Useful 3G modem 'mode switching' script

jamesc

Hi all,

One of the problems associated with 3G dongles and pfSense is that pfSense detects the device as a CD/flash drive and not a modem.

For this reason, these devices need to be switched before they can be used, I believe u3g is the driver that takes care of this in FreeBSD but only a limited number of devices are supported.

usb_modeswitch is the other method that can be used and a FreeBSD port for this has been recently made available:

http://www.freshports.org/sysutils/usb_modeswitch/

However, I came across this script which takes care of everything, it just needs a little modification to make it work with pfSense. Basically, the script just needs to carry out the 'mode switch' and let pfSense handle the ppp dialing.

http://sakis.tel4u.gr/blog/sakis3g/#networks

The script can be downloaded here:

http://www.sakis3g.org/versions/latest/i386/sakis3g.gz

This is way beyond my level of skill so would anyone be willing to take a look? :)

Cheers,

James

stephenw10

@jamesc:

a FreeBSD port for this has been recently made available:

http://www.freshports.org/sysutils/usb_modeswitch/

That's pretty exciting news, that could make a lot more modems usable.

What version of FreeBSD is it available for?

Steve

jamesc

FreeBSD 8.2, i've successfully installed it on pfSense 2.0.1

Now I just need to make it do something useful!

One of the pre-req's is having libusb, I think (but not sure) pfSense already comes with this?

stephenw10

Almost certainly.
If you've installed it that's great news.
Does it have a problem with u3g also running?

Often some libraries might have changed between 8.1 current sufficiently for stuff not to work.

Direct link to the pkg from 8-stable:```

ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-8-stable/Latest/usb_modeswitch.tbz


Steve

jamesc

Nope, it doesn't complain about u3g. The usb_modeswitch command works without any errors.

But how do you stop pfSense from using u3g when it attempts to bring up a modem that requires switching. For example, I have a ZTE dongle sat here and when I plug it in, u3g tries to do it's thing but it can't because it sees it as a storage device. I'm guessing when usb_modeswitch is configured with the relevant data package, this will intervene?

I could really do with some help getting the data package on to pfSense to do a bit more testing but there isn't much documentation available and i'm a bit of a noob when it comes to FreeBSD!

stephenw10

Is it a problem that u3g tries and fails? Usually it won't try anything on a modem it doesn't recognise.
I'm unfamiliar with usb_modeswitch, though I have used it unwittingly with Unbuntu where it just worked.
The data package instructs it how to handle a modem right?

I would guess you just need to upload it and tell usb_modeswitch where to look for it.
What version of pfSense are you running? (full, embedded, nano)

What OS are you uploading from?

Steve

jamesc

The modem is recognised, i.e the console tells me its a ZTE but its not usable in pfSense.

Yes, the data package contains all the vendor id's and device id's.

Usb modeswitch then knows what to do with the device, i.e switch it to modem mode.

Im using pfSense 2.0.1 full.

stephenw10

Presumably the data packets are cross platform and one already exists for your modem?

You can upload files to pfSense easily enough. Either via the webGUI Diagnostics: Command Prompt: Upload
or using sftp/scp. I use WinSCP from Windows. If you use the web upload it will end up in /tmp which will be lost on reboot so you'll have to move the file afterwards. Also I have found that very small files sometimes refuse to upload via the webGUI.

For testing you can tell usb_modeswitch where to find the file:


/usr/share/usb_modeswitch -c /tmp/your_modem.txt

Assuming usb_modeswitch installs there in FreeBSD since the instructions are all for Linux.

Steve

jamesc

Ah, i probably didnt explain it well. I dont have a problem downloading the package onto pfSense (i use fetch to download it directly before extracting it). The problem is there are a number of components in the package and I dont know where in FreeBSD/pfSense these files need to reside.

As you said, the data package is intended for Linux.

stephenw10

You have a link to the package?

Steve

jamesc

http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/usb-modeswitch-data-20120120.tar.bz2

stephenw10

Ah OK, that is a collection of data for all supported modems rather than something specific to yours.
Does that not get installed with the port anyway?
I'm going to have to do some reading/testing…..

Steve

stephenw10

Hmm OK so it looks like under Linux usb_modeswitch ties into the usb subsystem and will automatically recognise devices as they are plugged in and switch them. FreeBSD has a completely different system so none of the automatic part is included in the port.

In FreeBSD you will have to call it manually either with the required parameters in the command line or pointing at a file that contains them.
That's not a problem we can easily make the script run at boot time.

