not quite working from me

[Kim Tyler]

Hi there - I have a Telstra NextG MF626 PP Wireless Modem. I have configured HAL and udev so that it connect automatically upon insertion (http://blog.christophersmart.com/2009/05/21/telstra-nextg-working-with-mf626-usb-modem/) but your solution looks very good, especially for recharges/SMS etc.

Using your utuility, I can connect, but get no joy with SMS or other bits, and get errors such as :-

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/kit284/.jbm/jbm.py", line 563, in new_click
    JBMSMSDialog(self, wx.ID_ANY)
  File "/home/kit284/.jbm/jbm.py", line 100, in __init__
    self.number_text = wx.TextCtrl(self, wx.ID_ANY, number, style=attributes)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/wx-2.8-gtk2-unicode/wx/_controls.py", line 1736, in __init__
    _controls_.TextCtrl_swiginit(self,_controls_.new_TextCtrl(*args, **kwargs))
TypeError: String or Unicode type required
Config: Get -> general.detect tty

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

[Jon Estey (redlord)]

Hey, I'm looking into it now and I will try to put out a new release tonight.

What other bits are you having troubles with?

[Jon Estey (redlord)]

Ok, This should be fixed in the latest release.

[Kim Tyler (ktyler)]

Hi there, sorry for the late reply - I've been away.

Thanks for the prompt follow-up.

I've just downloaded and installed latest (21 August)

Brilliant ! - very nice indeed. Works as advertised.

Kudos to you my friend.

Another question :- could this run with python 2.5 ? (I know nothing
about python, but tried this on ubuntu 8.10 intrepid, but couldn't
resolve all dependencies for python 2.6)

Jon Estey wrote:
> Ok, This should be fixed in the latest release.
>
>
> ** Changed in: jbm
> Importance: Undecided => High
>
> ** Changed in: jbm
> Assignee: (unassigned) => Jon Estey (redlord)
>
>

[Jon Estey (redlord)]

No problem, I aim to please ;)

As far as python 2.5.. maybe... I don't have 2.5 installed on my laptop so I can't really try, and using telstra pre paid I can't really afford to download too much! I am however endeavouring to make it python 2.5 compatible due to popular demand.

[Kim Tyler (ktyler)]

Thanks for that. Is there anything I can do to help, eg download some
files and mail them to you via DVD, or compile/test some stuff ? I live
in Canberra, and could get the stuff via overnight mail to you if you
would like.

Cheers,

Kim Tyler

Jon Estey wrote:
> No problem, I aim to please ;)
>
> As far as python 2.5.. maybe... I don't have 2.5 installed on my laptop
> so I can't really try, and using telstra pre paid I can't really afford
> to download too much! I am however endeavouring to make it python 2.5
> compatible due to popular demand.
>
>

[Jon Estey (redlord)]

Thanks for the generous offer, unfortunately I'm travelling quiet alot right now so I don't actually have an address.
What you can do however is just try it out and report on any errors you get.

Cheers,
Jon Estey

[Kim Tyler (ktyler)]

I'm trying this out for real, and noting anything out of the
ordinary/unexpected.

As a preface to this email, I would say that this application is
wonderful, duplicating the closed propriety product that Telstra has
implemented for PC only (although I have now seen some mention of Apple
Mac). I have learned a bit while looking at this, although not enough
about python, especially how to install python 2.6 on Ubuntu Intrepid.

I am using a reasonably standard Ubuntu Jaunty 64 bit installation, with
all dependencies (except modeswitch from
http://packages.debian.org/sid/usb-modeswitch ) from the Ubuntu
repositories. I bought a microSDHC card to insert into the modem, with
the expectation that I could put the application on there with the
utilities, so that I could use it with any compatible Linux disto. Of
course, you need the modeswitch to expose the USB storage with the
modeswitch application. D'oh.

I have also disabled (temporary) the Network Manager so that it doesn't
get in the way - Jaunty Network Manager seems to work the network
connection for the Telstra Modem OK after the modeswitch, but of course
doesn't have the juicy goodness of your app. (SMS, service menu etc)

Don't sweat the following too much, the app is prefectly usable as is.
If you want, I could write a small doco to explain how I installed and
run the app so that it works, from the point of view of normal user. (my
wife would smirk about the "normal" bit)

If I can help out in any way, let me know.

