HUAWEI EC122 modem recognized but not connecting in Ubuntu 12.04 [duplicate]

Question

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• How do I install and configure Huawei mobile broadband usb modem? 1 answer

First time trying to use any OS other than Windows, really looking forward to learning more... buuut... am in the process of installing Ubuntu on my Acer netbook, and in the installation need to have the internet connected, as recommended.

I'm in Tanzania, and have no access to internet other than my portable Huawei EC122 3G Usb modem. In Ubuntu, I've set up the broadband network, it recognizes my device, I set up the profile, it prompts for password, but all that happens is after a few seconds of trying to connect, the message "Network is now disconnected" shows up - when I go to manage my networks it notes "never" under "Last time connected", so it's not connecting and disconnecting right away, it's just not picking up t signal somewhow, though the modem itself is transmitting the proper light signals that it's picking up a signal, and is obviously working fine when I switch back to Windows.

Anyone familiar with this problem and hopefully a solution? Really appreciate it, since I don't know how to navigate any of the root menus.

Answer 1

The reason you are unable to connect to the Internet is because your modem is being recognized as a mass storage device, rather than a USB modem.

To verify this, fire up your terminal and type:

lsusb -v

Under "Huawei devices", you should see something that lets you know that it's a mass storage device.

So, to get around this, you will have to download and install a couple of packages. Find them here:

1. usb_modeswitch
2. usb_modeswitch-data

Now you will need to type the following in the terminal to update your index:

sudo apt-get update

and then install the usb-modeswitch deb package using :

sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch

Again, update you index using:

sudo apt-get update

and then install the usb-modeswitch-data deb package using :

sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch-data

After you're done with that, now run a lsusb and reply what you see on the terminal. I'm sorry but without downloading these packages, I haven't yet come across a method to configure the modem to work. So you will need the Internet for once.