Posts Tagged ‘ubuntu’

Bluetooth DUN with BlackBerry 9700, T-Mobile and Ubuntu 9.10

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

I just bought a new laptop (Thinkpad T500) but the only WWAN cards available built in were for either Verizon or AT&T, which is suboptimal as I use T-Mobile which uses the AWS UMTS bands (1,4,8) instead of the bands used in the US by AT&T (1,2,5,6). Since my Blackberry 9700 supports T-Mobile 3G as well as their implementation of UMA I decided to try to get the Bluetooth DUN working.

Bluetooth DUN, T-Mobile UMA

Bluetooth DUN, T-Mobile UMA

I was hoping that with 9.10, things would have progressed enough that I could pair the phone with the computer and let NetworkManager take care of all of the irritating tedious stuff. With my GPRS PCMCIA card this is basically the case, NetworkManager notices that it is a GPRS WWAN card, and asks me who my carrier is and connects just fine. Unfortunately this is not the case with Bluetooth. I can get the phone paired but for some reason it exclaims that this is not a GPRS modem and refuses to let me tell it otherwise, so I’m forced to go about this the hard way.

After much searching, this post got me the closest though recent changes either with the new OS 5.0 on the 9700 or T-Mobile’s network have made some tweaks necessary.

http://pegelinux.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/blackberry-curve-8310-as-bluetooth-modem-on-ubuntu-hardy/

I will not go into all the step-by-step details as it is covered above and elsewhere, but first you need to get your computer to bind to the Blackberry DUN service via Bluetooth, I chose to edit /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf to make this happen automatically, but BlueManager also seems to be able to do the same thing with a much more friendly UI if you want to try that route, anyway you cut it, you need to have the DUN service show up as a /dev/rfcomm# device. Once you have completed that you will want to setup pppd(8) much like the above article suggests.

This resulted in a session that looked like the following for me:

mernisse@mernisse-laptop:/etc/chatscripts$ pppd call gprs
Press CTRL-C to close the connection at any stage!
defining PDP context...

OK

OK
waiting for connect...

CONNECT
Connected.
If the following ppp negotiations fail,
try restarting the phone.

Script /etc/chatscripts/gprs-connect-chat finished (pid 14835), status = 0x0
Serial connection established.
using channel 1
Using interface ppp0
Connect: ppp0 < --> /dev/rfcomm0
sent LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x5db98b32>
rcvd LCP ConfReq id=0x0 <asyncmap 0x0> <auth pap>
sent LCP ConfAck id=0x0 <asyncmap 0x0> <auth pap>
rcvd LCP ConfRej id=0x1 <magic 0x5db98b32>
sent LCP ConfReq id=0x2 <asyncmap 0x0>
rcvd LCP ConfAck id=0x2 </asyncmap><asyncmap 0x0>
sent PAP AuthReq id=0x1 user="mernisse-laptop" password=""
rcvd PAP AuthAck id=0x0
PAP authentication succeeded
sent CCP ConfReq id=0x1 <deflate 15> </deflate><deflate (old#) 15>
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x1 <addr 0.0.0.0> <ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
rcvd LCP ProtRej id=0x1 80 fd 01 01 00 0c 1a 04 78 00 18 04 78 00
Protocol-Reject for 'Compression Control Protocol' (0x80fd) received
rcvd IPCP ConfReq id=0x2 <addr 169.254.1.1>
sent IPCP ConfAck id=0x2 </addr><addr 169.254.1.1>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x1 <ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x2 <addr 0.0.0.0> <ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x2 </ms><ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x3 <addr 0.0.0.0> <ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x3 </ms><ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x4 <addr 0.0.0.0> <ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x4 </ms><ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x5 <addr 0.0.0.0> <ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x5 </ms><ms -dns1 0.0.0.0> </ms><ms -dns2 0.0.0.0>
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x6 <addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x6
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x7 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x7
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x8 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x8
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x9 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x9
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0xa </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0xa </addr><addr 14.36.76.18>
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0xb
rcvd IPCP ConfAck id=0xb
Could not determine local IP address
Connect time 0.1 minutes.
Sent 186 bytes, received 120 bytes.
sent IPCP TermReq id=0xc "Could not determine local IP address"
rcvd IPCP TermAck id=0xc
sent LCP TermReq id=0x3 "No network protocols running"
rcvd LCP TermAck id=0x3
Connection terminated.

