Huawei e398 3G Stick

[ScottVega]

Hi Everyone For the last 6 hours I' ve been trying to get a Huawei e398 3G Stick to work with my FortiGate 100a 4.0 MR3 Patch11. Even though, the stick is listed in the list of compatible devices, it isn' t recognized until i manually add it according to this thread: https://forum.fortinet.com/FindPost/76983 Unfortunately this didn' t help. now the modem seems to be detected:

 FG100A2104400486 # diag sys modem external-modem
 External modem vendor: Huawei
 External modem model : E398
 

but when i start the diag command, I get this:

 FG100A2104400486 # diag deb en
 
 FG100A2104400486 # diag deb app modemd
 modemd debug level is 255 (0xff)
 
 FG100A2104400486 # exe mod dial
 
 FG100A2104400486 # redails:0 isp:0 dev:/dev/ttyusb0 tel:*99#
 mode=0, dial=2, autodial=1
 modem state changed: 5(hw_err) -> 0(uninit)
 modem state changed: 0(uninit) -> 1(inactive)
 modem: Launch modem due to manual dial.
 modem: unable to open modem device - check hardware.
 modem state changed: 1(inactive) -> 5(hw_err)
 scan_usb_dev():597
 FG100A2104400486 #
 

Then I tried to install it on my computer. there it works just fine. so i guess it must have something to do with my configuration... here' s the config:

 FG100A2104400486 (modem) # sh
 config system modem
 set status enable
 set pin-init " at+cpin=7216" 
 set auto-dial enable
 set phone1 " *99#" 
 set username1 " none" 
 set passwd1 ENC k0Qwbf15hb+HSIVhhPZEQCOB9VOFmOuEbHCfZ0S7pQi+Dza/o9zm30HLrlBs0XNJUFwiOgTJNeGc8FW/bwxuu9mENMqPEKxQz3zKVZcSDDlO6jmU
 set extra-init1 " at+cgdcont=1,\" ip\" ,\" gprs.swisscom.ch\" " 
 end
 
 FG100A2104400486 (modem) #
 
 FG100A2104400486 # conf sys 3g-modem custom
 
 FG100A2104400486 (custom) # sh
 config system 3g-modem custom
 edit 1
 set vendor " Huawei" 
 set model " E398" 
 set vendor-id 12d1
 set product-id 150a
 set init-string " 55534243123456780000000000000011060000000000000000000000000000" 
 next
 edit 2
 set vendor " Huawei" 
 set model " E398" 
 set vendor-id 12d1
 set product-id 1505
 set init-string " 55534243123456780000000000000011060000000000000000000000000000" 
 next
 edit 3
 set vendor " Huawei" 
 set model " E398" 
 set vendor-id 12d1
 set product-id 140c
 set init-string " 55534243123456780000000000000011060000000000000000000000000000" 
 next
 end
 
 FG100A2104400486 (custom) #
 

I hope you can show me a way to get that thing working... cheers ScottVega

[ScottVega]

Hi Selective I got my hands on a FortiGate 50B of a friend. It' s got 4.0 MR3 Patch 9. when i plug the modem in without configuring anything except for

conf sys modem enable

i get the same output of

fnsysctl cat /proc/bus/usb/devices

here is the output:

TheBrick# fnsysctl cat /proc/bus/usb/devices
  
 T:  Bus=01 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=12  MxCh= 4
 B:  Alloc=  0/900 us ( 0%), #Int=  0, #Iso=  0
 D:  Ver= 1.10 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs=  1
 P:  Vendor=0000 ProdID=0000 Rev= 0.00
 S:  Product=USB OHCI Root Hub
 S:  SerialNumber=d0802000
 C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=40 MxPwr=  0mA
 I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub
 E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=   2 Ivl=255ms
  
 T:  Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#=  3 Spd=12  MxCh= 0
 D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
 P:  Vendor=12d1 ProdID=150a Rev= 0.00
 S:  Manufacturer=Huawei Technologies
 S:  Product=HUAWEI Mobile
 S:  SerialNumber=1234567890ABCDEF
 C:* #Ifs= 6 Cfg#= 1 Atr=c0 MxPwr=500mA
 I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 3 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=01 Prot=10 Driver=(none)
 E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=  64 Ivl=5ms
 E:  Ad=82(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 E:  Ad=01(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 I:  If#= 1 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=01 Prot=12 Driver=(none)
 E:  Ad=83(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 E:  Ad=02(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 I:  If#= 2 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=01 Prot=13 Driver=(none)
 E:  Ad=84(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 E:  Ad=03(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 I:  If#= 3 Alt= 0 #EPs= 3 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=01 Prot=11 Driver=(none)
 E:  Ad=85(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=  64 Ivl=5ms
 E:  Ad=86(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 E:  Ad=04(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 I:  If#= 4 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage
 E:  Ad=87(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 E:  Ad=05(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 I:  If#= 5 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage
 E:  Ad=06(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 E:  Ad=88(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=  64 Ivl=0ms
 TheBrick#

here is the sys info:

TheBrick # get sys status 
 Version: Fortigate-50B v4.0,build0637,120817 (MR3 Patch 9)
 Virus-DB: 14.00000(2011-08-24 17:17)
 Extended DB: 14.00000(2011-08-24 17:09)
 IPS-DB: 3.00150(2012-02-15 23:15)
 FortiClient application signature package: 4.308(2013-02-23 08:04)
 Serial-Number: FGT50B3G08605007
 BIOS version: 04000008
 Log hard disk: Not available
 Hostname: TheBrick
 Operation Mode: NAT
 Current virtual domain: root
 Max number of virtual domains: 10
 Virtual domains status: 1 in NAT mode, 0 in TP mode
 Virtual domain configuration: disable
 FIPS-CC mode: disable
 Current HA mode: standalone
 Distribution: International
 Branch point: 637
 Release Version Information: MR3 Patch 9
 System time: Mon Feb 25 22:12:49 2013
 TheBrick#

what else can i do to get the stick working? is this a bug in the FortiOS? Thank you for your help!

[Carl_Wallmark]

Hi Scott, Sorry for late response, I have been in Brazil working for a period. It doesn´t seem to have the driver loaded in the 50B either. I think of two possible reasons: 1. Its a bug 2. The messagecontent is wrong (the long hex string) the " Driver" should say " Driver=serial" when its loaded correctly. Try different messagecontent strings, I have seen a few for your model on google.

[ScottVega]

Hi Selective Nevermind! I' m glad you' re helping me! let' s hope it' s not a bug. as for part two of your answer. how can i find the correct messagecontent string? is there any way i can find it by telneting into the device? or is there any other way i can get the right string?

[Carl_Wallmark]

I usually search on google on the modell and the word " messagecontent" You will find a lot of text files for Linux, and going through them gives you the hex string. I guess you also have tried booting with the stick still connected?

[ScottVega]

OK, i will try that in the coming days. i already found some strings. yes, i tried booting the fortigate with the stick plugged in. everytime i changed the strings.

[simonorch]

Just a note, we' ve found that MR3 patch8-11 at least have issues with usb modems (haven' t checked patch12). Patch7 is safe and works, at least on the modems we use (Huawei E180)

[Carl_Wallmark]

good to know, I know there was an issue with USB modems, and a fix was included in patch 8 or 9, its in the release notes.

[ScottVega]

Hi Selective and simonorch I' ve been searching the internet for init strings for my variant of the Huawei e398 (HW-ID 150a) unfortunately, there are only two init strings, which are already mentioned in the thread i linked to when i first asked... these are the two init strings:

 55534243123456780000000000000011060000000000000000000000000000
 55534243123456780000000000000011062000000100000000000000000000

both don' t work. is there any way of getting these strings somewhere? most of the threads i' ve been finding are about HW-ID 1505 or 140c. also i' ve been trying FortiOS 4 MR3 Patch 7 all the way to patch 12, still the same result when checking if the driver has been loaded. is there anything more i can do to solve this issue?

[Dave_Hall]

Is the firmware on the USB stick upgradeable?

[ScottVega]

Hi Dave Hall hmmm... i don' t know. haven' t found anything that says firmware upgrade to it on the internet. this has been my first thought.