Like many of you out there I use mobile broadband as my Internet connection. What bugs me the most is that annoying virtual CD-ROM drive that pops out every time I put my stick in my USB connector. The idea is that average user has all of its modem drivers (of course Windows only) nearby. What's the use for that thing on our beloved Linux boxes? I know one. We can have fun disabling this annoyance once and for all. In this article I'll show you how to use your your Linux PC to disable virtual CD-ROM drive with built in software on Huawei and ZTE GSM modem devices.

Disclamer: In this article you are going to send direct AT commands to your modem hardware and if you try real hard you can mess your hardware to the point where you will be unable to use it to connect to Internet.

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Huawei E3531 Mobile Partner Software

I've tested following procedure with my Huawei E220 and ZTE MF100 devices but it should work for all Huawei and ZTE hardware. I know that you will probably proceed because that's what every Linux geek (my self included) would do in your place but you've been warned.

So let's cut to the chase. In this article I'm using Ubuntu Linux 10.04 but the logic is the same for any Linux distribution. We will use minicom to communicate with our modem so let's install it first;

Now lets configure minicom for our modem device and select 'Serial port setup' from the 'Configuration' menu:

For 'Serial Device' you will select /dev/ttyUSB0 if you have Huawei E220 device or /dev/ttyUSB2 if you have ZTE MF100 modem device. If you have some other modem device for the 'ttyUSBX' part take a look at the 'Connection information' window from your Network Manager when you have established Internet connection. That will give you serial device location for your hardware. Here are the screen shots for my Huawei E220:

After you've finished just select 'Save setup as dfl' option and 'Exit from Minicom' what will bring you back to terminal. Design your own vehicle graphics.

Now you should be able to communicate directly with your modem using AT commands. Keep in mind that Network Manager locks your modem device as soon as you establish Internet connection using this device. It stays locked even after you disconnect so to be on the safe side now is the time to right click to your Network Manager and uncheck 'Enable Mobile Broadband' or even 'Enable Networking' option to release your device for use with minicom.

Now run minicom using:

If everything is correct you will be presented with the following screen:

Huawei modem devices

Now comes the most important part, AT commands to disable virtual CD-ROM drive. If you have Huawei device other than E220 you should consult the table bellow before entering any AT commands. If your device is Huawei E220 you can simply do the following:

Here's the more detailed table for more settings you can use instead of '0'. It should stand for most Huawei modem devices:

modem (M)
NAND-flashmemory drive (CD)
microSD-drive (SD)
PC UI interface (UI)
network adaptor (N)
smartcard (SC)

n	M	CD	SD	UI	N	SC	Remarks
0	+	+
1	+	+
3	+	+	+	won't work on devices without SC*
5	+	+	+	won't work on devices without N*
9	+	+	+	won't work on devices without N & SC*
10	+	+	+	won't work on devices without SC*
12	+	+	+	won't work on devices without N*
255	+	+	+	+	?	?	reset to factory defaults
256	+	+	+	for most devices: everything enabled except the flashmemory; microSD-drive will be available under Windows even without drivers installed
257	+	+	+
259	+	+	+	+	won't work on devices without SC*
261	+	+	+	+	won't work on devices without N & SC*
265	+	+	+	+	won't work on devices without N & SC*
266	+	+	+	+	won't work on devices without SC*
267	+	+	+	won't work on devices without N*
268	+	+	+	+	won't work on devices without N*
276	+	+	+	+	+	?	reset to factory defaults

ZTE modem devices

On the other hand if you have ZTE GSM modem device (tested with ZTE MF100) you can use following AT command to disable virtual CD-ROM drive with built in software on ZTE GSM modem devices:

If you change your mind later you can use following AT command to enable virtual CD-ROM device:

If everything is OK restart your Linux PC and you'll never see that annoying virtual CD-ROM drive again. If something got broken you can post here and I or someone else will assist.

USING THE HUAWEI E3531 USB DONGLE FOR ELEPHANT DETECTION DEVICE MOBILE CONNECTIVITY

Earlier we looked at setting up the Huawei E303 USB dongle for mobile connectivity. Here we'll look at setting up the E3531 model in two modes. These dongles are really low-cost compared to HATs! This one was only £21!

So first of all let's get started by setting this as HiLink CDC-Ether mode for PPP via eth2 over 2G/3G to connect to the internet. Then we can change it to serial modem if we want later on.

The E3531 will then have the following ID in this case: 12d1:14dc , with 12d1 being the vendor ID, and 14dc being the HiLink CDC-Ethernet model/mode ID.

Let's connect the E3531 to the USB port on the pi! Now run the 'lsusb' command to list usb devices attached to pi. Hopefully you'll get the following:

As you can see we got ID 12d1:14dc so that's great. It's in HiLink-CDC-Ethernet mode! That's supposed to be the default state for the E3531 so you don't need to worry about it being stuck in mass storage mode like the E303.

Huawei E3531 Unlock software, free download

Now we can use the Huawei HiLink to set everything up to connect to our carrier. Go to the web-browser, and access http://192.168.8.1 . Then you'll get the home html file giving your status:

Then you can go along to settings and enter your carrier information. So once you get connect, you are all ready to access the internet using PPP via eth1! That was all quite easy!

Next, let's switch it to a serial modem so we can send AT commands to get out SMS messages in lower connectivity scenarios. We'll be wanting to access it as tty/USBx

We need to switch our E3531 mode from 12d1:14dc to modem mode i.e. 12d1:1001 with 3x virtual serial ports. Let's get started by downloading and installing usb-modeswitch:

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No let's make a file containing our switch mode instructions. The instructions are:

TargetVendor=0x12d1
TargetProduct=0x1f01

MessageContent='55534243123456780000000000000011062000000100000000000000000000'

The message content depends on the firmware of your E3531, so honesty, the above might not work and you'll have to experiment/research to find a message that does :-(

Right, so let's make the file for usb-modeswitch to use:

Now after reboot, we can issue the following command: 'lsusb' and we should see the new ID as 12d1:1001 so the E3531 has switched to serial

Huawei E3531 Software