Linux Redux: Use your GPRS phone as modem in Ubuntu
5 Comments Saturday, February 09, 2008
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I had been living under a self-imposed hiatus from Linux (namely Ubuntu) for a couple of months. But last week, as I was painfully recovering from yet another crashed Windows installation, I did the unthinkable (gasp!). Got my hands dirty and myself knee deep in unix land, as I decided to install Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn once again :)This time, however, I had figured out a key advantage of using Ubuntu. Unlike previous installations, I was able to setup my EDGE enable Nokia 6630 as a modem under the Linux environment. That removed one of the major annoyances I had with every Ubuntu installation, "Not being able to setup a smart phone as a modem".
Nokia and other GPRS enable sets that also double as modems have no convenient, intermediate interface in Linux. No one bother to create one either. As a result, on first impression, adding your phone as modem in Ubuntu might appear to be quite a pain in the a**.
Wrong! Let me try to ease that...err...pain a little bit. Here's a small step-by-step tutorial on "How to set up your GPRS mobile phone as modem in Ubuntu (for dummies & nOObs) " I'd try to be as straightforward as possible, so bear with me closely:
Step-1: Connect your phone with your PC/laptop via the data cable (DKU-2 in my case). For newer Nokia’s the phone will ask you for mode. Choose PC Suite
Step-2: Go to System > Administration > System Log (try to perform this step as quickly as possible after Step-1). This would open up a new window (the System Log window, to be precise).
Step-3: Scroll down to the very end of the window. You'll see a few lines like:
Jul 31 08:41:25 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [ 330.168000] cdc_acm 1-1:1.8: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
Jul 31 08:41:25 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [ 330.192000] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm
Jul 31 08:41:25 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [ 330.192000] drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: v0.25:USB Abstract Control
Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters
Jul 31 08:41:25 ubuntu-laptop kernel: [ 330.220000] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ether
See that word in red before "USB ACM device"? Note that down for the time being.
Step-4: Open up a shell window and type
sudo pppconfig . This will open up the shell-PPP configuration window. Select "Create a connection" on the first options menu. Press enter.
Step-5: On the next window, you'll be asked to define a new name for you connection. Type down something small and convenient, something you can easily remember later on (that doesn't include your social security number). Lets call it "tt" (no obscene pun intended offcourse).Then select Dynamic IP and PAP as connection type.
Step-6: On the next two screens, you'll be asked to enter you user name and password. Much like other ISPs, my ISP didn't assign any user-name/pass for their unlimited GPRS connectivity. But, Ubuntu won't let you leave these fields empty either...what to do, what to do :( Solution: Just put a blank space (press the "Space" button once) in both user-name and password field for this time. We'll see what we can do later.
Step-7: Choose the port speed on the next window. The default is 115200. On the next screen choose "Tone" as a dialer type.
Step-8: On the next screen you'll be asked to enter the number to dial during establishing connection through your phone/modem. Generally, the number is set as *99# . Just to be sure, you can check with your service provider. Choose "Manually set port address" on the next screen.
Step-9: Remember the identity of the modem we identified earlier in the message log (marked in red) ? Its time to input that on the next screen. The format would be
/dev/*** where " *** " should be replaced by the port-location. In our case that was ttyACM0. So type/dev/ttyACM0 and press enter. Choose "Finish" to complete the basics.Step-10: Now its time to get a little geeky :) It shouldn't be too hard to recollect that we put a blank(_) space in the place of user-name/password while we were setting up the modem, right? Its time to fix that up. Open up another shell window and type
sudo gedit /etc/ppp/peers/*** . Again, "***" here is to be replace with the connection name we define at the very beginning. In our case that was "tt" so the actual command would be sudo gedit /etc/ppp/peers/ttStep-11: A new window will now open, with bunch of geek words and esoteric phrases. Nothing to be afraid though, you just need to edit a small section. Note where it says "User" and there is a blanks space inside the double quote like this " ". Delete that space inside the quotation mark and save the file.
Step-12: Finally, open up your trusty shell window once again (make sure your phone is connected to your pc during the whole time) and type
pon ** , where ** should be replaced by the connection name like pon tt. You can also disconnect your connection any time using the command poff tt.That was swell wasn't it? Now you can use GPRS-modem based internet on your Ubuntu installation too. No fancy Windows Magic required. Thats one more reason to cross-off the most buggist (yet, arguable, the most useful) OS in existence from your list.
5 Responses to “Linux Redux: Use your GPRS phone as modem in Ubuntu”
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Nazeer on 2/19/2008
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Anonymous on 3/12/2008
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Anonymous on 6/14/2008
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Anonymous on 7/10/2008
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Gary C on 8/07/2008
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