Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

chosentorture · 2015-07-03 07:02:34

I'm trying to install Arch on my PC and I have access to the internet only through a USB 3G modem but I can't seem to get it to work. I'll list the things I've tried -

The command
```
dmesg | tail
```
showed that
```
sr 10:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
```
and so I tried eject the /dev/sr0 but it didn't work at all. The lsblk command still showed the presence of sr0.
I changed the udev rules in /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules to include my vendor ID and product ID which are 19d2 and 1177 respectively. The usb_modeswitch.rules now includes this -
```
ATTR{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTR{idProduct}=="1177", RUN+="usb_modeswitch '%b%k'"
```
I copied the netctl example profile named mobile_ppp to /etc/netctl and edited it to the interface name wwp0s20u2i5 as shown by lsusb, I got the following errors from journal -xn and netctl status mobile_ppp -
```
archiso pppd[1319]: In file /run/network/mobile_ppp.wwp0s20u2i5.mobile_ppp/options: unrecognized option 'wwp0s20u2i5'
archsio network[1302]: Could not establish a ppp connection for profile 'mobile_ppp'.
archiso network[1302]: Failed to bring the network up for profile 'mobile_ppp'
```
The same was true for ttyUSB0. However, when I set it to ttyACM0, netctl start mobile_ppp didn't give me any errors but didn't work. journalctl -xn and netctl status mobile_ppp gave the following one-line error -
```
archsio pppd[1454]: Connect script failed
```

I removed and reinserted the USB modem and then, journalctl -xn didn't give any errors. However, it did contain the following lines -

usb_modeswitch: switched to 19d2:1177 on 003/014
sr 16:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
archiso systemd[1]: Started Networking for netctl profile mobile_ppp
The start-up result is done.

netctl status mobile_ppp gave me the same error as the last time -

archsio pppd[1454]: Connect script failed

I think I am at a dead-end here. Help?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-07-03 10:02:10

Have you seen this page?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/USB_3G_Modem

chosentorture · 2015-07-03 10:08:45

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Have you seen this page?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/USB_3G_Modem

Yes, quite thoroughly I think.

mauritiusdadd · 2015-07-03 10:51:17

chosentorture wrote:

I changed the udev rules in /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules to include my vendor ID and product ID which are 19d2 and 1177 respectively. The usb_modeswitch.rules now includes this -
ATTR{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTR{idProduct}=="1177", RUN+="usb_modeswitch '%b%k'"

That is wrong, your device has product id 1175 when it is in mass storage mode while 1177 is for the modem mode and the rule il already included in usbmodeswitch (see /usr/share/usb_modeswitch/19d2:1175). Can you post the version of systemd and usb_modeswitch you are using on the installation media?

pacman -Qi systemd
pacman -Qi usb_modeswitch

chosentorture wrote:

I copied the netctl example profile named mobile_ppp to /etc/netctl and edited it to the interface name wwp0s20u2i5 as shown by lsusb, I got the following errors from journal -xn and netctl status mobile_ppp -
archiso pppd[1319]: In file /run/network/mobile_ppp.wwp0s20u2i5.mobile_ppp/options: unrecognized option 'wwp0s20u2i5'
archsio network[1302]: Could not establish a ppp connection for profile 'mobile_ppp'.
archiso network[1302]: Failed to bring the network up for profile 'mobile_ppp'
The same was true for ttyUSB0. However, when I set it to ttyACM0, netctl start mobile_ppp didn't give me any errors but didn't work.

Not sure about ttyACM0 but usually there will be three ttyUSB interfaces for the modem, have you tried to use also ttyUSB1 and ttyUSB2? Also, have you configured the access point, username and password for your provider?

chosentorture · 2015-07-03 11:48:57

mauritiusdadd wrote:

chosentorture wrote:
I changed the udev rules in /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules to include my vendor ID and product ID which are 19d2 and 1177 respectively. The usb_modeswitch.rules now includes this -
ATTR{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTR{idProduct}=="1177", RUN+="usb_modeswitch '%b%k'"
That is wrong, your device has product id 1175 when it is in mass storage mode while 1177 is for the modem mode and the rule il already included in usbmodeswitch (see /usr/share/usb_modeswitch/19d2:1175). Can you post the version of systemd and usb_modeswitch you are using on the installation media?

