra pre paid dial up starter kits will not work with Linux because their CD can only work in certain versions of Windows/Mac and Telstra won't activate it over the phone. Bah.

Network manager 0.7 is cool! My Nokia N95 was easily detected as a modem. All I needed to do was set it to PC Suite mode, and stick in an APN of internet. Slow but handy.

Shattered Ubuntu Disc

I got home from work tonight to find an ubuntu CD in many many pieces. Apparently the optical drive sounded like it wanted to take off and then bang! The CD bezel flew off and pieces of the CD went everywhere. Here is a pic of the bezel and CD pieces.

Port Phillip Bay Shark Scare

As usual I haven't done a post here for ages. No excuse, just never get around to writing stuff down here. Maybe with the new year I'll try and post more often. Hmm. Maybe.

Saw an interesting news snippet tonight about a bronze whaler shark being caught in Port Phillip Bay (see link below).

My partner, Greg, just had a run in with a 3-4m bronze whaler shark while free diving out off Williamstown. If it wasn't for Greg's speargun, he thinks he might not be here today. Ew.

Greg managed to poke the aggressive shark on the head about seven times with his speargun. Eventually the shark took off and Greg made a quick dash for shore. Of course there is more to tell then that but you get the idea.

Greg doubts the shark caught today out off Rye was the one he had a run in with.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=344457 - Man catches bronze whaler in dinghy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_whaler_shark