Using Sony Ericsson P1i as a GPRS/3G modem on Acer Aspire One

As I got the Aspire One just prior to travelling, I didn't have time to test using it for internet connectivity using my Sony Ericsson P1i as a GPRS modem. As I'm travelling again soon, I decided to iron out the process in advance.

First I tried using Windows XP running in VirtualBox, with the normal Sony Ericsson tools. This worked largely without any hitches.

On to Linux (Linpus Lite), using a post on bayan ni juan as a reference.

Here's how to do it -

Check to see that the phone is detected when you plug it in. You should see something like the following.

[user@localhost ~]$ dmesg
usb 3-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
cdc_acm 3-1:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
cdc_acm 3-1:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
cdc_acm 3-1:1.5: ttyACM2: USB ACM device
usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: v0.25:USB Abstract Control Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters

Check that wvdial is installed. It seems to come with the Aspire One.

[user@localhost ~]$ yum list wvdial
wvdial.i386 1.60-3.fc8 installed

Install gnome-ppp

[user@localhost ~]$ sudo yum install gnome-ppp
Installed: gnome-ppp.i386 0:0.3.23-4.fc8
Complete!

Run gnome-ppp -

[user@localhost ~]$ gnome-ppp

Unfortunately it needs to run as root to access the modem, so give the root password (or invoke via sudo).

Click Setup
Click "Detect" to detect the modem
It should find /dev/ttyACM1
Speed 460800

Add the phone number for GPRS *99#
Phone numbers, *99# (you can use *99***10# to use profile 10 from the phone. I have the phone setup for WAP etc already, so this seems to be unnecessary).

Under init strings, my operator Telia suggests AT+cgdcont=10,,"online.telia.se"
this seems to be unnecessary, perhaps for the same reason cited earlier.

All other settings I left unchanged.

Quit and re-run gnome-ppp (perhaps not required)

Give a Username (test)
Give a Password (test)
Check the box "Remember password"
This seems to be required to workaround a bug in gnome-ppp. Without the box checked, gnome-ppp doesn't respond to the wvdial prompt "Please enter password (or empty password to stop):" - it took me a while to figure this out :)

Press connect, and hopefully you'll get a connection, with IP address, DNS etc.

Alt Gr dead in java gui apps

Its time I blogged about a bug. This one isn't very interesting, but it is annoying. Internationalisation is one of those seemingly simple things that is so hard to get right, due to the huge combination of settings, and solutions.

Whilst trying to do some coding in Netbeans, I found the Alt Gr key not working on my Swedish/Finish keyboard. Pretty important as it gets you the { and } keys! What's so frustrating is that the keys are working perfectly in every other app I've used.

After checking this Netbeans article, I found the solution here in Ubuntu's bug tracker.

$ XMODIFIERS='' /opt/netbeans-6.1/bin/netbeans

D-Link DNS-323 Easy Search Utility

Ok, I've had a DNS-323 NAS box for sometime now, and really like it. It works well, was good value, and provides lots of functions to keep you interested... particularly if you're willing to do some 'hacking'.

Right now I want to start using the bittorrent client on it (that was released together with a firmware update)... to install the bittorrent client you need to use D-Link's Easy Search Utility... and that's where the whine starts.

One of the main puposes of this utility is apparently to find and map the NAS drives in windows.

Why write an application that provides functions that already exist? Particularly if it doesn't work as well as the functions built into Windows/Linux etc already?

In my case, Windows (even a horribly firewalled Vista) can find the device through samba, and through directly specifying it's IP address. The drive can be mapped by right clicking, and map drive. The configuration web page can be accessed through any web browser...

The easy search utility isn't able to find the drive on my network...
It has a dialog box where you can enter the ip address... but apparently, this can only be used if it can already find the drive.

What is the point?

I think I'll give up on D-Link's bittorrent client, and use something freely available on the net... with a more sensible install procedure.

wintel

Occasionally I go with the flow, and buy a 'standard' HP media PC, with Vista pre-installed - hook it up to the TV and stereo and start exploring the change from broadcast to vodcast TV.
For a year things worked quite well... until HP & Windows update services decided to end my fun.

Both want to update my graphics driver Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family
from 7.14.10.1322 to 7.14.10.1461. Vista SP1 seems to have it as a requirement.

The new driver however, loses the TV settings (zoom mostly) after the computer wakes from standby... damn annoying.

So far, the working solution is to system restore prior to the upgrade, then run windows update, and hide the Intel driver update. Now it's time to sit and wait for intel's next release... or until I buy a LCD TV :)