doc/www/modem.php

   1 <? include ("barry.inc"); ?>
   2
   3 <? createHeader("Using your BlackBerry as a USB Modem"); ?>
   4
   5 <? createSubHeader("Introduction"); ?>
   6
   7 <p>The Blackberry has the ability to act like a Hayes compatible modem,
   8 complete with AT commands.</p>
   9
  10 <p>In order to make use of this feature you will need the Barry command line
  11 tools installed on your system.  See the <? createLink("install", "Install"); ?>
  12 page for more details.</p>
  13
  14 <p>You will need three components to connect to the internet:
  15 <ul>
  16         <li> a working Barry install, version 0.13 or later </li>
  17         <li> a working pppd and matching kernel </li>
  18         <li> an options file and chatscript for your Blackberry provider </li>
  19 </ul>
  20 </p>
  21
  22
  23 <? createSubHeader("If You Installed Barry's Binary Packages..."); ?>
  24
  25 <p>If you installed Barry's binary packages, specifically barry-util,
  26 then default ppp options and chat scripts are installed automatically
  27 for you.  Currently there are scripts available for the following
  28 providers:
  29 <ul>
  30         <li> AT&amp;T Cingular </li>
  31         <li> China Mobile </li>
  32         <li> KPN Nederland </li>
  33         <li> O2 Ireland </li>
  34         <li> Rogers </li>
  35         <li> Sprint </li>
  36         <li> T-Mobile US </li>
  37         <li> Verizon </li>
  38 </ul>
  39 </p>
  40
  41 <p>For example, to run the default Rogers connection script, use the
  42 following command as root:</p>
  43 <pre>
  44         pppd call barry-rogers
  45 </pre>
  46
  47 <p>If none of the default scripts work, see the Troubleshooting section
  48 below.</p>
  49
  50
  51 <? createSubHeader("If You Installed Barry From Source..."); ?>
  52
  53 <p><b>Configuring PPPD</b></p>
  54
  55 <p>Sample configurations are provided in the source tarball, and if you are
  56 using a binary package, they should already be installed for you under
  57 /etc/ppp/peers and (depending on your system) /etc/chatscripts.</p>
  58
  59 <p>Copy the desired options file to /etc/ppp/peers and edit the file,
  60 making sure that the paths are referencing the correct files.
  61 <ul>
  62         <li> <b>pty</b> - must point to the location you installed Barry's
  63                         pppob program. </li>
  64         <li> <b>connect</b> - must use the correct chatscript </li>
  65 </ul>
  66 </p>
  67
  68
  69 <p><b>Establishing a Connection</b></p>
  70
  71 <p>If you named your options file "barry-rogers", then to connect to the
  72 internet, run:</p>
  73 <pre>
  74         pppd call barry-rogers
  75 </pre>
  76
  77 <p>Some systems may provide wrapper scripts for running pppd.  For example,
  78 Debian uses "pon" and "poff".</p>
  79
  80
  81
  82 <? createSubHeader("If Your Device Needs a Password..."); ?>
  83
  84 <p>If your device requires a password, you can specify this on the <b>pppob</b>
  85 command line.  For example, if you are using the <i>barry-rogers</i>
  86 PPP script, edit your /etc/ppp/peers/barry-rogers file, so that the
  87 <b>pty</b> option says something like this:
  88 </p>
  89 <pre>
  90         pty "/usr/sbin/pppob -P password"
  91 </pre>
  92
  93
  94 <? createSubHeader("Testing Your Connection"); ?>
  95
  96 <p>PPP will display some messages on stdout as it connects.  On success,
  97 you should see IP address negotiation and the resulting IP address for your
  98 machine.  PPP will then just wait for network activity.</p>
  99
 100 <p>When testing to see if this works, use your web browser.  The usual
 101 method of using <b>ping</b> does not work reliably, and some providers
 102 may have this blocked.</p>
 103
 104 <p>Check your routing table to make sure that the new default gateway
 105 is there.</p>
 106 <pre>
 107         /sbin/route -n
 108 </pre>
 109
 110
 111 <? createSubHeader("Security Concerns"); ?>
 112
 113 <p>Depending on your provider, you may or may not have a firewall installed
 114 when you connect to the internet through a tethered modem.  Keep an eye on
 115 your open ports, and remember that connecting to the internet this way
