Gobi2000 on CF-31 mk3 LinuxMint

Anyone get this to work on this or any other Linux? EmperorLinux sells CF-31s with Gobi cards, so I presume it is possible.

LinuxMint 18.2 and Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS report from lsusb:

No sign of Gobi 2000. It does work in Windows 10 eek! so card is recognized in BIOS.

I have a Verizon account, and would like to add my CF-31 mk3 to the fray, but have only found info for doing this with ThinkPads (my second favorite laptop), so far.

 

Sheepman (aka sadlmkr) has Gobi working and hopefully will have some insight in your questions.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

Thanks UNCNDL1, Good to hear. I believe some firmware has to be loaded by kernel before Gobi shows in lsusb.

I tried using info from this ThinkPad-centric webpage:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Qualcomm_Gobi_2000

but none of the UQCN.mbn md5sums (in the twelve folders) matched the Verizon md5sum shown for Verizon, so I can only presume that these instructions match a different downloaded file for Gobi 2000 drivers. Probably Lenovo verson of Gobi card has different files with different md5sums. I tried copying each folder's contents to /lib/firmware/gobi folder, then rebooting, but so far have not met with success. Only 3 folders have all three files referenced (1, 3, and 12).

Another thing I have noticed is that /lib/udev/rules.d/60-gobi.rules has the wrong device ID for Vendor ID 04da

According to Hardware ID in Windows Device Manager, the Vendor ID for Gobi 2000 is 04DA and Device ID is 250F.

But /lib/udev/rules.d/60-gobi.rules shows Device ID 250d for Vendor ID 04da. Changing that to 250f (to match Windows) does nothing.

 

I just sent some smoke signals to SHEEPMAN!. If he is looking to the sky, he will respond soon.

 

Too many fires, couldn't see the smoke......or as the fire look-out said "I can't see the fire from here... it's too smoky". (This happened, I heard it)
Add your device number to udev.rules.d .
250D is Gobi 1000.
It seems to me that you need a USB-Serial converter. It's probably black-listed.
Udev should automatically see and load the Gobi. See "gobi-loader".
More later as the coffee soaks in.

 

i have gobi-loader installed.

sudo /lib/udev/gobi_loader -2000 /dev/ttyUSB0 /lib/firmware/gobi

says:

Failed to open serial device: : No such file or directory
usage: /lib/udev/gobi_loader [-2000] serial_device firmware_dir

and sure enough, /dev/ttyUSB0 does not exist (or any other /dev/ttyUSB)

 

This link is for a older version of Ubuntu, but they got it to work (read down to comments):
http://securit.se/2012/03/guide-sa-har-far-du-gobi-2000-wireless-modem-att-fungera-ubuntu-12-04/
According to the comments you might need to load Wine and a few other tricks

 

Thanks UNCNDL1, but been there, done that

What I have done so far:

installed gobi-loader

copied extracted Gobi drivers from working Windows install
(path: /Images/Panasonic/) where there are 11 folders with required .mbn files)

Created /lib/firmware/gobi folder

Copied amss.mbn, apps.mbn, and UQCN.mbn to that new gobi folder ( tried contents of folder # 1, #3, and #12 which were the only folders that contained all 3 files)

Rebooted after trying each new batch of files copied to /lib/firmware/gobi

typed lsusb in console, which never shows the Gobi 2000 device

No /dev/ttyUSB* devices exist

 

Wine is only used to extract the .mbn files from the msi file.

I think SaddleMaker is on the right track with USB-Serial converter being the problem, but have yet to find where it is blacklisted.

 

Trust sadlmkr. aka sheepman. Aka Jeff..he has been down this road before.

 

Sorry about that. I had forgotten why I use MX-16 now. Research sysctl/systemd in regards to Gobi.
My take on it....the gobi card is grabbed by sysctl/systemd and it changes the name.....and does not release the card and as far as the gps portion anyway, it (the gobi card) does not like it's name changed....so it crashes.

You know this is happening when you get errors trying to talk to usb.
And if this isn't confusing I don't know what is. I shouldn't try to adlib this stuff.
Let me check my notes.,,,,here in PM.
I had a little success with systemctl stop gpsd.socket.

Then I quit using Mint 18 until they got the bugs out. (Mint isn't the only one. The culprit in my feeble mind is sysctl and systemd.)

