1. Installing the iBurst drivers

This page gives instructions on how to install the drivers for an iBurst modem on Edgy Eft 6.10 or earlier. Currently there is two types of iBurst modem - PCMCIA (laptop) and USB/Ethernet (desktop).

To install the drivers you will need to download some software. If you are relying on your (not yet installed) iBurst account for internet access you will first need to go somewhere you can download stuff and copy it onto USB drive/CD/floppy, then transfer to your (K)ubuntu system.

Now to the installation: First off, don't connect the modem to the computer until instructed to do so. With the USB modem you can hook it up to the mains power and try to find a location for good reception .. there is 5 green LEDs on the front panel of the modem - the number of illuminated LEDS indicates the reception strength. A stronger signal -> faster connection.

1.1. Download software

Step 1: Download the iBurst drivers from our good friends at sourceforge:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ibdriver

As of May 2007, the correct driver to use for Feisty Fawn is:

ibdriver-1.3.2-linux-2.6.20.tar.gz

For Edgy Eft, use:

ibdriver-1.3.1-linux-2.6.17.tar.gz

For earlier versions (Dapper and before) use:

ibdriver-1.3.1-linux-2.6.tar.gz

Then download the Roaring Penguin PPPOE dialer (Note: I can't get it working with the Debian dialer):

http://www.roaringpenguin.com/penguin/open_source_rp-pppoe.php (seems to have moved here - http://www.roaringpenguin.com/products/pppoe)

Open up a terminal and make sure the two tarballs (files) you just downloaded are in the directory you want to work in. Extract the two tar files:

tar -xf ibdriver*
tar -xf rp-pppoe*

1.2. More requirements for Feisty Fawn 7.04

With Feisty, you'll need to install libc6-dev, as follows:

sudo apt-get install libc6-dev

1.3. More requirements for versions earlier than Dapper 6.06

These steps are not necessary on Dapper or Edgy.

Versions earlier than Dapper need to to have installed the build-essentials package, plus the linux kernel headers. For some reason ibdriver only compiles with gcc3.4, so you need to get that too.

If you cannot run aptitude then download the packages from packages.ubuntu.com and install them using dpkg (check dependencies!)

sudo aptitude install build-essential gcc-3.4 linux-headers-386 linux-kernel-headers

Sometimes you need to make a symbolic link to the headers. Better safe than sorry, so do it anyway:

sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r) /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build

1.4. Make and install drivers

Now cd to the directory with the ibdriver source, then make and install the drivers.

make
sudo make install

If all goes well you will get no error messages, the output of the make command should look something like this:

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.12-10-686/build SUBDIRS=/home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8 modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.12-10-686'
  CC [M]  /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-net.o
  CC [M]  /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-pcmcia.o
  CC [M]  /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-usb.o
  CC [M]  /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-file.o
  Building modules, stage 2.
  MODPOST
  CC      /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-file.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-file.ko
  CC      /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-net.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-net.ko
  CC      /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-pcmcia.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-pcmcia.ko
  CC      /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-usb.mod.o
  LD [M]  /home/mark/build/ibdriver-1.2.8/ib-usb.ko
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.12-10-686'

... and the ouput of the sudo make install command will look like this:

cp *.ko /lib/modules/2.6.12-10-686/kernel/drivers/net/
echo checking module dependancies...
checking module dependancies...
depmod -a

... and you have successfully compiled and installed the driver modules. Now we gots to change a few configuration files.

For USB (desktop) modems, skip the PCMCIA steps and go straight to configuring the dialer

1.5. PCMCIA configuration

These steps are not necessary for USB (desktop) modem users

First change is the PCMCIA configuration file.

gksudo gedit /etc/pcmcia/config.opts

At the end of this file, paste the following:

device "iburst_cs"
   class "network" module "ib-pcmcia"

card "ArrayComm ut02"
    manfid 0x02e3, 0x0001
    bind "iburst_cs"

card "ArrayComm ut02"
    manfid 0x02e3, 0x0002
    bind "iburst_cs"

Save the file and exit.
Next file:

gksudo gedit /etc/default/pcmcia

Look for a line that says CORE_OPTS. Change it to the following:

CORE_OPTS="unreset_check=20 unreset_delay=100 unreset_limit=100"

Save the file and exit.
Next file:

gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/iburst

The only text in this file should be:

options ib-net ifname="ib"

Save the file and exit.
Okay, that is the PCMCIA stuff configured. Restart the PCMCIA system

sudo /etc/init.d/pcmcia restart

2. Dialer configuration

(WELCOME BACK DESKTOP USERS)

Now plug your modem in. :KS If sound is enabled, you should hear two beeps, and eventually the status light goes from purple to blue. That means your card is plugged in and happy. You can check this by listing the loaded modules:

lsmod | grep ib_

.. if all is well you will see ib_net and ib_pcmcia (if applicable) listed.

Now we configure the dialer. cd to the directory where you extracted the Roaring Penguin source, then run the setup script:

sudo ./go

... wait for a bit while the script works it's magic, then answer the questions the script asks. Answers are:

• Username: your mobile broadband provider would have told you this eg. yourname@isp.com.au

• Ethernet interface: ib0
• Demand value: no
• DNS: server
• Password: The password supplied by your mobile broadband ISP.
• Firewall: 1

... check the settings are correct and accept them if so.

If for some reason this fails, check whether you have the libc6-dev package installed.

• One last config file to change:

gksudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

Insert the following code at the end of the file:

# iBurst
auto ib0
iface ib0 inet manual
   up ifconfig $IFACE up
   up pppoe-start
   down pppoe-stop
   down ifconfig $IFACE down

Save the file and exit.

Note: if you do not want your modem to connect automatically at login then delete the line 'auto ib0'

3. Testing

Now we will test the connection. Make sure you are somewhere with good reception, so the reception quality light on your card should be green. Run the command to initialise a pppoe connection:

sudo ifup ib0

... and (fingers crossed) you should get a connection! To stop the connection use the command:

sudo ifdown ib0

And that's it. Note that not all applications will work immediately, and may require a restart.

Too easy (unless there is errors in this how-to!). If your iBurst card is inserted when you boot the machine then it will connect automatically. Otherwise use the ifup command above (don't forget to use sudo). Good luck, and enjoy the freedom of using free software wherever you want (coverage permitting of course).

4. Problems ( and Solutions )

If you are a new Ubuntu user and having problems with your installation, try ubuntuforums.org. If you are certain that the problems is directly related to the ibdriver software, have a look at the help forum for the ibdriver project on Sourceforge.

4.1. USB modem freezes

On some PCs the USB modem can cause the USB controller to freeze. The solution is to apply a patch to the driver source code. The patch is available from here:

https://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1459008&group_id=138984&atid=742190

Extract the file into the same directory as the ibdriver source, then patch the source using the following command:

patch <ibdriver-1.2.8_6.patch

... then make and install the drivers as per the earlier instructions.

4.2. The ibdriver README says I should edit /etc/hotplug/usb.usermap

This is not necessary in Dapper, have not confirmed for Breezy.

5. Monitoring signal strength

While there's no equivalent of the Windows Iburst software, Sourceforge hosts the Eyeburst project, which is a Java graphical monitoring tool. It's available at http://eyeburst.sourceforge.net/

CategoryHardware CategoryDocumentation CategoryNetworking