I'm using the latest Arch Linux ISO with systemd 221-2 and the usb_modeswitch 2.2.3-1.
Also, the 40-usb_modeswitch.rules does include the rule for my device ZTE K3770-Z with the product ID 1175 however, lsusb shows my product ID to be 1177.

mauritiusdadd wrote:

chosentorture wrote:
I copied the netctl example profile named mobile_ppp to /etc/netctl and edited it to the interface name wwp0s20u2i5 as shown by lsusb, I got the following errors from journal -xn and netctl status mobile_ppp -
archiso pppd[1319]: In file /run/network/mobile_ppp.wwp0s20u2i5.mobile_ppp/options: unrecognized option 'wwp0s20u2i5'
archsio network[1302]: Could not establish a ppp connection for profile 'mobile_ppp'.
archiso network[1302]: Failed to bring the network up for profile 'mobile_ppp'
The same was true for ttyUSB0. However, when I set it to ttyACM0, netctl start mobile_ppp didn't give me any errors but didn't work.
Not sure about ttyACM0 but usually there will be three ttyUSB interfaces for the modem, have you tried to use also ttyUSB1 and ttyUSB2? Also, have you configured the access point, username and password for your provider?

I looked up the access point for my modem in an another Arch installation with Network Manager and it was www. There was no username, password or PIN. The interface name in Network Manager was ttyACM0.
I've tried ttyUSB0, 1, 2 and 3 and all of them show errors in journalctl -xn and netctl status mobile_ppp. However, ttyACM0 doesn't show any error in journalctl -xn but it shows the same Connect script failed error in netctl status mobile_ppp.

Last edited by chosentorture (2015-07-03 11:50:30)

mauritiusdadd · 2015-07-03 12:40:53

chosentorture wrote:

I'm using the latest Arch Linux ISO with systemd 221-2 and the usb_modeswitch 2.2.3-1.
Also, the 40-usb_modeswitch.rules does include the rule for my device ZTE K3770-Z with the product ID 1175 however, lsusb shows my product ID to be 1177.

As I said, your device has product id 1175 when it is in mass storage mode (the default mode when you connect it), the udev rule 40-usb_modeswitch.rules looks for that id and invokes usb_modeswitch that switches the device into modem mode and after the switch the product id change from 1175 to 1177 (It's all explained in the link that HoaS already posted). So the line you added has no effect because it will try to invoke usb_modeswitch when the device has already been switched to modem mode.

chosentorture wrote:

However, ttyACM0 doesn't show any error in journalctl -xn but it shows the same Connect script failed error in netctl status mobile_ppp.

Can you please post the full content of the journal?

Last edited by mauritiusdadd (2015-07-03 12:41:18)

chosentorture · 2015-07-03 13:21:59

mauritiusdadd wrote:

chosentorture wrote:
However, ttyACM0 doesn't show any error in journalctl -xn but it shows the same Connect script failed error in netctl status mobile_ppp.
Can you please post the full content of the journal?

I tried restarting the installation and this time, I started with copying the example mobile_ppp file to /etc/netctl/. My mobile_ppp config is:

Description='Example PPP Mobile Connection'
Interface=ttyACM0
Connection=mobile_ppp
#User='nothing@nothing'
#Password='nothing'
AccessPointName=www
#Pin=None
Mode=None

The journal -xn output is

archiso kernel: cdc_acm 3-2:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
archiso kernel: cdc_ether 3-2:1.5 wwan0: register 'cdc_ether' at usb-0000:00:14.0-2, Mobile Broadband Network Device, [My Device Physical Address]
archiso kernel: usb-storage 3-2:1.7 USB Mass Storage device detected
archiso kernel: scsi host9: usb-storage 3-2:1.7
archiso root[805]: usb_modeswitch: switched to 19d2:1177 on 003/007
archiso kernel: scsi 9:0:0:0: CD-ROM                               Vodafone USB SCSI CD-ROM      0001 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
archiso kernel: sr 9:0:0:0: [sr0] scsi3-mmc drive: 0x/0y caddy
archiso kernel: sr 9:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
archiso systemd[1]: Started Networking for netctl profile mobile_ppp.
-- Subject: Unit netctl@mobile_ppp.service has finished start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit netctl@mobile_ppp.service has finished starting up.
-- 
The start-up result is done.

