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

[Dan Williams <dcbw redhat com>]

On Thu, 2012-11-29 at 11:18 -0600, Dan Williams wrote:
> 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.

Pushed to MM_06 and master branches.

Dan