Maybe try sudo modprobe pl2303.

Have you tried cycling the wireless switch? If WWAN comes up then its a sure bet that systemd/sysctl are grabbing the card early in boot.

 

In case you read the above, I'll double post.

You need to be in dialout group (definitely) and uucp group (according to one link)

A while back I added pl2303 and rechecked dmesg....it helped.

The blacklist I remember was in MX-16.

Annnd the only thing I have used Gobi cards for was GPS.

Good luck

Jeff

 

Thanks for the help, although it sounds that this is a losing battle for the moment. I've tried all suggestions, and, as you suggested, I read up on systemd, and decided it is too complicated for me to fool with. I wonder that it has been adopted by so many distros as much as people (including Linus Torvald) hate it. Interestingly, one of it's lead developers was banned from contributing to the Linux kernel, because of producing such buggy software. Maybe the next iteration of Ubuntu will get the bugs ironed out or abandon it, and go back to normal inits. For me, this is my only bug with Ubuntu, so I won't yet jump ship.

I suppose that I can just keep using iPhone for hotspot for the moment.

 

In my opinion, spare yourself the grief and get another WWAN module. Even in ideal conditions the Gobi2000 under Linux with sysvinit is a pain in the neck to get working.

 

Which do you suggest?

 

Depending on your carrier, the Sierra MC77xx series seems to be well supported. I don't own a CF31 (yet) but discussions here of late seem to privilege that range of modules.

I have a MC7700 in both my CF-30 MK3 and CF-19 MK4 and I can pull damn well near 100 megabits on an LTE connection. I don't even have those speeds at home.

 

I have a spare mc8355.
Will that run on Linux easily?

 

man , is there a way to put this information (and other stuff) in a list in the panasonic/linux category ?
there is a bunch of stuff specific to the sundry flavors of linux .
some sorting out and write up would be needed .

 

Previously, I could have sworn Linux just detected the Gobi2000, without jumping through any hoops (a few years ago) on CF-30.

 

TBT has a Linux subforum.
Would be nice if we could get a Linux subforum here in the Panasonic forum.
Pretty sure we already tried and were denied.

 

I was just at the Linux forum on Rob's site, but as near as I could tell, all references to Gobi2000 were for the purpose of getting GPS working.

Does the MC7700 card have to be Panasonic, or can it be un-locked?

 

Not really. I gave up on Gobi2000/3000.

A reference list would be nice. I have a box o'modules with several WWAN cards that I've collected these past years and I've tried them all out at one time or another. It's been mostly fun. But the bloody Gobi2000/3000 and their infuriating method of having to load firmware to enable profiles drives me mad. If you single those out and toss them aside, you'll find that most other Sierra WWAN modules are pretty easy to setup on Linux. I've also dabbled with Huawei and Ericsson without too many hassles.

 

sounds like the the gobi 2K and 3K modules are about like high-button shoes .
and to be honest ... when i look at my S5 displaying 25+ birds ... weeeelll .
it seems that there should be an "easier , softer way" .

 

I think Blair could get that done... If...

- There are enough people here to support it. How many needed? Who knows.

- The ownership was approached and told (again) that Toughbooks are special and handled by special people. When tackling driver related issues, the LAST thing you'd want is some Dell or Lenovo clod chiming in.

- We are generally an older crowd that is well managed and well behaved. We are not the "Dude, You got a Dell" - "Gamer Dude" types... Nor do we really want/need advice from types that don't have experience with the complexities of the Toughbook.

I was originally turned down when we wanted our own BST Forum... They relented when the above was mentioned... Though I think I might have been just a little more politically correct.

 

If it is branded to another computer manufacturer like Dell, HP or Lenovo, it is unlikely to work. If it is unbranded it will probably work. If it is branded or pulled from a Toughbook and has a "t" etched on it from a felt tip pen, it will definitely work.

I've bought 5 unbranded with no issues aside from having to reconfigure two of them to get rid of some carrier-specific pre-settings. I've written a few posts about the MC7700 in this forum.

 

kode-niner:
Thanks, I'll check your MC7700 threads.

 

'We are generally an older crowd that is well managed and well behaved ..."

yessir , those meds seem to be kicking in nicely .

 

Got an MC7750 WWAN card with a big red T on it. As stated by others, it just works in Windows and Linux!

Cheaper than sessions with psychiatrist too!