So what is your modem? Specifically what are the VID and PID?

Steve

jamesc

That doesnt sound too painful, the script would need to be called at startup before pfSense did its ppp dial.

My modem is a ZTE 636, i also have a Huawei E220 and vodafone K3565 for further testing. Im away til Sunday so dont have access to my test environment but im still checking the forum via my iPhone :-)

stephenw10

Ok, to confirm we really need the VID and PID but according to the device_reference.txt:

ZTE MF622 (aka "Onda MDC502HS")

ZTE MF626

ZTE MF628+ (tested version from Telia / Sweden)

ZTE MF633

ZTE MF636 (aka "Telstra / BigPond 7.2 Mobile Card")

ZTE MF637

and probably others not listed here

Contributor: Joakim Wennergren and others

DefaultVendor= 0x19d2
DefaultProduct= 0x2000

TargetVendor= 0x19d2
TargetProduct= 0x0031

MessageContent="5553424312345678000000000000061e000000000000000000000000000000"
MessageContent2="5553424312345679000000000000061b000000020000000000000000000000"

NeedResponse=1

It says to not use the reference file directly, perhaps because it's quite large, so create a new file with the above lines in. Hope! ;)

Steve

jamesc

Cheers Steve, it kinda makes sense now! Were you able to find more documentation on the port, i.e you mentioned that a manual approach is required for FreeBSD, did you read this somewhere or is this from your own knowledge?

I'll do some testing on Sunday and report back here :-)

stephenw10

I just looked at what files are installed from the port and it's very few. Only the usb_modeswitch binary and a conf file for disabling it entirely.
Unless I'm missing something.

I too have a Huawei K3565. It's not listed but I bet someone has the data for it. Anyway here's an example of how to find the VIP and PID:


[2.0.1-RELEASE][root@pfsense.fire.box]/dev(21): usbconfig 
ugen0.1: <uhci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=ON
ugen1.1: <uhci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus1, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=ON
ugen2.1: <ehci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus2, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON
ugen2.2: <huawei mobile="" huawei="" technology="">at usbus2, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON
[2.0.1-RELEASE][root@pfsense.fire.box]/dev(22): usbconfig -d 2.2 dump_device_desc
ugen2.2: <huawei mobile="" huawei="" technology="">at usbus2, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON

  bLength = 0x0012 
  bDescriptorType = 0x0001 
  bcdUSB = 0x0200 
  bDeviceClass = 0x0000 
  bDeviceSubClass = 0x0000 
  bDeviceProtocol = 0x0000 
  bMaxPacketSize0 = 0x0040 
  idVendor = 0x12d1 
  idProduct = 0x1001 
  bcdDevice = 0x0000 
  iManufacturer = 0x0002   <huawei technology="">iProduct = 0x0001   <huawei mobile="">iSerialNumber = 0x0000   <no string="">bNumConfigurations = 0x0001</no></huawei></huawei></huawei></huawei></ehci></uhci></uhci>

Steve

Edit: It is listed just as the E169.

jamesc

Yes, i think K3565 is just the Vodafone model number, its actually an E169 underneath. Have you managed to get it to switch?

stephenw10

Nope! ::)


[2.0.1-RELEASE][root@pfsense.fire.box]/dev(24): usb_modeswitch -c /tmp/e169.txt

Looking for target devices ...
 No devices in target mode or class found
Looking for default devices ...
   found matching product ID
 No devices in default mode found. Nothing to do. Bye.

[2.0.1-RELEASE][root@pfsense.fire.box]/dev(25): cat /tmp/e169.txt
# Huawei E169 and others
#
# Contributor: Dale Lane

DefaultVendor=  0x12d1
DefaultProduct= 0x1001

TargetClass=    0xff

# choose one of these:
HuaweiMode=1

Steve

Edit: Seems to be because it's already in the target class (0xff):


Looking for target devices ...
 No devices in target mode or class found
Looking for default devices ...
  searching devices, found USB ID 12d1:1001
   found matching vendor ID
   found matching product ID
   target class ff matching
   not adding device
  searching devices, found USB ID 0000:0000
  searching devices, found USB ID 0000:0000
  searching devices, found USB ID 0000:0000
 No devices in default mode found. Nothing to do. Bye.

Possibly already switched? :-\

Doh! looks like E169 is already a supported modem. ::)

jamesc

Looks that way, your console output when you plug the device in doesnt say that its a SCSI device so its already switched!