[mtbvfr]

Hi Josh et al,

Early this week, I acquired an E8278 4G LTE USB Broadband Modem from Entel who provide Internet and Telephone services in Peru.

The model I received is the E8278s-603.

Everything appears to be working correctly under Windows 8.1 Professional.

However, under Linux only the interface for the WLAN Router is working. It appears that the USB interface is not working at all. If I try to disable the WLAN module, the SUCCESS message, that I saw when using Windows 8.1 Pro, does NOT appear and the connection to the modem is lost. The only way to have the modem work, again, with Linux is to use the RESET button.

Therefore, it would appear that something is missing for the configuration of this modem when using Linux.

I am using Manjaro XFCE 0.8.10.

I've installed usb_modeswitch 2.2.5 from the Manjaro repository but it hasn't made any difference.

Even after disabling the WLAN module in the Windows environment, I still need to use the RESET button before I can connect in Linux.

lsusb reports the following which indicated it is being switched from 12d1:14fe to 12d1:1506.

Code: Select all

Bus 003 Device 003: ID 12d1:1506 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Modem/Networkcard

With the modem connected to the USB port when the computer was started, dmesg | grep usb reports the following.

Code: Select all

[    1.959377] usb 3-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
[    2.048159] usb-storage 3-1.2:1.2: USB Mass Storage device detected
[    2.048255] scsi6 : usb-storage 3-1.2:1.2
[    2.048348] usb-storage 3-1.2:1.3: USB Mass Storage device detected
[    2.048448] scsi7 : usb-storage 3-1.2:1.3
[    2.048521] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[    2.112689] usb 3-1.3: new full-speed USB device number 4 using ehci-pci
[    2.262737] usb 3-1.5: new high-speed USB device number 5 using ehci-pci
[    2.439535] usb 4-1.6: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
[    2.525772] usb-storage 4-1.6:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[    2.525954] scsi8 : usb-storage 4-1.6:1.0
[   10.312126] usbcore: registered new interface driver eucr
[   10.369473] usb 3-1.2: MAC-Address: 0c:5b:8f:27:9a:64
[   10.369580] cdc_ncm 3-1.2:1.1 wwan0: register 'cdc_ncm' at usb-0000:00:1a.0-1.2, Mobile Broadband Network Device, 0c:5b:8f:27:9a:64
[   10.369596] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ncm
[   10.579884] input: Integrated Camera as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.0/usb3/3-1/3-1.5/3-1.5:1.0/input/input14
[   10.579961] usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo
[   12.969491] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial
[   12.969510] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
[   12.969525] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for generic
[   12.973500] usbcore: registered new interface driver option
[   12.973512] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for GSM modem (1-port)
[   12.973888] usb 3-1.2: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0

After removing the modem and reconnecting it to the USB port, dmesg | grep usb reported the following.

Code: Select all

[10659.202365] usb 3-1.2: USB disconnect, device number 3
[10659.202651] cdc_ncm 3-1.2:1.1 wwp0s26u1u2i1: unregister 'cdc_ncm' usb-0000:00:1a.0-1.2, Mobile Broadband Network Device
[10681.419545] usb 3-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 6 using ehci-pci
[10681.712541] usb-storage 3-1.2:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[10681.712634] scsi9 : usb-storage 3-1.2:1.0
[10682.769663] usb 3-1.2: USB disconnect, device number 6
[10682.953898] usb 3-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 7 using ehci-pci
[10683.041250] usb 3-1.2: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[10683.043173] usb 3-1.2: MAC-Address: 0c:5b:8f:27:9a:64
[10683.043378] cdc_ncm 3-1.2:1.1 wwan0: register 'cdc_ncm' at usb-0000:00:1a.0-1.2, Mobile Broadband Network Device, 0c:5b:8f:27:9a:64
[10683.043429] usb-storage 3-1.2:1.2: USB Mass Storage device detected
[10683.043499] scsi10 : usb-storage 3-1.2:1.2
[10683.043688] usb-storage 3-1.2:1.3: USB Mass Storage device detected
[10683.044875] scsi11 : usb-storage 3-1.2:1.3

I tried using the MessageContent string that Josh suggested in the folowing post but it didn't help.

http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswit ... f2e#p14456

I tried some others from the device_reference.txt file but they didn't help neither.

This modem, as with others from Huawei, is noted as being compatible with Mac OS X, which is based on Linux. Therefore I feel it should be possible to have it operating in the same manner with other Linux distributions.

How these devices function, though, is not in my area of computing expertise.

There was no need to install any software from the device, in the windows environment, in order for it to function as expected. With the WLAN module disabled, via the 192.168.1.1 interface, I still had a functioning Internet connection which didn't require me to enter User/Password details.

Could it be that the Huawei firmware is only programmed to work with Windows and Mac OS X? Is this a valid question or is it just a matter of, somehow, determining the correct MessageContent string or setting some other configuration parameters to make it work in the same way under Linux?

I got the following information from the web page interface.

Device name: E8278
IMEI: 863682020116951
IMSI : 716170004494441
My number: 51983534430
Hardware version: CH1E8278SM
Software version: 21.265.71.00.1300
Web UI version: 17.100.05.02.1300
LAN MAC address: 58:1F:28:C2:36:14
WAN IP Address: 10.18.12.236

Are there any diagnostic procedures I can try to analyse the problem further?

Thanks, Michael.

[LOM]

Both of your dmesg logs shows that usb_modeswitch has successfully switched your E8278 and that is all usb_modeswitch should do.
One of the logs shows that the ethernet wan device wwp0s26u1u2i1 has been created so NetworkManager should bee able to connect via it.

Your linux kernel/kernel drivers or NetworkManager may be too old to work with E8278..

This modem, as with others from Huawei, is noted as being compatible with Mac OS X, which is based on Linux. Therefore I feel it should be possible to have it operating in the same manner with other Linux distributions.

MAC OS X is based on BSD Unix, not linux. Apples and oranges.