[Tfug] why not wicd

[Jim March]

On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 9:11 AM, erich <erich1 at copper.net> wrote:
> I have another question,
>
>                And it's about cellular modems. Can you purchase a generic
> USB modem other
> than the one your licensed wireless provider gives you?

Ummm...usually not.  BUT Cricket might be an exception.  For example,
I know they can use the Kyocera KPC650 modem (per their website), a
PCMCIA device I used to own on the Verizon network.  I now use a
KPC680 Expresscard device...which I'd be willing to bet Cricket might
support.  At least, it would appear they can use Verizon-similar cell
frequencies...that's a start.

But don't give up on the A600 yet - keep reading!

> I know the phone #
> for
> the wireless modem service. However we're running into the "Windoze 0 CD
> experience"
> A Cricket A600 comes up looking like a USB storage device. I have to figure
> out
> how to switch it to a USB serial device "/dev/ttyUSBx". It would be nice if
> these
> things were generic serial devices that would connect with a simple phone #
>
>
>                                    Erich
>               Jim March wrote:

Funny you should mention all this right now.  Literally yesterday I
was at the Cricket store with Rocco from this list, checking out, you
guessed it, the A600.

There IS apparently a cure for what ails it in Linux.

First thing, you have to ask one of the better stores (read: any that
have a laptop with Windoze and an A600 on display) to do the card
update process the first time (or see last paragraph for an
alternative).

Second, I tried the A600 in my Karmic A6 lappy with the hope that this
issue has been sorted out in the release candidate Network Manager .8.
 Sigh.  Nope.  But that's not a showstopper yet.  Here's some "Ubuntu"
instructions that don't appear to me to be Ubuntu-specific...should
work in dang near anything:

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-setup-cricket-wireless-a600-broadband-modem-in-ubuntu.html

Note that in the comments, there's a way to make this script run
whenever the rig encounters the A600.

Finally, you do have to once in a while (every three months on average
under Verizon, or whenever you see performance dropping a bit)
re-initialize these things with a Windows (or Mac) app.  You may be
able to get that working in Wine, or more likely you'll do like me and
run it under a Windoze virtual machine.  I use the Virtualbox "full
tilt edition" downloaded from their site (rather than the open source
version out of Ubuntu's repos) and do USB pass-through.  When you do,
at least in NM8/Karmic I have to kill network-manager first or it'll
hold open access to the device under Windows and block Virtualbox from
passing it through to Windows.  But that's no biggie.  You can't be
connected to the Internet with the device while at the same time
updating it in a Windows VM.  If you don't want to do the VM thing,
just bring it back to the Cricket store once in a while and initialize
it there.

Jim