23 replies to this topic

[wymanpg]

Since I don't know anything about linux, my new eeePC has been a great opportunity to "learn by scavenging ideas and trying them out". I had wanted to use my Palm Centro (Sprint) with the Power Vision service but without the incremental dial-up networking service fee. However, the postings I reviewed in this form left me feeling waaay over my head.

Fortunately, I found a very good post at SteveO reviews stuff - http://stuff.salrok.com/?p=5

Basically, he has you getting your user ID and password for Sprint Power Vision, installing the USBModem .prc file on your Palm - using the typical software installation routine and then creating a dial-up connection. No changes "under the hood" are needed on your eeePC - so those of us who are linux novices can stop sweating.

1) Log into your sprint account at sprint.com. Under the My Sprint tab, click on Settings and Preferences (Note, as of Dec '07, these are the links on the sprint.com site). Over in the left nav, click on the link "Power Vision Password". Set up your new password and provide your email address on the second page (you shouldn't be charged for any of this even though it might appear that way on the page).

2) On your Centro, go to Preferences > Network and click on the "Modify" button. You'll see your user id (which you'll need later) and a field for your password. Put your newly created password in there (sprint says the password change might take up to 2 hours, but mine was good in 5 min).

3) Download USB Modem here: http://www.mobile-st...m/usbmodem.html. Yes, there is a trial, but registering is less than $25.

4) Copy/install the usbmodem.prc file to your Centro. I did this from my Mac, but if you only have an eee, then you might need to connect via bluetooth to get the file copied over. You can always resort to copying to the memory card and transfer it that way.

5) Launch USBModem from the Centro and click on the "Enable" button at the bottom. Then on the eee, click on Network in the Internet tab. Click on the Create… button. Then select Dial-up. After a few seconds, you should see two items listed, an Intel modem and your Centro. Click the Centro and click Next.

6) Continue through the wizard using #777 for the phone number (no prefix needed) and input your user id and password referenced above.

7) On the last step of the wizard, check the box to connect and click on OK. You should be online!

This procedure worked well for me. Please be advised that if you try to set up the dial-up connection on your eeePC without having already launched the USBModem on your Centro and having clicked on the "Enable" button at the bottom of the screen, when your eeePC attempts to discover what dial-up devices are available, your Palm Centro will simply reboot - so follow the instructions in the correct order.

[wymanpg]

After posting the notes above and declaring victory, I found that I had a problem with the connection dropping after a couple of minutes.

I scrounged around and found the following information on this website - a posting by backpackerx entitled "Verizon EVDO Data connection on Eee PC via USB phone link".

His instructions that follow resolved my connection problem perfectly on my Sprint/Centro.

..."It would stay connected for about 2 minutes and then drop. It was timing out so I found the answer to that problem in part of these instructions posted by TabulaRasa in this thread http://forum.eeeuser...pic.php?id=3922 which I will detail for you here.

I only followed the below instructions to deal with the time out issue and substituted kwrite for pico since it's easier to use with it's find feature and copy and paste but any text editor will work.

Open console (hit Ctrl Alt T) and type:

sudo kwrite /etc/ppp/options

Use the find feature to find the line that says
lcp-echo-interval 30

and comment it out so it looks like this (basically just add the #)

#lcp-echo-interval 30

save and then exit

Viola, it worked! That # tells the connection manager to not look for a keep alive signal from Verizon to keep the connection open."

[steveo]

Hi wymanpg,
Thanks for posting to my instructions. I just updated my blog to include the timeout terminal code. I did actually have to do this as well, but forget to put that in my post.

SteveO

[peemmfivekay]

There is something called PDANET 4.11 (http://www.junefabrics.com/palmnet) that I found to be a lot easier to use than that USB Modem you posted about. I followed your instructions but didn't get it to work. My EEE PC couldn't connect to my Centro.

With the PDANET prc, just install, connect on your Centro, and make sure the program is running on the EEE PC and it will automatically connect to it. you don't have to type in any passwords or phone numbers or create any connections. It is all done automatically and works like a charm! No dropping of the connection what so ever.

Edited by peemmfivekay, 16 February 2008 - 07:16 AM.

[wymanpg]

peemmfivekay - Thanks for your note on PDANet. I am curious though. Are you running the Xandros OS or Windows XP? I am a big fan of PDANet and have used it in the past - but only on an XP machine. If you are running PDANet on Xandros, where and how did you load the desktop portion of the software (as the PDANet application on the phone wants to talk to its desktop counterpart)?

[peemmfivekay]

Sorry I failed to mention - I am running XP on my EEE PC which is probably why your instructions were not as clear for me. However - I would recommend PDANET for anyone running XP on their EEE PC.

[smileyboy]

Anyone try to get the gsm Centro working with a Asus EEE?

[wymanpg]

smileyboy - The instructions I posted above on 1-10-2008 and 1-13-2008 should work fine for your phone. These instructions are specifically for the Xandros O/S version of the Asus EEE. If you choose to install Windows XP, then I suggest you follow peemmfivekay's advice and use PDANet - it's a really nice implementation for Palm O/S and Windows XP.

