X55 T99W175 modem

[punkguy00017]

Will this modem work in my 1608 router interested in purchasing one of these

[Didneywhorl]

No idea. There is a group of peeps on Facebook that like messing with modems like that one I think.

[punkguy00017]

I read up on it and it doesn't support usb mode only pcie

[Didneywhorl]

That's 100% no go for any openWRT router that I know of, like the 1608, as they all use the USB bus for modem interface.

[PaddyX]

"That's 100% no go for any openWRT router that I know of, like the 1608, as they all use the USB bus for modem interface." That they use USB bus was suspected by me..
A couple of odd items versions of ModemManager do support: * Foxconn SDX55 T99W175 5G sub6 PCIE Modem and the latest openwrt uses near latest ModemManager if using ModemManager..
Also checking the logs I can see there is PCI bus infratructure.

While they say "5. Built-in USB3.0 MINI-PCIE interface to install 4G modules to support 3G & 4G functions.And also built-in USB3.0 M.2 interface to install 5G module to support 5G function. It can be only chose one of 4G and 5G modes. Can not support 4G and 5G at the same time."

There was also part thay would indicate it can run PCIE: under Specification: 4.1 Hardware interface introduction
"M.2 Interface : Built-in M.2 slot, support PCIE and USB3.0 bus"
Otherwise gather openWRT can run on a PC so if can sort free pc can install it or linux on could check further..
Am unable to test 1608 futher as have 32m version so cant use openwrt yet and what i can use has too old if a modemmanager..

[Didneywhorl]

Let us know if you get one running in pure pci mode. I'd love to find a working solution for this particular subject.

[PaddyX]

Will do!

Further OpenWrt can see on github .com /openwrt/openwrt/pull/10434 that they are working on support for ramips: mt7621: add support for Zbtlink ZBT-WG1608 32M
So hope it wont be too long..

Have an adapter on the way so that I can test it in my windows mini pc as well.. (pain I sold off my full PC's earlier in the year).. But PC's lunux or windows have full drivers so a lot more power when trying to troubleshoot.. Also been looking for another HP system on the cheep that can test on as there seems to be an issue with a refurbed one that I had and it didnt register it at all.

Bit of a pain, the mini only has NGFF M.2 m-key, M.2 A+e Key..
Found a modem converter for NGFF M.2 key M to Mini PCI-E Adapter With SIM and already have converters for PCI-E to M.2 B-Key (Nice part of the converter it that it has a Jumper setting select either PCIe or SATA signals so know its in the right mode and supports what I am wanting..

[Didneywhorl]

I have NEVER found a proper PCI modem adapter for the PC. Let me know if you get a good one.

[PaddyX]

What interface and what do you want it to convert too?
Will keep an eye open..
Have been using a USB to mini pcie interface with sim for years.. Works great for using my 4G modem on the PC and also been using it in the usb port on WG1608 32M while invetigating.. Wanted to make the move to m.2 as the modems of interest in upgrade path are all going that way..
Did find a converter realy would have liked that was a single m-key > b-key with sim but they wanted 60$ to ship it..

Challenge with the HP/Lenoxo etc T99W175 modem is that they have no USB funtion/connection.. If was able to get the full version then it can use usb as well.. So would also need to know what ports you PC has.. I am working with onboard m.2 on my mini pc

[mtl26637]

See my posts in this thread for details about what is needed and adapters and such:
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?t=3570

I have two of the T99W175 modems. I have the Lenovo and HP. The HP is harder to get going than the others as it does not have MHI support as of yet. With the proper adapter the lenovo works in both Windows and latest Linux/ModemManager. The HP works with all if you build MHI driver with its VID:PID. OpenWrt-ModemManager also works if you build latest master and also use latest kernel with MHI driver edits.

This was using MiniPC with mPCIe port and an adapter. Most laptops/minipc do NOT have the M.2 Key B slot with "pcie" lanes and only have the USB lanes wired up. What you can also do is use 2 adapters. The referenced adapter in the link above (m.2 to mpcie) and insert it into an "mcpie to m.2 Key AE" adapter. You end up with an adapter in an adapter but it does work and the m.2 key AE is much more popular.

