Trying (failing) to get my modem to work

[Wouter Verhelst]

On Sat, Mar 28, 2015 at 10:19:18AM +0100, Aleksander Morgado wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 8:17 PM, Wouter Verhelst <w at uter.be> wrote:
> > I have a new laptop, which comes with a 4G modem. To my dismay, this
> > thing doesn't have an AT port anymore, so I can't do what I used to do
> > on the old laptop (i.e., send some AT command magic to /dev/ACM0 and run
> > dhclient).
> >
> > After looking around a bit, I found that mbimcli manages to find the
> > modem and can do a few things. But not much.
> >
> > Script started on vr 27 mrt 2015 20:14:12 CET
> > root at gangtai:~# mbimcli -d /dev/cdc-wdm0 --query-device-caps
> > [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Device capabilities retrieved:
> >               Device type: 'embedded'
> >            Cellular class: 'gsm'
> >               Voice class: 'no-voice'
> >                 Sim class: 'removable'
> >                Data class: 'gprs, edge, umts, hsdpa, hsupa, lte'
> >                  SMS caps: 'pdu-receive, pdu-send'
> >                 Ctrl caps: 'reg-manual, multi-carrier'
> >              Max sessions: '8'
> >         Custom data class: 'unknown'
> >                 Device ID: '353516051359501'
> >             Firmware info: 'SWI9X15C_05.05'
> >             Hardware info: 'EM7305'
> > root at gangtai:~# mbim-network /dev/cdc-wdm0 start
> > Loading profile...
> >     APN: gprs.base.be
> > Loading previous state...
> >     Previous Transaction ID: 6
> > error: no actions specified
> > Clearing state...
> > Querying subscriber ready status 'mbimcli -d /dev/cdc-wdm0 --query-subscriber-ready-status --no-close'...
> > [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Subscriber ready status retrieved: Ready state: 'initialized' Subscriber ID: '206201002118395' SIM ICCID: '8932030000007170020' Ready info: 'unknown' Telephone numbers: (1) '0489402389' [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Session not closed: TRID: '3'
> > Saving state... (TRID: 3)
> > Querying registration state 'mbimcli -d /dev/cdc-wdm0 --query-registration-state --no-open=3 --no-close'...
> > [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Registration status: Network error: 'unknown' Register state: 'home' Register mode: 'automatic' Available data classes: 'lte' Current cellular class: 'gsm' Provider ID: '20620' Provider name: 'BASE' Roaming text: 'unknown' Registration flags: 'packet-service-automatic-attach' [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Session not closed: TRID: '4'
> > Saving state... (TRID: 4)
> > Attaching to packet service with 'mbimcli -d /dev/cdc-wdm0 --attach-packet-service --no-open=4 --no-close'...
> > Saving state... (TRID: 5)
> > Starting network with 'mbimcli -d /dev/cdc-wdm0 --connect=gprs.base.be --no-open=5 --no-close'...
> > error: operation failed: Transaction timed out
> > Network start failed
> > [/dev/cdc-wdm0] Session not closed: TRID: '6'
> > Saving state... (TRID: 6)
> > root at gangtai:~# exit
> >
> > Script done on vr 27 mrt 2015 20:14:49 CET
> >
> > ...not sure what's going wrong here. Help?
> 
> Any chance you can run it with ModemManager and NetworkManager in
> debug mode? see:
> http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/ModemManager/Debugging/

For clarity (I thought the "what I used to do on the old laptop" above
made that clear, but maybe that's assuming too much), I'm not using
Network Manager, and have no interest in changing that[1]. I was
assuming that mbim-network can do things all by itself.

If that isn't the case, I would appreciate some explanation or
documentation on how things are supposed to work. I had a look at the
libmbim API docs, but they seem to fall into the trap of saying "use
FooFrobber to Frob your Foo", without explaining what a Foo is, or why
you would want to Frob it... not very helpful.

(Yes, I'm willing to help out there, but gotta start somewhere,
obviously)

> Otherwise, can you try to run the mbimcli commands that the
> mbim-network executes, BUT appending a --verbose option to each. The
> important one would be the --connect, which is where it times out, it
> would look like:
> $ mbimcli -d /dev/cdc-wdm0 --connect=gprs.base.be --verbose

I can, but not right now; will let you know when (unless you tell me
it's no longer necessary ;-)

[1] I think NetworkManager is ideal for my mother, but on my personal
    laptop, I prefer to be more in control than what nm allows me to do.
    Configuring networking is done through "shell scripts and duct tape"
    over here.

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