Surprisngly, netctl status mobile_ppp doesn't contain any errors this time. It's output is:

Active: active (exited) since Fri 2015-07-03 ... 
...
...
archiso pppd[647]: Connect script failed
...
...
archiso systemd[1]: Started Networking for netctl profile mobile_ppp

The connect script failed error presented earlier according to the journal. Both of them seem fine but I have no connection.

mauritiusdadd · 2015-07-03 13:42:27

chosentorture wrote:

mauritiusdadd wrote:
Can you please post the full content of the journal?
The journal -xn output is

That is not the full content... run these commands

netctl stop mobile_ppp
netctl start mobile_ppp
sleep 20
journalctl -b > journal.txt

and then post here the content of the file journal.txt or use a pastebin client and post here the link.

Last edited by mauritiusdadd (2015-07-03 13:43:40)

chosentorture · 2015-07-03 14:56:40

mauritiusdadd wrote:

chosentorture wrote:
mauritiusdadd wrote:
Can you please post the full content of the journal?
The journal -xn output is
That is not the full content... run these commands
netctl stop mobile_ppp
netctl start mobile_ppp
sleep 20
journalctl -b > journal.txt
and then post here the content of the file journal.txt or use a pastebin client and post here the link.

I'm sorry, but I don't know how to do that. I'm installing Arch on a Live USB and although the journal.txt file gets saved in ~/, how do I save it somewhere else to be able to upload it on the internet through another computer?

respiranto · 2015-07-03 16:19:01

chosentorture wrote:

I'm sorry, but I don't know how to do that. I'm installing Arch on a Live USB and although the journal.txt file gets saved in ~/, how do I save it somewhere else to be able to upload it on the internet through another computer?

Mount a USB storage device on e.g. /mnt, then run the commands mauritiusdadd suggested but exchange journal.txt with /mnt/journal.txt, so the output of the command will be printed into a file on the USB device:

journalctl -b > /mnt/journal.txt

The rest should be self-explaining.

Last edited by respiranto (2015-07-03 16:21:08)

mauritiusdadd · 2015-07-03 16:59:25

Yes, the one suggested by respiranto is the best solution. If you do not have another USB storage device, you can try to create another small partition on the one you are using as installation media. As last resort, if you cannot post the full journal, at least to post the output of

journalctl -b /usr/bin/chat

which should be considerably shorter so you can type it by hand but it will provide less info though. I know that installing arch with an USB 3G modem can be a pain, but we can't do much without any information.

--edit:

You also said that you have another PC running Archlinux and that the 3G connection works on that pc using NetworkManager. You can also try to share the 3G connection over the Ethernet: just create a new Ethernet connection in NetworkManager and in the 'ipv4 settings' tab select 'shared' as connection method. Then activate both the 3G and the shared Ethernet connection and connect the two computers. After that during the installation you should be able to connect internet using dhcpcd.

Last edited by mauritiusdadd (2015-07-03 17:21:21)

chosentorture · 2015-07-03 18:28:10

@mauritiusddad and @respiranto

Ok. Here's the journal.txt file.

mauritiusdadd wrote:

You also said that you have another PC running Archlinux and that the 3G connection works on that pc using NetworkManager. You can also try to share the 3G connection over the Ethernet: just create a new Ethernet connection in NetworkManager and in the 'ipv4 settings' tab select 'shared' as connection method. Then activate both the 3G and the shared Ethernet connection and connect the two computers. After that during the installation you should be able to connect internet using dhcpcd.

You mean connect the two computers with a LAN cable?

Last edited by chosentorture (2015-07-03 18:32:28)

chosentorture · 2015-07-04 06:22:23

Connecting the two computers through a LAN cable didn't work either. My Arch laptop doesn't connect to the shared ethernet connection.

