modem-manager connect problem

[Patrik Nilsson]

Binary package hint: network-manager

There are two problems in modem-manager (0.3-0ubuntu2, Ubuntu v10.04) and network-manager.

1) If the carrier signal is lost, i.e. there is a spot with no GSM/UMTS signal, modem-manager doesn't remove itself from memory and doesn't accept a new connection before it is removed.

gksu "killall -TERM modem-manager"

After that network-manager is able to connect again.

2) My "Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. E620 USB Modem" requires the "+CFUN=1" command (reboot software) every time it is used to ensure a proper function. In my local debug copy I had put the command in "src/mm-generic-gsm.c"'s "init_done"-function before the rest of the initiation.

mm_serial_port_queue_command (port, "+CFUN=1", 10, NULL, NULL);

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Conclusion: If I kill modem-manager when the not working and put "+CFUN=1" in its initiation, modem-manager is working as expected.

Is it possible for modem-manager to send a term-signal to itself when the carrier is lost? Then we would have a much better working modem-manager and you don't require reboot on network failure.

[Patrik Nilsson (nipatriknilsson)]

When the GSM signal goes too weak, the modem - obviously - hangs up. The difference when it is a user initiated hang up and when the signal goes weak is that Network-manager do not clean up modem-manager with ensure_killed()-function (when the signal is weak).

To establish a new GSM-link without restarting the computer the following can be done:

sudo killall modem-manager NetworkManager nm-applet
nm-applet --sm-disable

(the last is not root)