Post any questions you have and click on my profile name to send me a note and I will try to address any problems you encounter.

[jan3e]

well I've got it running after some trying. Fail to understand why you need "USD modem". I run default / advanced desktop xandros and Centro works fine
as a modem connected by bluetooth no need to put any other software in the phone. Did use 3egprs though, very useful.
Also had a Sony-Ericsson connected by USB cable on GPRS by just using the connection creation tool.

[christine smith]

I have an eee running in easy mode with linux, but have jpilot installed on the advanced mode screen...I am thinking of getting a centro. but don't feel like installing, playing with anything...will it work easily???
thanks

[tdarnett]

Has anyone used this same idea to tether an at&t/cingular palm os treo/centro to the eee? i have tried to follow the instructions posted by wymanpg, but i'm not having any success.

i'm using the following info, which i found here: http://www.gadgetech.../cingular/data/

apn: isp.cingular
user name: isp@cingulargprs.com
password: CINGULAR1

i have also tried:
apn: wap.cingular
user name: wap@cingulargprs.com
password: CINGULAR1

i am using USB Modem, and i am able to set up the connection on the eee, and it can see the treo, using a dialup connection, but i am not having any success actually connecting with this setup.

when i try to connect, i get 'operation failed'. under 'details', it says NO CARRIER Connect Script failed.

any suggestions? i'm wondering if the APN info above is old or has changed?

[rlrnetwork]

Jan3e,
When you say you got it running are you referring to PDAnet and if so are you running XP. Please explain what you had to do.
Thanks

[wymanpg]

jan3e - I am not certain, but I suspect that your installation of 3egprs creates a peer-to-peer connection between your phone and the eeePC (I am not technical enough to properly describe this only to suggest that your solution is not relying on the DUN code on the phone). This is similar to how PDAnet works with Windows XP. In my case, I didn't want to add any code to the eeePC (Linux anxiety) and instead, installed my own DUN software on the phone - that's what USBModem does. That way, I connect via cable to the eeePC but the dial-up-networking software running is USBModem - not the native DUN on the phone, which Sprint charges for.
By the way, thanks for the reference to 3egprs - pretty cool implementation. For those of you looking to follow her lead, here is a link: http://www.3eportal....&id=17&Itemid=1

Edited by wymanpg, 01 April 2008 - 05:01 PM.

[wymanpg]

tdarnett - You might want to follow jan3e's lead - looks like she has a good approach for gprs phones.

[wymanpg]

christine smith - My two posts at the top of this topic seem a little long. In fact, you add some software (USBModem) to your phone - no big deal there. Then you use the network connection tool that already exists on the eeePC to create a connection. All the rest is designed to help you locate your ID and password with Sprint and to make a single change to comment out an interval wait setting. That's it!

[windracer]

Quote

Has anyone used this same idea to tether an at&t/cingular palm os treo/centro to the eee?

I got it working on my Treo 680! Here's what I did (thanks to the info in this thread):

- installed USBModem v1.60 trial on my Treo
- connected my Treo via USB cable to my Eee and enabled the USBModem software
- went into the Network Connection utility and added a new Dial-Up connection
- the Mobile Stream USB modem should be listed on /dev/ttyACM0 (which is your Treo) so select that
- for the phone number, use *99***1#
- username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
- password: CINGULAR1
- I didn't need to specify the APN anywhere (even though in the Linux documentation for USBModem it mentions editing a script to add it, I did not have to do this)

Notes:

- if you have connection problems (like the pon pppclient.cpp 1007 error), try renaming /var/run/pppd2.tdb to pppd2.tdb.old and re-creating the dial-up networking connection
- don't leave your Treo connected to the Eee unless you have USBModem running: sometimes if you go into network properties and it's not running, your Palm will reboot

So it's not fast, but it works!

Edited by windracer, 23 June 2008 - 01:46 PM.

[wymanpg]

Great job Windracer! Your input is valuable since I only have the Sprint variant.

Did you need to comment out the lcp-echo-interval that I mentioned in the second post or have you not had further problems with line dropping?

[EeePC900User]

I've got pdanet working with my Sprint Centro. Works great...even my Slingbox works great on it.

[windracer]

Quote

Great job Windracer! Your input is valuable since I only have the Sprint variant.

Did you need to comment out the lcp-echo-interval that I mentioned in the second post or have you not had further problems with line dropping?

I already had that line commented out, so I left it that way.

I am posting this from my tethered Eee (via Bluetooth, instead of USBModem) right now. ;)

[garrison2112]

Just got my linux 901 and was cruising along with tethering my centro but it appears that the sprint account maintenance options on their website have changed since january. Anyone know where you go to change your powervision password now? Seems like I can find every other pin, password, and account number under the sun, but not the power vision one... :-/

Thanks in advance!