Re: mini PCI express 3g card?

OK folks...

I managed to get an Ericsson F3507g working with the Galileo. This card can be bought used for peanuts on ebay. It is capable of 3G and GPS but I only care about 3G.

Here is what I did to make it happen:

1. the card will not work without a SIM card. Because the card does not have a built in holder you need to buy a cheap little flex print gadget from ebay. See here for a typical example: Solderless Usim SIM Socket Holder FOR Mini PCI E Wwan Card 3G Modem NEW | eBay
2. Installing the SIM holder into the mPCIe socket is a little tricky - take your time. Installation photos will be supplied with the holder. The instructions are in mandarin but it should be pretty self-evident.
3. push the F3507 card into the mPCIe socket on top of the flex print. Click the card down into the little black prongs.
4. add an antenna to the socket marked "MAIN". You may need to buy a little pigtail adaptor
5. as regards software, I am using Debian from http://sourceforge.net/p/galileodebian/wiki/Home/ rather than Yocto. After installation, do the following:
   1. apt-get upgrade [may not be necessary, but I did it anyway]
   2. apt-get install pciutils
   3. apt-get install minicom
   4. reboot [may not be necessary, but I did it anyway]
   5. ls /dev/ttyACM* - if you see devices, the card is recognized by the kernel
   6. apt-get install sysfsutils  wvdial
   7. Put the following content into /etc/wvdial.conf:

[Dialer Defaults]

Modem = /dev/ttyS1

; Baud = 115200

; Init1 = ATZ

; Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 S11=55 +FCLASS=0

; Phone = 555-1212

; Username = my_login_name

; Password = my_login_password

 

[Dialer 3G]

Modem = /dev/ttyACM0

Init1 = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet"

Stupid mode = 1

phone= *99#

Username = gprs

Password = GPIs

You will need to change 'internet' to whatever your APN is. You will also need to change the username and password entries to suit your 3G provider - the entries above are O2 Ireland standard settings.

Now issue the following command:

wvdial 3G

Hopefully the card will dial up and if you do an ifconfig in a seperate window, you should see a 'pppd0' interface ready to be configured.

I'm still not done with this as I need to figure out how to ensure that the connection is reestablished in the event of a break, etc. I also need to optimise the wvdial.conf file.

Hopefully, this will help some of you folks out there. If you want more information on this stuff, you might want to take a look at Ericsson F3507g Mobile Broadband Module - ThinkWiki. It contains information on getting an F3507 working on a thinkpad but much of it is relevant.