Cannot setup 3G SW 890 AirCard because of PIN

Cannot setup 3G SW 890 AirCard because of PIN

Postby David_Batson » Jun 13th, '11, 16:39

When I try to set up my Sierra Wireless 890 AirCard (ExpressCard) in Network Manager or MCC the dialog box keeps asking for a PIN number. Whether I leave it blank or try numbers such as 0000 or 1234 or 4321, I can never get past the PIN request. Same modem works fine in Fedora 15 Gnome and I was never asked for a PIN when setting it up with Fedora 15.

In the past with my other Sierra Wireless modems, the 860 and 881 I was never asked for a PIN number in Mandriva or Fedora. I have Mageia installed on a new laptop that requires the newer ExpressCard modem. The other modems were PC Cardbus (PCMCIA) modems.

Have filed a bug report: https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1778
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Re: Cannot setup 3G SW 890 AirCard because of PIN

Postby David_Batson » Jun 20th, '11, 20:27

I found I could set up my card as an analog (ppp0) modem using /dev/ttyUSB0 and it will try to connect, but fail.

I tried KPPP and it finds the modem, but a connection cannot be established.

Again, if I try to set up as a 3G/GPRS modem, I cannot get past the PIN screen. No PIN number required in Windows or Fedora 15 to connect. Zero action on my bug report.

If I can't get my WWAN card to work for internet access, Mageia is useless to me.
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Re: Cannot setup 3G SW 890 AirCard because of PIN

Postby martinw » Jun 21st, '11, 20:38

If you start the MCC network configuration tool from the command line:
Code: Select all
su
drakconnect

are any error messages displayed in the terminal window?
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Re: Cannot setup 3G SW 890 AirCard because of PIN

Postby David_Batson » Jun 23rd, '11, 17:59

I'll try drakconnect from the command line later today.

I have found out a little more info. Neither Mageia 1 nor Mandriva 2011 Beta 2 will enumerate my device. It never shows up with ifconfig. It should show up as either wwan0 or ppp0. It is a direct IP modem, so with the sierra_net driver (which is present) it should show up as wwan0. Without using the sierra_net driver it should show up as ppp0.

I find that neither Mageia 1, Mandriva 2011 Beta 2, nor Fedora 15 are enumerating the device as a direct IP modem using wwan0. At least with Fedora 15 I can connect with Gnome's Network Manager which uses ppp0. Using MCC in Mandriva 2011 Beta 2 to set up the modem, it does not find a 3G/GPRS device. Using MCC in Mageia 1 it finds the device, but I can't get past the PIN screen. With KPPP I can set up the device and talk to the modem in both Mandriva and Mageia, but it will not connect (nor enumerate as ppp0).

More info on the Sierra Wireless Linux drivers for this modem here:
Can I use a Sierra Wireless Modem on Linux Machines (direct IP modems)?

I found this thread for making a direct IP connection. I can activate the modem using what's posted in the first code box and both modem lights come on steady, but there is no wwan0 interface to use ifconfig (or ipconfig) with, so no internet connection.
http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49429

EDIT: I tried using gnome's Network Manager in Mageia from the Mageia repositories, but it crashes my system when present. It crashes the X server.
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Re: Cannot setup 3G SW 890 AirCard because of PIN

Postby David_Batson » Jun 24th, '11, 02:58

David_Batson wrote:I'll try drakconnect from the command line later today.

Code: Select all
[root@localhost ~]# drakconnect
device path not found
device path not found
comgt 15:34:08 -> -- Error Report --
comgt 15:34:08 -> ---->                      ^
comgt 15:34:08 -> Error @116, line 7, Could not write to COM device. (1)

device path not found
comgt 15:34:09 -> -- Error Report --
comgt 15:34:09 -> ---->                       ^
comgt 15:34:09 -> Error @74, line 4, Could not write to COM device. (1)


In Mandriva there are no error messages in Konsole and no requests for a PIN number, but only the dialog box that MCC cannot find any 3G/GPRS devices (something like that).

GOOD NEWS THOUGH!
I launced kppp from terminal as regular user, set up the account and modem, then connected. Had to add ppp0 to the firewall allowed connections, then I had internet access! FTR, the Sierra Wireless 890 AirCard ExpressCard uses /dev/ttyUSB3 for the connection.

After kppp connected I saw that ifconfig reports ppp0 as one of the interfaces. The other day I was trying to see this in an area where there was no cellular service. I thought ppp0 would show up whether there was cellular service or not.
Posting from Mageia now using my WWAN card. :D

EDIT: Rebooted and kppp works from the Start Menu now.
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Re: Cannot setup 3G SW 890 AirCard because of PIN

Postby Germ » Jun 24th, '11, 12:35

Glad you got it sorted. :)
Starting in 1999: Mandrake > Mandriva > Mageia
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