Thanks again for this app. Good work.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Does not reliably recognise the modem

Impact - minor.

Explanation - The documentation states that the modem must be plugged in
before the application is started. In my experience, this is not
necessary, although in either case (modem plugged in and stable before
or after the application is started) the application detects the device
in the USB slot. This can be seen by the modeswitch, and the appearance
of the /dev/ttyUSB[012] devices.

However, the application does not always detect the devices
/dev/ttyUSB[012] as modems.

EG from the application output, you can see where the application
detects the USB device, and executes the modeswitch. The attached
microSD card is then exposed, and gnome then mounts it. The application
detects the newly created /dev/ttyUSB[012] devices, but does not always
detect them as modems. It works 4 times out of 5, so not a real worry
An unsuccessful connection (but with correct modeswitch and attached USB
memory exposed)

root@pio:~/.jbm# jbm
Config: Loading -> /root/.jbm/config
Config: Get -> usage.rollup days
Config: Get -> usage.short format
Config: Get -> usage.long format
Config: Get -> general.detect tty
Config: Get -> general.check modem
Config: Get -> general.auto modeswitch
Modem found in CD Mode, attempting to switch
 Mode switching successful!
Config: Get -> general.detect tty
Config: Get -> general.check modem
Config: Get -> general.detect tty
Config: Get -> general.check modem
Config: Get -> general.detect tty
Config: Get -> general.check modem
...

[Kim Tyler (ktyler)]

Hi there,

An update on previous comments.

1 I can't reproduce the "modem not found" problem (Item 1), so
prehaps we should forget that bit.

2 I now have JBM running on Ubuntu Intrepid, after finding that there
was a bug in Python2.6/3.0 with a particular patch. With this, there
should be no need to produce a python 2.5 version

If you need further doco on this or anything else, please contact me.
(eg how to install and use python 2.6 on Intrepid - I had to hack a
little bit, but someone with a knowledge of python/linux may be able to
make it better)

Cheers,

Kim

[Jon Estey (redlord)]

Thanks for the heap of feedback!

If you want you could write an installation document, it would be good for ubuntu users at the very least.
Eventually I will make an installation script or maybe packages for popular distros, but its not a high
priority for me.

1. Fixed the documentation, this feature was actually added 2 or 3 releases ago

I've never noticed this particular problem so I can't try my fixes but I may have fixed it.
I think it's due to there being data in the serial buffer before detection starts.
Either way I've added some more verbosity so if it continues to happen it should be easier to diagnose.

2. This is a strange one, it seems that the thread has been deleted but the subprcess is still running.
I've added a check to ensure that the thread is still running, this should fix the error.

As far as the contents of resolv.conf, you don't really have to worry about them, dhcp and JBM (if configured to) will overwrite them regardless.

3. The unknown responses are fine, all they are is passive messages sent from the modem that I havn't setup
processing for.

If you play with the service menu much you may notice an extra error as well, its sent with the SMS about service menu usage. Its also ok and doesn't affect anything (well not anymore).
If you notice any other extra oks or errors let me know, there really shouldn't be any.

4. This is actually the way I designed it, the service menu needs to be initiated somehow, I could program in the initial
menu but it changes by times so I would have to update it all the time.

I have added a display message to let people know what to do and also code to clear the menu when it times out.
Incidentally I've also fixed the extra error I mentioned in #3 through this process...

5. Not sure why the +CME error is occuring, I will look into it tho.

As far as python installation instructions.. This is a little out of the scope of JBM so I'll leave it for other forums/projects.

Cheers,
Jon Estey

[slava (volga629)]

[root@localhost ~]# jbm
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/jbm/jbm.py", line 44, in ?
    from jbm_usage import *
  File "/usr/local/jbm/jbm_usage.py", line 37
    class Record():
Have some idea what to do???
Many thank's

[Jon Estey (redlord)]

Slava:
Hrm... I'm not sure what is causing that error.
It seems like its having trouble with the class declaration.
What version of python/wxpython are you running?
What distro are you on?

Cheers,
Jon Estey