 116 may not be the same as the network you are used to.</p>
 117
 118 <p>Also keep in mind that if your system is configured to forward packets
 119 and you have pppd setup to replace your current default route, and you
 120 are still connected to an internal network (say, via ethernet), this could
 121 allow outside connections to be routed to your internal network.  The
 122 default pppd options files installed by Barry do not use the
 123 <b>replacedefaultroute</b> setting for this reason.  Contact your
 124 network administrator for assistance on configuring your mobile
 125 network setups.</p>
 126
 127
 128
 129 <? createSubHeader("Troubleshooting"); ?>
 130
 131 <p>Some devices don't respond to the PPP commands at first, but after
 132 the battery is removed and reinserted, modem functionality works.  This is
 133 likely due to the protocol not being completely understood, but resetting
 134 the device in this manner is enough of a workaround to get it working.</p>
 135
 136 <p>If you still run into trouble, the first task is to increase debug output
 137 and to log it.  PPPD supports increased logging if you add the following
 138 lines to the options file:</p>
 139 <pre>
 140         debug
 141         nodetach
 142 </pre>
 143
 144 <p>Barry's <b>pppob</b> program also supports verbose protocol logging.
 145 Change your options file and edit the pppob command line.  For example,
 146 if your pppob is installed in /usr/sbin, set the <b>pty</b> option to:</p>
 147
 148 <pre>
 149         pty "/usr/sbin/pppob -l /tmp/pppob.log -v"
 150 </pre>
 151
 152 <p>Be sure to remove these options once you have your connection working,
 153 as the above causes your entire internet traffic to be logged to the
 154 output file.</p>
 155
 156 <p>If your provider is not yet supported by the sample options files,
 157 you will need to do a little digging on your own.  If you are able to
 158 tether your Blackberry using a Windows system, you can duplicate the
 159 login information in your chat script.</p>
 160
 161 <p>You may also find example configurations for your provider on the
 162 various Blackberry forums available online.</p>
 163
 164 <p>If you are still having trouble, please send an email to the
 165 <a href="http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=153722">mailing list</a>,
 166 including:
 167 <ul>
 168         <li> the version of Barry you are using </li>
 169         <li> the output from pppd </li>
 170         <li> the log output from pppob </li>
 171         <li> the ppp options file and chatscript you used </li>
 172 </ul>
 173 </p>
 174
 175 <p>The logs from pppob can be fairly large, so limit the size to a single
 176 run.</p>
 177
 178
 179 <? createSubHeader("Connecting via Bluetooth"); ?>
 180
 181 <p>If your device has Bluetooth support, it is also possible to tether
 182 using Linux's own native Bluetooth serial drivers.  There are probably
 183 better tutorials on this already on the net, but here are a few notes
 184 from Michael Brown to help you get started.</p>
 185
 186 <p><b>Bluetooth Config</b></p>
 187
 188 <p>Put the following in your /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf file, replacing
 189 the X's with your Bluetooth BADDR.</p>
 190
 191 <pre>
 192 rfcomm0 {
 193         bind yes;
 194         device XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX;
 195         channel 1;
 196         comment "Blackberry Dialup";
 197 }
 198 </pre>
 199
 200 <p><b>PPP Config</b></p>
 201
 202 <p>Use the same peer file that you would use for the USB tethering above,
 203 but remove the pty line that points to /usr/sbin/pppob.  Since you are
 204 using the Bluetooth serial port, you don't need pppob.  Replace that
 205 line with the line of your newly configured rfcomm device.  You may
 206 also need to specify the baud rate.</p>
 207
 208 <pre>
 209 /dev/rfcomm0
 210 115200
 211 </pre>
 212
 213 <p><b>Chatscript Config</b></p>
 214
 215 <p>No change is required.  Use the same chatscript you would use for
 216 USB above.</p>
 217
 218 <p>Run as usual.  For example:</p>
 219
 220 <pre>
 221         pppd call barry-rogers
 222 </pre>
 223