Re: Sierra USB 306 - GetSignalQuality() fails when connected: "Could not parse the +CIND response"

[Dan Williams <dcbw redhat com>]

On Tue, 2012-11-27 at 17:09 -0800, Kelsey Sigurdur wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 2:29 AM, Bjørn Mork <bjorn mork no> wrote:
> > Kelsey Sigurdur <schlupping gmail com> writes:
> >
> >> I do have the sierra_net driver on my system but you are correct that
> >> it's not getting bound to the device.
> >>
> >> For now I'm guessing it's a kernel issue. Google, and my rudimentary
> >> understanding of C, suggests that the USB 306 is blacklisted in
> >> sierra.c
> >
> > The sierra.c comment refers to blacklisting the DirectIP USB interfaces
> > in the serial driver, giving the sierra_net driver a chance to handle
> > them instead.  This is a prerequisite for using sierra_net at all.
> >
> >> but would work with a firmware version >= M3.0.
> >> Unfortunately,  the Sierra Wireless site offers only M2_0_11_10AP as
> >> the latest firmware for this device.
> >>
> >> See http://lwn.net/Articles/385096/ if you're interested in where I
> >> came across the blacklist info.
> >
> > Right.  If the firmware version is the problem, then your device is
> > probably failing this test in the sierra_net driver:
> >
> >         /* verify fw attributes */
> >         status = sierra_net_get_fw_attr(dev, &fwattr);
> >         dev_dbg(&dev->udev->dev, "Fw attr: %x\n", fwattr);
> >
> >         /* test whether firmware supports DHCP */
> >         if (!(status == sizeof(fwattr) && (fwattr & SWI_GET_FW_ATTR_MASK))) {
> >                 /* found incompatible firmware version */
> >                 dev_err(&dev->udev->dev, "Incompatible driver and firmware"
> >                         " versions\n");
> >                 kfree(priv);
> >                 return -ENODEV;
> >         }
> >
> >
> > You should be able to verify that easily by looking for the
> > "Incompatible driver and firmware versions" message.  Is that present in
> > your kernel logs?
> >
> 
> Yes that error is present. That error is actually what prompted me to
> start peeking at the source code.
> 
> 
> > If so, then I don't think there is much anyone can do here.  We can only
> > assume there is a valid reason for Sierra to put that test in the
> > driver.  Did you try requesting newer firmware from Sierra Wireless?  In
> > my experience they don't necessarily put all available firmwares on
> > their public site.
> >
> >
> >
> > Bjørn
> 
> 
> Requesting newer firmware is my next step. Hopefully citing the email
> from Elina, and Dans' note about having version 3.0 on his 306, will
> make acquiring the update a relatively painless process.

I received my 306 as an engineering sample directly from Sierra, but
that was early 2010, and I've completely forgotten what firmware version
it came with.  It currently has M3_0_10_1AP, but I can't find any
references to that firmware version anywhere, which makes me think that
perhaps my version wasn't released publicly.  None of the USB306
variants have released upgrades to v3 firmware that I can see.

In any case, I'll go ahead and add the 306 to the PPP check.

Dan