Comment 75 for bug 868034

Just thinking aloud to try and understand this problem better, we know that the E220 can appear as two different USB devices, depending on which way it's switched. In one mode it looks like a storage device, and in the other it looks like a modem. Do we know whether these two modes are bistable, in other words can it equally remain in either of its two states, or is there a "default" state that it always reverts to when it's depowered? I ask this because please notice in my post #13 fix I find I have to unplug and replug my USB connection to get it to work. Is it possible for an E220 to be left in the "wrong" state when it's switched off?

I'm noticing that after being on-line with my E220 on Ocelot, if I then restart and go over to Windows and try to go on-line with it again using Huawei's Mobile Connect application, quite often it won't connect at the first attempt, and I have to unplug and replug its USB connection before it will connect properl.y. This leads me to suspect that when I close an on-line session on Ocelot, my E220 is being left in a different (wrong) state to what happens when I close an on-line session on Huawei's Mobile Connect.

Before I came up with post #13 fix, I was having to first prime my E220 by going on-line with it using either Huawei's Mobile Connect or with Natty, and from there doing a powered-on restart to Ocelot where it would then connect correctly. I guess this priming was effectively doing the same thing as usb_modeswitch does. There must be a clue in the fact that I need to do a USB unplug-replug after running "sudo usb_modeswitch -v 0x12d1 -p 1003 -R".

One other observation I'd like to mention is that when I first switch on Ocelot from cold and plug my E220 in, I can see my 3G mobile connection being displayed as available, so that leads me to believe my E220 has been switched into modem mode at that stage. However, if I try clicking on that connection, it fails to connect. I then run "sudo usb_modeswitch -v 0x12d1 -p 1003 -R". and that causes my 3G mobile connection available display to disappear for several seconds. When it becomes available again (i.e.switched back to modem mode) it still won't connect until I do a usb unplug replug. Only then, after another few seconds of it's availability disappearing, will it successfully connect.

There must be clues to what's happening hidden in these observations, but all I can offer at this stage are these observations as a brainstorm excercise.