I tried to use wvdial and it successfully establishes a connection. However, after obtaning IP and DNS addresses, it doesn't return to the shell and thus I opened another by pressing ALT+F2 but ping -c 3 www.google.com resulted in a 100% packet loss. It's the same issue that this guy had.

My wvdial.conf file has this code

[Dialer Defaults]
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
Modem Type = USB Modem
Phone = *99#
ISDN = 0
Username = Prompt
Init1 = ATZ
Password = Prompt
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
Baud = 460800
Stupid Mode = on
Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","www"

Last edited by chosentorture (2015-07-04 06:36:07)

mauritiusdadd · 2015-07-04 06:55:02

chosentorture wrote:

@mauritiusddad and @respiranto
Ok. Here's the journal.txt file.

Ok, so it seems that the device fails during the configuration trough the CGDCONT command, but the configuration string looks ok (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_command_set if you want to know what that command means).

Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: send (AT+CGDCONT=1,IP,"www"^M)
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: expect (OK)
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: ^M
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: AT+CGDCONT=1,IP,"www"^M^M
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: ERROR^M
Jul 03 23:45:55 archiso chat[1017]: alarm
Jul 03 23:45:55 archiso chat[1017]: Failed
Jul 03 23:45:55 archiso pppd[1015]: Connect script failed
Jul 03 23:45:56 archiso pppd[1015]: Exit.

Are you sure that the apn is correct, did you verify that on the other Archlinux machine?

chosentorture · 2015-07-04 08:32:43

mauritiusdadd wrote:

chosentorture wrote:
@mauritiusddad and @respiranto
Ok. Here's the journal.txt file.
Ok, so it seems that the device fails during the configuration trough the CGDCONT command, but the configuration string looks ok (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_command_set if you want to know what that command means).
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: send (AT+CGDCONT=1,IP,"www"^M)
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: expect (OK)
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: ^M
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: AT+CGDCONT=1,IP,"www"^M^M
Jul 03 23:45:52 archiso chat[1017]: ERROR^M
Jul 03 23:45:55 archiso chat[1017]: alarm
Jul 03 23:45:55 archiso chat[1017]: Failed
Jul 03 23:45:55 archiso pppd[1015]: Connect script failed
Jul 03 23:45:56 archiso pppd[1015]: Exit.
Are you sure that the apn is correct, did you verify that on the other Archlinux machine?

Yes, absolutely. I confirmed it on my Arch Linux laptop and my mobile phone and both of them use "www" as the apn for the Vodafone Connect connection.
On the other hand, wvdial seems to make a connection but pinging google fails. I'm positive that the USB modem works fine and I haven't exhausted my data plan because I'm using the same USB modem on my Arch Laptop.

Last edited by chosentorture (2015-07-04 08:33:46)

mauritiusdadd · 2015-07-04 18:49:33

I'm sorry but then I have no clue on what is causing this issue. However, if you can't manage to get the 3G connection working, you can try to make a custom local repository on an USB key (see https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pa … repository) with all the needed packages and use that repository during the installation.

chosentorture · 2015-07-05 04:16:22

mauritiusdadd wrote:

I'm sorry but then I have no clue on what is causing this issue. However, if you can't manage to get the 3G connection working, you can try to make a custom local repository on an USB key (see https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pa … repository) with all the needed packages and use that repository during the installation.

Thanks for your help.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-07-03 07:02:34

Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#2 2015-07-03 10:02:10

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#3 2015-07-03 10:08:45

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#4 2015-07-03 10:51:17

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#5 2015-07-03 11:48:57

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#6 2015-07-03 12:40:53

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#7 2015-07-03 13:21:59

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#8 2015-07-03 13:42:27

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#9 2015-07-03 14:56:40

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#10 2015-07-03 16:19:01

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#11 2015-07-03 16:59:25

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#12 2015-07-03 18:28:10

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#13 2015-07-04 06:22:23

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#14 2015-07-04 06:55:02

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#15 2015-07-04 08:32:43

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#16 2015-07-04 18:49:33

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

#17 2015-07-05 04:16:22

Re: Errors while using USB 3G modem to install Arch Linux

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