ZTE MF110/MF190

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Introduction

The ZTE MF110 / MF190 is a USB modem which combines 3G+/3G with EDGE/GPRS in one compact device. It has an integrated micro-SD card reader. It can send data at speeds up to 4.5 Mbps on 3G+ networks and receive data at speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps.

Configuration

Switch from CD mode to modem mode on the device

When you first plug the device, it is identified as a USB SCSI CD-ROM. You can find out the name of the device by using dmesg:

# dmesg | tail

[ 6102.172283] usb 1-5: new high-speed USB device number 4 using ehci_hcd
[ 6102.300560] scsi24 : usb-storage 1-5:1.0
[ 6103.302591] scsi 24:0:0:0: CD-ROM            ZTE      USB SCSI CD-ROM  2.31 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[ 6103.305000] sr1: scsi-1 drive
[ 6103.305422] sr 24:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr1

The dongle is identified this way:

$ lsusb | grep -i zte

Bus 001 Device 005: ID 19d2:0150 ZTE WCDMA Technologies MSM

The easiest way to switch to modem mode is by ejecting the CD-ROM:

$ eject /dev/sr1

After that, the led will turn off. A few seconds later, it will turn on again and it will be identified as modem by the kernel:

$ lsusb | grep -i zte

Bus 001 Device 005: ID 19d2:0124 ZTE WCDMA Technologies MSM

Disable CD mode on the device

Using a Windows machine, plug in the USB device and go through the short install wizard. Once done, close the Rogers app that starts up, then head into the Device Manager (Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager). Under the Ports section, find the COM port that's connected to the USB modem (ignore the Diagnostics mode). Connect to that COM port through Hyperterminal, found in the Accessories area of the Start Menu. Connection parameters are:

Bits per Second: 115200
Data bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop bits: 1
Flow Control: None

Once connected, type the following commands:

AT+ZOPRT=5
AT+ZCDRUN=8

This tells the modem not to use CD mode when it is first plugged into a computer. Now exit Hypterterminal and remove the USB modem. You are done with Windows.

Disable CD mode on the device with wvdial

First remove the usb_storage module then run modprobe usbserial:

# rmmod usb_storage
# modprobe usbserial

Edit /etc/wvdial.conf:

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyUSB0
Modem Type = Analog Modem
ISDN = 0
Init1 = AT+ZOPRT=5
Init2 = AT+ZCDRUN=8

Run wvdial, it should use those commands and fail to connect. Once it exits, unplug the stick and plug it back in and it should be seen as a modem.

Setup udev rules

Create the following udev rule:

/etc/udev/rules.d/90-zte.conf.rules

# This is the Modem part of the card, let us load usbserial with the correct vendor and product IDs so we get our usb serial devices
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0124", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe usbserial vendor=0x19d2 product=0x0124", MODE="660", GROUP="network"
# This is the ZeroCD part of the card, remove the usb_storage kernel module so it does not get treated like a storage device
#ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0150", RUN+="/sbin/rmmod usb_storage"
# This is the ZeroCD part of the card
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0150", RUN+="/usr/bin/eject /dev/sr1"

Create a wvdial configuration

Wvdial is an easy-to-use frontend to PPPd. The configuration is fairly easy to comprehend. Make sure you replace the /dev/ttyUSB2 line with the node that your USB modem is connected to, you can see that with dmesg. Save as /etc/wvdial.conf:

[Dialer Defaults]

; Disable usb CD-ROM
; Init1 = AT+ZCDRUN=8

; Enable usb CD-ROM
; Init1 = AT+ZCDRUN=9

Modem = /dev/ttyUSB2
Modem Type = Analog Modem
ISDN = 0
Baud = 7200000
Dial Attempts = 3
Username = MOVISTAR
Password = MOVISTAR
APN = movistar.es
Phone = *99***# 
Auto Reconnect = off
Stupid Mode = 1
Init1 = AT+CPIN=YOUR PIN HERE!
Init2 = ATZ
Init6 = AT+CGEQMIN=1,4,64,640,64,640
Init7 = AT+CGEQREQ=1,4,64,640,64,640

Connect to the internet

Now just run wvdial to connect:

# wvdial

If you see output reporting your PPP local and endpoint IP addresses, then it worked.