Re: How to save pin number and auto-connect on startup?

[Dan Williams <dcbw redhat com>]

On Fri, 2010-08-06 at 10:00 +0200, Tassilo Horn wrote:
> David Cuenca <dacuetu gmail com> writes:
> 
> Hi David,
> 
> > I'm new to N-M, connecting to 3G net in Switzerland using a Huawei
> > K3715 USB stick and Ubuntu 10.04. After the painful configuration
> > process (I had to enter manually "vendor=0x12d1 product=140c" in the
> > configuration file) everything works wonderful -- even better that the
> > original software.
> 
> Oh, I'm totally unable to get my Huawei E160 working.  Could you please
> provide those config files you have edited?  Maybe that could help me.

Does the device have IDs in the 'option' driver?  Any Huawei modems that
are not driven by 'option' should get their IDs added to that kernel
module so people don't need to hack it.

Next, does your device need a modeswitch?  Many modems have fake driver
CDs and need to be flipped into modem mode by usb_modeswitch.  If it's a
new device, it may not have been added to usb_modeswitch yet.  Recent
versions of usb_modeswitch (1.1.3 and later at least) will automatically
eject the fake CD for you via udev rules when you plug the device in.
Most Huawei devices have these fake CDs.

> > The only thing I miss is the option to save the pin number and
> > auto-connect on startup.
> 
> Hm, I use KNetworkManager, and in the Broadband Connection tab, there
> are fields for the PIN, PUK, APN, etc.  At least the PIN/PUK are saved
> in the KDE keychain (kwallet).  I guess it's the same when using
> nm-applet, where those credentials should be stored in the GNOME
> keyring.

He's talking about something that's new in NM 0.8.1, likely.
Immediately when the modem is plugged in and nm-applet notices that
modem-manager needs a PIN code, nm-applet will ask you for that PIN
code.

Now here's the problem: the PIN is specific to the *SIM*, not the
device.  But most modems don't allow us to request the IMSI (the SIM's
serial #) before we've entered the PIN, so we have no idea which PIN to
use with this device.  Chicken+egg problem really.  There may be some
ways to work around this (store the PIN with whatever attributes we
*can* get from the device) and just do best-effort, asking the user when
we can't figure it out.  Needs to be written though.

Dan