ModemManager-1.6.2: does not work with Huawei E3372h-153

Mon Jan 9 08:59:49 UTC 2017

Hi Alexander,
  thank you for your answer. It is never late. I still cannot use the device under Linux.

Aleksander Morgado wrote:
> Hey,
> 
> It's never too late for a reply :)
> 
>>   I am a bit lost what to do with my new device. Evidently it does not work
>> with pppd on ttySB0 and manual page for ModemManager and mmcli are too
>> short.
>>
>>   First of all, would you mind stating there if ModemManager needs
>> NetworkManager to be running beforehand or not? Or does it conflict with
>> ModemManager?
>>
> 
> ModemManager alone won't give you the full connection setup; you
> usually would use ModemManager and NetworkManager, both together.
> 
> 
>>   On Gentoo Linux there is no /etc/init.d/ModemManager but there is
>> /etc/init.d/NetworkManager. Provided nm-applet shows a "Mobile broadband"
>> connection option, does that mean it will automatically start
>> /usr/sbin/ModemManager? I guess no but as you can see, it would be helpful
>> to say what is really need in the manual page.
>>
> 
> I have no idea how ModemManager is started in Gentoo. Does Gentoo
> already use systemd? If running under systemd, ModemManager will have
> its own lifecycle; e.g. "systemctl enable ModemManager" and "systemctl
> start ModemManager". If not using systemd, it is NetworkManager the
> one auto-activating ModemManager on boot via DBus activation.

Gentoo now offer both OpenRC and systemd. I still use OpenRC. So it seems correct
there is init.d script only for NetworkManager in my case.

> 
>>   The device works fine under Win7 of course,I could provide screenshots of
>> the device driver runtime values if they are helpful.
>>
>>   Finally, I attach mmcli output and the following: ModemManager --debug
>> --test-session --log-file=/tmp/ModemManager.log
>>
> 
> There is something wrong with that device or your system; we're not
> getting any response in any of the tty ports or the cdc-wdm port;
> weird. Which kernel are you running? Do you have the huawei_cdc_ncm
> driver installed?

Yes.

# gzip -dc /proc/config.gz | grep -i huawei_cdc_ncm
CONFIG_USB_NET_HUAWEI_CDC_NCM=y
#

# grep -a -i huawei_cdc_ncm /var/log/messages | tail
Jan  8 18:06:59 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.1 wwan0: register 'huawei_cdc_ncm' at usb-0000:00:1a.0-1.1, Huawei CDC NCM device, 82:a9:4a:09:84:2e
Jan  8 18:07:00 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.1 wwp0s26u1u1i1: renamed from wwan0
Jan  8 18:06:55 kolb615b ifplugd(wwp0s26u1u1i1)[18958]: Using interface wwp0s26u1u1i1/82:A9:4A:09:84:2E with driver <huawei_cdc_ncm> (version: 22-Aug-2005)
Jan  8 18:10:54 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.1 wwp0s26u1u1i1: unregister 'huawei_cdc_ncm' usb-0000:00:1a.0-1.1, Huawei CDC NCM device
Jan  8 18:11:57 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.2: MAC-Address: 00:1e:10:1f:00:00
Jan  8 18:11:57 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.2: setting rx_max = 16384
Jan  8 18:11:57 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.2: NDP will be placed at end of frame for this device.
Jan  8 18:11:57 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.2: cdc-wdm0: USB WDM device
Jan  8 18:11:57 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.2 wwan0: register 'huawei_cdc_ncm' at usb-0000:00:1a.0-1.1, Huawei CDC NCM device, 00:1e:10:1f:00:00
Jan  8 18:11:58 kolb615b kernel: huawei_cdc_ncm 1-1.1:1.2 wwp0s26u1u1i2: renamed from wwan0

I use 4.8.12 vanilla kernel ATM. Actually, I forgot to ask initially. Is there some kind of locking used my NetworkManager or nm-applet or pppd (acting on the /dev/ttyUSB*) files which could cause ModemManager failing to start? I do not have the error message handy anymore but you received the logfile and the only way I could have started ModemManager was via the --test-session. Does that explain there device was in use somehow already, and because of that was not responding as shown in the debug output?

So what I need to shutdown to test the device properly via ModemManager? I assume nm-applet and NetworkManager. I was not running pppd IMHO but you know, I was also trying to get the thing running via the old pppd approach using /dev/ttyUSB0. That did not work either. I know some device do not support that anymore but am not sure what group my device belongs to.

> 
>>   Either because I use xdm with xfce4 or something is wrong the integration
>> with dbus, I could start it without -test-session. However, my ModemManager
>> and nm-applet are integrated in my desktop and work with other, older Huawei
>> modems. Again, something what should be clarified in manual page.
>>
> 
> I'm not sure what you want to clarify in the manual page. You

What is needed to get ModemManager running. So it seems: dbus service, NetworkManager only on some distros (depending on systemd) ;-), how about nm-applet?

> shouldn't need --test-session, because that will end up running
> ModemManager in its own DBus session; what was the error you got when
> trying to run it in the standard system DBus bus?

As above, I do not remember the message but I was hoping to see something important revealed by the --test-session switch.

> 
>>   Provided I am on an GPRS connection I did not try to lookup if there is an
>> email list for bug reports, but the manual page only mentions your email.
>> ;-)
>>
> 
> There is a mailing list:
> https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/modemmanager-devel
> 
> And there is a bugzilla:
> https://bugs.freedesktop.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=ModemManager
> 
> Much better than writing only to me, because more people could reply
> much quicker than I did...

Thanks, am subscribed now. ;-)

Martin