Mobile broadband requires reboot every time

[Con Kolivas]

I have a laptop with a mobile broadband device which only ever initialises on a reboot.

If I suspend to ram and then resume it fails to work. If I power the machine down and then cold boot it asks for the sim pin code which then also asks for the administrator password. However if I reboot the device initialises fine and connects immediately without any pin code nor administrator password.

I initially tried to report this partially as a kde bug here with more information:
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=345284
But it appears to affect other desktop environments as well and the main issue is that it never successfully resumes unless I reboot. It was originally on an older kubuntu but even after upgrading to 16.04 the issue persists.

Relevant lsusb entry:
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 1199:9041 Sierra Wireless, Inc.

Relevant dmesg components:
[ 4.690413] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ncm
[ 4.696052] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_wdm
[ 4.713496] cdc_mbim 1-6:2.12: cdc-wdm0: USB WDM device
[ 4.713687] cdc_mbim 1-6:2.12 wwan0: register 'cdc_mbim' at usb-0000:00:14.0-6, CDC MBIM, ca:cf:8e:3c:a9:05
[ 4.713708] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_mbim

[Con Kolivas (kernel-kolivas)]

Problem persists on 16.10

[Flames_in_Paradise (ellisistfroh-deactivatedaccount)]

Did you ever try disabling the pin?

Even though its a given measure of security, that's what I've been recommeded by a local helpdesk of the broadband provider (abroad in another part of Europe).

Since I were the only person having pysical access to the device & knowing that mobile broadband is costy (limited access volume, after that throtteling) this was an acceptable solution.

The steps to follow, were: Put the SIM card in a mobile Phone, disable request for PIN. That's common procedure with a USB-Stick for mobile connection.

[Con Kolivas (kernel-kolivas)]

Thanks for the suggestion. This is the frustrating part of it - the card is actually unlocked and has no pin. It makes no difference what I type in as a pin number, so long as I go through the process. Something somewhere insists it's locked when it's actually not.

[Flames_in_Paradise (ellisistfroh-deactivatedaccount)]

Well, we never spoke about that – before. I'd suggest you get a replacement from your provider. If he likes to argue about cost ... just tell him you need the option for mini-SIM.

When we took away the the PIN request via mobile-fone, the sim-card never pretented to ask for it, so this is likely to be a HW-error.

[Con Kolivas (kernel-kolivas)]

Thanks, I'll look into that then. What about the necessity for superuser access just to input the pin number? That seems excessive.

[Con Kolivas (kernel-kolivas)]

I considered what you said and put the sim card into a phone even though it was allegedly unlocked and set it as you suggested and indeed it does NOT ask for a pin now. I would consider the main issue resolved now, thanks! I've been fighting this for 2 years unsuccessfully so this is a major win for me.

The superuser access issue is a separate one but does not affect me now since the pin is unlocked.

[Scarlett Gately Moore (scarlettmoore)]

This bug is very old, if it remains an issue please update the bug with info from a supported release.