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On Mon, 18 Apr 2011, Joe Buckle wrote:
Yesterday I decided to install Ubuntu 10.04 on my mum's HP Pavillion laptop (woohoo she's gone linux). Unfortunately, she uses a 3G USB Dongle device to connect to the internet. Installed Ubuntu, but I couldn't connect to the internet with her dongle. I found myself a bit stuck because that was the only access to the internet. So I laptop away. Eventually, I have got this sorted by installing USB ModeSwitch which obviously I couldn't install without the internet whilst at my mum's. The purpose of this thread is to try and establish whether it would have been possible to get the dongle to work without having to connect to the internet to download USB ModeSwitch. If not, then I guess I need to be better prepared next time! haha
No.I have a modem that needs this magical mode-switching too - however I did have alternative Internet access to get the software required (I'm just using http://www.sakis3g.org/ when I need it)
So put sakis on a separate usb stick for next time :)For those who don't know, the mode-switching is (I think) and attempt by the manufacturers to save a few cents per device by not including a usb hub in the device, or separate CD, etc. The device initially looks like a USB drive (and the one I have allows me to plug in a micro-sd card too), but you need to poke some magical command to it to switch off disk mode and switch on 3G modem mode - all this rather than install a few more gates to create a USB hub, I presume. Under Windoes, the tiny internal USB drive has the driver - although the one I have (ZTE MF-112) doesn't actually need a driver once it's switched, so the switching part is a total waste of time)
I've never been able to read the internal drive on it under Linux anyway, but I've not really tried that hard.
Gordon -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq