i've been using linux for some time now and while i'm not a serious linux bigshot i still like to be able to
replicate the things i can do on windows on linux so shortly after i got my starcomms modem working on windows
i made it a point of duty to do it on linux

Anyay the evdo modem i'm using is the Ovation MC727 Modem.
Before you can use the modem to dial out you first have to have the drivers installed
fortunately if you have a linux kernel later than 2.6.15 (i actually haven't tried out earlier kernels, not that they don't work)
that means any linux distro that came out in the past 2 years and uses 2.6 kernel you should be covered i.e your kernel should have the
drivers required for the modem (however if you are the type that likes recompiling your kernel to exclude modules that you are sure you
don't need you may have to recompile again).
if the modem is plugged in at the time of booting the odds are that the drivers are already loaded. To be sure type

dmesg | grep usbserial

you should get output like this:

usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial
usbserial: USB Serial support registered for generic
usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
usbserial: USB Serial Driver core

if you don't get any outputthen you'll have to load the module manually. To load the modules you have to run as root;

type: "sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x1410 product=0x4100" (without the quotes)
after that type "sudo modprobe option" which will load the gsm option module

after that we have to make sure the usb nterface active, type "dmesg | grep ttyUSB"

you should get a similar message to this:
usb 2-1.2: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 2-1.2: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 2-1.2: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB2
usb 2-1.2: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB3

if you don't don't despair; remeber inwindows when you plugged inyour modem, a cdrom drive was detected where
the installation drivers were located; well what happens is that when you plugged in the modem the cdrom drive was detected
nd the kernel didn't bother to continue probing the hardware (at least i think that's what happened). to get the kernel to
detect the interface just eject the cdrom usually /dev/sr0 or /dev/sr1 or if you have more than 1 cdrom drive it may be /dev/sr2

just type eject /dev/srx where x is either 0 or 1 or 2 ,  depending on what drive is assigned to the modem cdrom.
now if you type dmesg | grep ttyUSB you shoud get that message i listed before

now your hardware is set up, time for you to configure how to dial out (you can use kpp or gnome's utilty -unfortunately i can't remember the name).

fot\r thoise using kde, first open kppp which is the kde ppp dialer:
in the manu navigate to internet and select kppp;
you ar fisrt greeted with a dialog that  resembles the first image.

Click on configure
another dialog comes up; on the accounts tab select new; a create new account dialog comes up as shown in the second image
select manual setup

you are now shown another window as shown in the third image. On the dial tab, click on add and enter #777 as the phone number
p.s. your connection name sis at your own discretion, you can even leave it blank though it is not advisable

next click on the dns tab,  under configuration select manual,  in the dns ip address box type each of the ip addresses you see in image 4 and click add
After you have done the setup as in figure 4, click ok

after clicking ok you are brought back to the accounts screen

click on the modems tab and select new
you are shown a dialog which you can fill as shown in the 2nd image on this page
the modem name is free form, you can fill it with whatever string you wish.
the modem device is the ttyUSB device we configured in the first stage
(note: while most of the times i've configured the usb modem it as always been /dev/ttyUSBx there is a possibliity
that for some people it may actually be /dev/tty/tty/USBx or /dev/tty/tts/USBx or some other device but whatever the case it always ends in ttyUSBx)
Make sure you use ttyUSB0 not ttyUSB1 or 2 (i think only 0 actually works)
for the connection speed, 115200 or 230400 will work (perhaps even 9600 but i never use that. if you know how to set it up
in windows without using the software bundled with it (i.e. using the new network connection wizard), you could also use the settings you use there
click ok

finally you are back at your first screen as shown in the last image.
the username is <your phone number>@starcomms.com
and the password is <your phone number>

after that click on connect (you may have to try connecting a couple of times - nigerian factor - but it should eventually work)

if you get an error message like /dev/ttyUSB0 not found it either means that your device is not set up properly or you are using the wrong device

I appreciate your post.

Which Linux OS do you use?

I have been trying to install it on Fedora core 8 but not detecting the modem.

I love the way linux works

i use a few different ditros; most of the time i use slackware, however i also use ububntu 8.04, 7.10 i also have Fedora 10 and  opensuse 11 and mandriva 2008 (actually i've beeen trying to get as many distros as possible since i started using starcomms broadband)
what kernel version are you using and which type of modem?

ps if you don;t know which kernel version you are using type uname -r and post the output

playsafe:

I appreciate your post.

Which Linux OS do you use?

I have been trying to install it on Fedora core 8 but not detecting the modem.

I love the way linux works

your best bet would be to upgrade to a recent version of fedora , like fedora 10 which works great i may be wrong but i feel that fedora 8 which have reached the end of its life which means that it is nolonger supported and would be hard to get package manager working , also which modem are u trying to use name ?

@blackweaver
pls wat do feel about ubuntu 8.04 & intrepid ibex?
i just instald intrepid ibex but am hving issues wit updating it n i cant use d 3D icons or really do anytin extra even tho d graphics card is activated
tnx 4 ur reply

i got dat error message wen i tried to download d updates

blackweaver:

i use a few different ditros; most of the time i use slackware, however i also use ububntu 8.04, 7.10 i also have Fedora 10 and  opensuse 11 and mandriva 2008 (actually i've beeen trying to get as many distros as possible since i started using starcomms broadband)
what kernel version are you using and which type of modem?

ps if you don;t know which kernel version you are using type uname -r and post the output

so u are a  distro jockey too , very nice   i have with the exception of slackware i have tried most of the distros u stated above

Mandriva 2008 was great love the way KDE is implemented brings out the best in KDE but the package manager was a downer , it also shipped with proprietary stuffs hence has better support out of the box compared to ubuntu. but the package manager was a big downer.
Opensuse 11 well i feel Opnesuse is too bloated and i hated the menu of the gnome version sucks in my opinion. also package manager is very slow
Fedora 10 I was really impressed with this release although the KMS Plymouth stuff didnt work with my intel card but i still enjoyed a flirker free boot to gdm which was truely amazing, i also love the artwork which puts ubuntu to shame really, i even use the solar wallpaper and the Nodoka theme on my ubuntu system for a long time. it worked out of the box on my dell xps m1330 and even the finger print reader was easy to setup with thinkfinger. the big problem i had with it was YUM it just too slow and unstable compared to apt-get or pacman , i have also tried F11 beta on live cd i was very impressed with it , Plymouth now works with intel cards, and fingerprint support is integrated to the system.

lynxnoon:

i got dat error message wen i tried to download d updates

u probably stopped an installation or update process , dont do this again , BAD things happen

open terminal Applications/Accessories/Terminal

and copy and paste the following

sudo dpkg --configure -a

@lynxnoon
8.04's ok i like the wubi thing (u know being able to install within windows and all) it's hard to find people who'll
take an interest in linux and the partition stuff is one of the excusesthing they'll give. i'm running
out of partitions myself
as to 3d icons, have never tried them - not much of a graphics person in fact my favorite wm is very lightweight
called icewm - not kde or gnome or even xfce and then now use programs from any of these desktop environs
to back up
however can you connect to the internet normally on 8.04?


@bigrovar
yeah mandriva 2009's a bit crazy, i actually didn't have to configure the modem, the thing just detected it.
my biggest grouse with it is that it keeps mounting all my partitions - very annoying when you have up to 30 partitions
i think the problem with opensuse (at least version 11 that i have) is kde4 i've heard a number of complaints about it but i feel uyou, that thing drags ok so the packa\ge manager thing was not just my modem; i had to download some of the packages i wanted manually before installing
Fedora, i think it's ok though when i first installed i couldn't see the mouse pointer, i had to go to some site where i got instruction on how to make it visible
I got debian recently but haven't yet got it on the net; if you like trying out livecds you can try puppy linux, nothing as
powerful as your major distros but you have an almost complete environment under less than 100mb, run safely on 512mb ram and once you've finished booting you can remove your cd;
i'm not sure yo'll want to try slackware though - like it myself nut it's not big on the graphics; also no "package manager" as such; it will allow you to install whatever you want then you have to find your depedencies yourself -- actually usually not too bad, many times the dependencies are included, i think slackware packages are usually larger 'cos of this. If you have a problem with partitioning you may want to stay away from it tho. Me when i want to instal any os i first create my partitions, slackware just asks me for what partition to use - doesn't assume and by default it starts in runlevel 3 i.e command line but am used to it

I dont really like the slackware model, for a minimalist distro i choose arch u might want to read my review on it http://bigbrovar./2009/03/16/archlinux-the-best-way-to-kiss/
about puppy, i have it installed on my usb stick which a carry with me everyware and ready to use when the need demands. if i work into a cafe , i just pop in my puppy and i dont have to use their crappy windows which probably has a keylogger

bigrovar:

about puppy,  i have it installed on my usb stick which a carry with me everyware and ready to use when the need demands. if i work into a cafe ,  i just pop in my puppy and i dont have to use their crappy windows which probably has a keylogger

smart move, i don't know why i never thought of that myself