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Getting the Sprint u720 Wireless Card to work in Slackware 11.0


This page is written for the USB card, not the PCMCIA, but I've been told that the instructions are the same for both, so you should have no issues. Just pay close attention and it should work.
This should work for the u620 also
Also, even tho this is written for slackware 11 (kernel 2.6.17.13 with udev) it should be about the same with older versions of slackware or slackware 11 without udev (ie 2.4.x kernel)


To start everything is going to be explained the way it goes with udev. If you are unsure if you have udev or not type:
ls -lh /etc/rc.d/rc.udev

If you see:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.7K 2006-09-13 18:11 /etc/rc.d/rc.udev

What you are looking for is '-rwxr-xr-x' and if it exists. This will show that it's executable and will run at boot time.
Before you plug the u720 in type 'lsusb' and see what's there. Put the u720 into a free USB plug and type 'lsusb' again. You will see something like this:
Bus 1 Device 4: ID 1410:2110
Bus 1 Device 3: ID 045e:0040 Microsoft Corp. Wheel Mouse Optical
Bus 1 Device 2: ID 05e3:0606 Genesys Logic, Inc.
Bus 1 Device 1: ID 0000:0000

I already know that the u720 is 'Bus 1 Device 4: ID 1410:2110'.
Now, the next steps are pretty easy, the only things that may be different for you is the ID#
Type, 'modprobe ohci-hcd'. I'm sure if this is really needed for most systems, but it won't kill you if it's there.
Now, the next part is where it gets a little tricky. We need to modprobe usbserial. However we first need to look at the ID# of the u720 (or other device) listed in lsusb.
My ID is 1410:2110. The first number (1410) is a vendor #, the second number (2110) is a product #. So, the next thing I type will be this:
modprobe usbserial vendor=0x1410 product=0x2110

Now, with the way udev is setup with slackware 11.0 the device has been created, but not in /dev. It's in /dev/tts. For my Laptop it became /dev/tts/USB0. As far as I know with older slackware version (or ones without udev) the device will most likely be /dev/ttyUSB0.
The device is now setup. From this point on a recommend you be in a gui. Once your ready run 'kppp'. A dialog box will appear. (Pictures comming soon... if I remember)
If your running udev there is another step you MUST do before kppp will work with your modem. Simply type:
ln -s /dev/tts/USB0 /dev/ttyUSB0

This will create a link for kppp to use, so the device you select in kppp is called /dev/ttyUSB0. If you want you can change /dev/ttyUSB0 to /dev/modem if it's not in use.
In kppp create a new modem, give it a name (you can call it anything you want), then select the device (/dev/ttyUSB0). Tyen off 'Use Lock File', that is not necessary.
Next create a new connection name. Call it what you want. The phone number you need to dial is '#777'. And auth type change to 'script'. (My words are probabilly not accurate because I can't see the dialog box right now).

That's pretty much it, now just hit connect. If 'pppd' failes you may need to turn off any other network connections you may have.

I wrote a quick script that I run when ever I'm going to use the u720 card on my laptop. I run this before running kppp.
echo "modprobing ohci-hcd"
modprobe ohci-hcd
echo "modprobing usbserial with extras"
modprobe usbserial vendor=0x1410 product=0x2110
echo "creating symbolic link"
ln -s /dev/tts/USB0 /dev/ttyUSB0
echo "taking down eth0"
ifconfig eth0 down
echo "taking down eth1"
ifconfig eth1 down
echo "ensure all networks are down prior to dialing in"

The only reason I have both eth0 and eth1 listed with my laptop is sometimes I'm using my orinoco based wifi card before I get my hands on the u720.

If I'm not mistaken that should just about do it. Good luck... even tho you don't need it with me around. ^_^