Sending break to the modem

PDP context detached
Script /etc/chatscripts/gprs-disconnect-chat finished (pid 14843), status = 0x0
Serial link disconnected.

As you can see, a number of Naks have been received for things that do not work and the connection fails. Tracking each error down step by step I removed noauth from the peers file and replaced it with user “” to force a null user-name in the PAP authentication. I also removed userpeerdns as it appears that the Blackberry was refusing to give it to me. The final piece was that I was hitting what I assumed to be a race condition, as the Blackberry did not have an IP address to give me yet, it kept sending ConfNak to me until it finished setting up the tunnel to T-Mobile on my behalf… (see inset)

Tunnel List

Tunnel List

To overcome this I had to up the ipcp-max-configure to accomidate, the default according to pppd(8) is 10 so I set it to 20. This, along with a few other tweaks allowed me to connect successfully.


mernisse@mernisse-laptop:/etc/ppp/peers$ pppd call gprs
Press CTRL-C to close the connection at any stage!
defining PDP context...

OK

OK
waiting for connect...

CONNECT
Connected.
If the following ppp negotiations fail,
try restarting the phone.

Script /etc/chatscripts/gprs-connect-chat finished (pid 15068), status = 0x0
Serial connection established.
using channel 12
Using interface ppp0
Connect: ppp0 < --> /dev/rfcomm0
sent LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0x448e9c82>
rcvd LCP ConfReq id=0x0 <asyncmap 0x0> <auth pap>
sent LCP ConfAck id=0x0 <asyncmap 0x0> <auth pap>
rcvd LCP ConfRej id=0x1 <magic 0x448e9c82>
sent LCP ConfReq id=0x2 <asyncmap 0x0>
rcvd LCP ConfAck id=0x2 </asyncmap><asyncmap 0x0>
sent PAP AuthReq id=0x1 user="" password=<hidden>
rcvd PAP AuthAck id=0x1
PAP authentication succeeded
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x1 <addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfReq id=0x1 </addr><addr 169.254.1.1>
sent IPCP ConfAck id=0x1 </addr><addr 169.254.1.1>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x1
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x2 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x2
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x3 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x3
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x4 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x4
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x5 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x5
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x6 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x6
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x7 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x7
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x8 </addr><addr 0.0.0.0>
rcvd IPCP ConfNak id=0x8 </addr><addr 14.34.55.230>
sent IPCP ConfReq id=0x9 </addr><addr 14.34.55.230>
rcvd IPCP ConfAck id=0x9 </addr><addr 14.34.55.230>
replacing old default route to wlan0 192.168.196.1
Cannot determine ethernet address for proxy ARP
local IP address 14.34.55.230
remote IP address 169.254.1.1
Script /etc/ppp/ip-up started (pid 15070)
Script /etc/ppp/ip-up finished (pid 15070), status = 0x0
^CTerminating on signal 2
Connect time 4.7 minutes.
Sent 300422 bytes, received 1437245 bytes.
restoring old default route to wlan0 192.168.196.1
Script /etc/ppp/ip-down started (pid 15112)
sent LCP TermReq id=0x3 "User request"
rcvd LCP TermAck id=0x3
Connection terminated.

