PHARscape

morgon · Joined: 27 Aug 2008 Posts: 8

Hi!

I have an old (2 years) Globetrotter 3G card that works fine with my T-Mobile SIM-card (I use nozomi-driver and wvdial).

Here is what gcom reports about it:

gcom -d /dev/noz0 info
##### GlobeTrotter Configuration #####
Manufacturer Text: Option
IMEI and Serial Number: 359835000441572,GA2C65G0CF
Manufacturer's Revision: (Date: Feb 06 2006, Time: 12:53:15)
Hardware Revision: 2.0
Network Locked: 0
Customisation: Not defined
Band settings: Europe 900/1800MHz (4)
Auto Attach:

As my T-Mobile contract is about to expire I have got myself a new SIM card from O2 and I had expected that all I would have to do was to change the AP in my wvdial.conf, but it does not work.

When I access the card with minicom (using the O2 SIM) I can enter the PIN, I can retrieve the text messages, and when I do a "AT+COPS=?" I can see that there is a O2 net.

But I cannot make a connection. "AT+COPS?" simply shows "+COPS: 1,0,"Limited Service",2" even when there is an O2 network available.

I have spoken to the 2nd level support of O2 (in Germany) and they assume an incompatibility between my datacard and the SIM...

Any ideas about what I could try?

Many thanks!

Paul · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:30 am Post subject:

Hi Morgon,

You get limited service because the Datacard is network locked to T-mobile. You need to go ask T-Mobile for the unlock code - which they may charge you for. When you get the unlock code you can post back here and we can walk you through the unlock process.

Network locking is normal practice with all the network operators.

Cheers,
Paul

morgon · Joined: 27 Aug 2008 Posts: 8

[quote="Paul"]
You get limited service because the Datacard is network locked to T-mobile.
[/quote]

Thanks for your post.

So you are saying that gcom does not report the net-lock status correctly?

Are there any other tools I could use to verify this (my card is from Germany and though I have not spoken to T-Mobile everybody says that T-Mobile cards (at least in Germany) are not locked.

But that would of course explain everything (apart from gcom reporting crap).

I have had my card for 2 years now so T-Mobile has to give me the unlock code for free - assuming I get it - what AT-command can I use to enter it?

Many thanks!

Paul · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:02 am Post subject:

I have just checked and you are correct. Until very recently T-mobile did not use network lock on their data cards.

I therefore agree with the support response - it is probably a SIM compatibility issue. If it is a hardware compatibility problem there is nothing you can do. (SIM technology keeps changing and ultra-low voltage SIMs are now the norm.)

But - I see your firmware is from 2006. The last fw release from Option was in 2007. Perhaps TMobile has a Firmware update available that can fix this issue?

Cheers,
Paul

Paul · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:11 am Post subject:

If the O2 SIM requires a PIN - try switching the PIN off in a mobile phone and trying again.

Cheers,
Paul

morgon · Joined: 27 Aug 2008 Posts: 8

I've had another chat with the O2 support and the person I spoke to this time dismissed the idea of an incompatibilty as not very likely given that I am able to e.g. enter the PIN, retrieve text messages etc.

In case of an incompatibility you would expect that nothing works, but in my case lots of things work, it's just that the card does not register with the network, so this time the O2 technician said it must be a netlock.

I have now sent a mail to T-Mobile to clarify this (however I don't expect to hear back from them very soon and their call-centers are very hard to get through to).

I will try your suggestion regarding the PIN, but I don't quite understand what difference it makes (after all I am able to simply to an AT+CPIN=8456 with my O2-SIM in minicom to enter the PIN). But I'll try.

And thanks a lot for your support!

Paul · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:33 am Post subject:

I can confirm TMobile did not use network locking until last year.

If SIM access is working but you cannot register on a network that changes the problem Wink

Perhaps you can try these commands:
#auto registration
AT+COPS=0
#any technology
AT_OPSYS=5

Paul

morgon · Joined: 27 Aug 2008 Posts: 8

[quote="Paul"]

AT+COPS=0
AT_OPSYS=5

Paul[/quote]

Paul - you are a GENIUS!
I've added these tow commands to my wvdial and it works!!!!

Absolutely awesome, everything O2 support told me was total crap.

Thank you so much, I really regret I can't buy you a beer now Smile

Paul · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:43 am Post subject:

I'm happy to help. Very Happy

Have fun,

Paul

morgon · Joined: 27 Aug 2008 Posts: 8

Just for curiosity's sake:

With my former (T-Mobile) SIM-card I got away with simply

Init1=ATZ
Init2=ATH
Init3=ATE1

in my wvdial.conf i.e. I did not even have to set the access-point, while with my new O2-SIM card I now have

Init1=ATZ
Init2=ATH
Init3=AT+COPS=0
Init4=AT_OPSYS=5
Init5=AT+CGDCONT=1, "IP", "surfo2"

Why is that? Is the T-Mobile SIM card or the T-Mobile Network smarter than the O2-card or is it because the data-card is from T-Mobile and they branded it somehow so that it knows about access-points etc?

Many thanks!

Paul · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:53 pm Post subject:

That's an easy one
You can remove these:
Init3=AT+COPS=0
Init4=AT_OPSYS=5
They only need to run once. They are designed to cancel some settings (manual registration mode and 3G only mode) which might have been set by you or software you were using in the past.

This command writes in the APN
Init5=AT+CGDCONT=1, "IP", "surfo2"

If an APN is not specified by the user the firmware of the data card will use a default value. This default can be supplied by the SIM or is pre configured in non-volatile memory. In your case the default is a Tmobile apn as it is a Tmobile card. The above command is run every time you use the card to temporarily replace the default settings.

Cheers,
Paul

morgon · Joined: 27 Aug 2008 Posts: 8

Thanks

btw: I hope you don't mind that I mentioned your site in a similar forum in Germany (where I also posted but did not get any feedback at all).

I am really quite surprised how little knowledge there seems to be both in the community and in the support centres - you really where the only one that provided useful information.

Good to know for the future...