Connect USB modem E173 to Linux mint

[BornstellarMEL]

I'm trying to connect to the internet on my PC through a virgin mobile E173 USB modem, I can't download a program for it because I have no internet on the PC(I'm typing this on a windows laptop). The software that came with the product has been the only way I've been able to connect to the internet on my windows pc, the problem is that the program is windows only. Yes, I've tried connecting to the internet on linux mint through the default way. I try adding a new mobile broadband connection, which works perfectly fine.
This is what I do:
Providers country or region - Australia
Provider - Virgin mobile
Billing plan - I've tried both two options, mobile internet and mobile broadband
I click apply and it doesnt connect, I'm getting a good signal but it still doesn't work.

A good Idea would be to download Wine on another computer, install it on my linux PC and run the Virgin mobile software on my PC through Wine. The only problem is, I'm new to linux and have no idea how to install programs on it. Could someone give me a step by step walkthrough on how to install wine on an offline linux pc.
Thanks for any help.

[oobetimer]

Forget wine ..

Huawei E173 should work in Mint (least it has worked with earlier versions)

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 73#p595988

[shipturion]

Have you tried connecting trough your mobile phone with your internet sim card?

[caribriz]

I'm using an Huawei e173 with both Mint 9 and Mint 13 Cinnamon on Optus - not Virgin (but same network).
It's working well, you shouldn't have to use Wine or anything else.

Settings taken from the Virgin (Australia) website:

APN: VirginBroadband
Username*: [blank]
Password*: [blank]
Number: *99#
Authentication: PAP
*Some connection software may need you to enter a username & password. If so, just type the word "blank".

So, you could try this. Go to:

Menu > Preferences > Network Connections > Mobile Broadband tab

Click the Virgin Mobile Broadband entry you set up, click Edit

Click Mobile Broadband tab, should have
Number: *99#, APN: VirginBroadband

Click the PPP Settings tab, click Configure Methods ....

Allowed Authentication Methods > untick every one except PAP, click OK

Tick Available to all users at bottom.

Click Save, then close Network Connections box.

Then click the "Networking" icon in the panel and click Virgin Mobile Broadband.

See if it connects.

caribriz

[BornstellarMEL]

Thank's for the help, I tried caribriz's method but it still doesnt work. I'm getting windows 7 on monday anyway so I don't mind anymore.

[cholmquist]

I have a Huawei E173 that USED TO work perfectly in Mint 12, or it worked for 1 month to be exact. Then I extended the plan for another month, and it all stopped working in Mint (works fine in Windows 7).
The usb device is being detected fine and all, but it fails to connect. It's the same problem on my laptop (mint 12 64bit) and on my girlfriend's (mint 12 32 bit). After the plan was renewed it seems the authentication or something stopped working.

Any ideas on how to resolve this? It's very cumbersome since I have to boot into win7, do some internet reading, reboot and then try in linux again.

One last thing, I tried to install the HUAWEI supplied software for linux that were on the usb stick. Using their little connection tool didn't make a difference.

If someone has some nice ideas on how where to look for logs or error messages that can help to resolve this problem I would be grateful.

cheers,
christian

[oobetimer]

Any ideas on how to resolve this? It's very cumbersome since I have to boot into win7, do some internet reading, reboot and then try in linux again.

You could make a script or run via terminal the script´s command. The script:

#! /bin/sh
sudo service modemmanager restart && sudo service udev restart && sudo usb_modeswitch -R -v 12d1 -p 14b5 && sudo service modemmanager restart && sudo service udev restart

If you make a script, make it executable using command chmod +x script.sh and run it in terminal.

[cholmquist]

You could make a script or run via terminal the script´s command. The script:

Magic, absolutely magic. The modem now works, and I am happily replying from linux again.

oobetimer, Care to explain how and what went wrong, and how the script fixes the problem?

[oobetimer]

You could make a script or run via terminal the script´s command. The script:

Magic, absolutely magic. The modem now works, and I am happily replying from linux again.

oobetimer, Care to explain how and what went wrong, and how the script fixes the problem?

Some reason the new systems are so sensitive that they has no enough time? to bring mobile broadband up, so some functions must restart. The time when linuxes used HAL, mobile broadbands worked more stable (my opinion ).

sudo service modemmanager restart = re-starts modemmanager
sudo service udev restart = re-starts udev
sudo usb_modeswitch -R -v 12d1 -p 14b5 = re-starts Huawei E173´s usb-modeswitch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_(software)

HAL is a single daemon responsible for discovering, enumerating and mediating access to most of the hardware on the host computer. Applications communicate with HAL through the D-Bus IPC mechanism, which abstracts the hardware behind an object-based RPC mechanism.

Each logical hardware device is represented as a D-Bus object, and its bus address is used as a unique identifier. Devices include abstractions like disk partitions and visible wireless networks. The device's functionality is exposed through D-Bus interfaces, and its state accessed through properties, a set of key-value pairs.

HAL broadcasts hardware events as signals on these objects: listening applications can listen for these to react on hardware events (such as a digital camera being plugged in, an optical disc spinning up or a laptop computer closing its lid).[3]