Sending break to the modem

PDP context detached
Script /etc/chatscripts/gprs-disconnect-chat finished (pid 15117), status = 0x0
Serial link disconnected.
Script /etc/ppp/ip-down finished (pid 15112), status = 0x0
mernisse@mernisse-laptop:/etc/ppp/peers$

Looking at the phone it appears that it snuck into Modem Mode and I was able to ssh around and perform the speedtest that adorns the top of this post. I used the gprs-disconnect-chat file unmodified from the post I linked to, but modified the gprs and gprs-connect-chat files which you can get by clicking on their names or looking at http://www.ub3rgeek.net/gprs/

Modem Mode, UMA

Modem Mode, UMA

Hopefully this will help someone get past this needlessly difficult hurdle and also enjoy wireless data anywhere in T-Mobile’s coverage area. Cheers.

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Posted in life the universe and everything | 2 Comments »

13 years with Linux

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

I first installed Linux from floppy disks back in 1996 on an old computer I had laying around. A friend of mine whom I knew through a local BBS had told me about this thing “Linux”, it was like Unix but for cheap Intel computers. I was amazed and after some tinkering I was also completely hooked. From that point I have always had at least one Linux machine running in my home. I got my mother to buy our first Internet connection with the promise that everyone in the house could use it, all thanks to Linux and this new thing called IP Masquerading.

That first Linux distribution was Slackware, a distribution by Patrick J. Volkerding which has always focused on simplicity, stability and having a sane collection of packages and defaults right out of the box. It is kind of like the OpenBSD of Linux if I was to try to make a really unnecessary analogy. Over the years my home server has always been Slackware, it was what I was the most comfortable with and it has never let me down. I even ran Slackware on my workstations up until a few years ago when World of Warcraft came around and I needed something a little more bleeding edge to get an X server with all the fancy direct rendering and 3d acceleration bits to make wine happy. I have trusted literally TeraBytes of data to Slackware and have not once been let down.

Over the last few days I have been struggling with a number of problems with my Sirius transcoder scripts. Between Sipie being unloved and requiring some work, and vlc being a royal pain sometimes I decided to upgrade my home server to Slackware 13.0. I have to start by saying i’m impressed with Slackware and the progress it has made over the years, a very small team (usually of one) has been able to make a stable, secure, reliable distribution for a very long time and the new version is no exception. And Slackware 13.0 is no exception to this rule, now bringing in amd64 support into the core distribution.

After a good 2 days of fighting the realization came that I just had to embrace, I have changed. The sad truth is that as with hardware I have come to expect software to Just Work(tm) and leave me out of it. I spend 60 hours a week wrestling with hardware and software in my job as a Systems Administrator for an ISP and I just don’t enjoy fighting it when I get home like I used to. My server acts as a media server for my PS3 so I can enjoy media content on my TV, a VOIP server for my home (I do not have a land line any longer) and hosts a number of status monitoring applications and stream recorders that I turn into podcasts for my private consumption. I need it all to just quietly work and cause me as little grief as possible.

So sadly it became time for me to go from loyal Slackware user for over a decade to full-on Ubuntu convert. We use Debian (and now Ubuntu) at work and I have been using Ubuntu in varying places since a friend of mine gave me a link in a chat pointing to what he promised was going to be a new Linux distribution that would change how people looked a Linux. It just made sense to convert, it meant I didn’t have to maintain 2 local mirrors anymore for security updates, I am much more comfortable with apt(8) and dpkg(8) and utilities like slapt-get(8) and swaret(8) are just kind of (very good) 3rd party hacks on top of the Slackware package management system.

It is amazing to see how far this dream has come, more and more I find myself quietly relying on various Free Software products to make my life simpler, easier and better and Slackware and Ubuntu have both been huge parts of that software stack. Thanks Pat, for 13 years of reliability, stability, security and sanity. Thanks also to Mark and Matt and the entire Ubuntu/Canonical gang for literally changing how thousands of people think of Linux. I converted my Mother a few weeks ago and have had less calls about the computer than I ever did with Windows.

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Posted in life the universe and everything | No Comments »