[PaddyX]

cool thanks for that info!! I had been looking over that thread and in re-reading noticed I missed a couple of things..
Already have the "Ableconn MPEX-134B" Mini PCIe Adapter too M.2 Key B Slot with sim, have a converter on the way to allow it to plug into my Win mini pc.
At a catch 22 with my routers.. The older while can run latested goodies think it does not have needed pci on the Mini PCIe port while the new is not yet suported on openwrt and what I can run unfortunetly is not up to date enough..
Hopfully in a few weeks will get to see my next leep in progress.

[mtl26637]

I started with all types of routers up to my last the WRT32x which is about as fast as they get. I was still being limited by hardware so jumped to "minipc" and never looked back. The MiniPC's can be much more powerful and can come with many more options such as mPCIe port (with pcie and usb lanes). Great little x86 boxes for running things such as OMR/LINUX/WINDOWS10/OPENWRT. Then you can build the latest and greatest x86 version of whichever OS you need and have hardware faster than any router. Just takes more effort if your willing to play and do the work its worth it in the end IMO.

[PaddyX]

most interesting and excellent! Sounds similar to my path Been through a good few routers over the years and started with needing stable LTE broadband while on the road and has morphed into trying to get it more robust for bad signal areas via having a master node high or some distance of so was looking to something that could handle a fibre cable.. Also the pain of so few routers with m.2 ports!
For a good few years have been looking for something that had really good performance as also want to use it for a couple of other applications.. had started looking at more pc level things in the last year as the quest has shown routers just have not been keeping up with tech and performance!
With this last fun and now waiting for openwrt will def. be moving to mini PC when have the budget.
If had had the budget earlier in the year there was one would have loved to get and play with (well until I found out more).. plenty network perf with 10gig fibre ports in the form of 2/4 10G SFP+ and m.2 b-key! One item they held me back was in talking to them the mentioned the performance cap on the m.2 port and it was at a level that i suspect they had it connected through USB 3.x port.. "M.2 B key 3052 x 1 (USB3.0) with SIM slot" They replied "For FWS-2365 M.2 B Key USB 3.0 (5G) maximum speed is 1G, if is for USB 2.0 (4G LTE) maximum speed 480Mbps."
Was a let-down but now glad. I asked them to reach out to eng and re-confirm as the other ports claim to also have PCI structure but they never got back to me..
My other path was to look at the HP mini systems as there was some nice abilities to add a full PCI card for other components into them.. Will deff do a re-check when next have some free cash!
Edit: lol typoes cleaned up.. Tied from a week of roofing and cutting vallie tiles.

[PaddyX]

Woot! Round 1: success.
=Confirmed the modem is not DOA..

The converter had ordered arrived a week early so was able to complete the testing on the mini-PC Windows... Will be testing other adapter combinations to check what does and does not working. for now..
System has
key m - Support 2*M.2 2280 NVME/PCIE3.0x4/SATA SSD+1*2.5 inch SATA HDD/SSD. (normaly had NVME 1gig storage)
Key A+E - Support 2.5G&1G Dual RJ45 Lans+M.2 2230 WiFi/Bluetooth module.

T99W175 modem is - key b

Converter just got: key m too Mini PCI-E Adapter with sim..
Already had: Mini PCI-E Adapter too key b with sim (Ableconn MPEX-134B)

Initially modem was seen but was not seeing the sim.. tried sims in both cards and didn’t help. Tried with sims in both..
=Closer inspection and check of Ableconn MPEX-134B.. It does not have the angle section in the sim socket so the sim can go and click in either way around. When turned it and had the angle side visible on the outside then the sim was seen.
Result, was able to connect and browse the web and ran a speed test that confirmed was the correct ISP detected.

Next tests
A) With finding the other adapter is not working will try the Ableconn MPEX-134B in my older router as had only tested with it. Suspect it does not have needed pci but best to confirm..
B) Have another converter on the way: Key A+E too Mini PCI-E Adapter.. Wanting to test this as good few of the systems have been looking at do have a Key A+E WiFi/Bluetooth module but do not have any other m.2.. If can get it working on there then it would add to possible config options.

Confirmed not working: (will re-check when have time)
-M.2 Key B to Mini PCI-e Adapter NGFF M2 to Mini PCI Express PCIe for 3G 4G 5G Module for Full-size Half-size MPCIe Slots (No Sim)

[mtl26637]

FYI, if you search amazon for:
Mini PCI-E to M.2(NGFF ) Key A/E Adapter with SIM Card Slot
sold by Timack is confirmed working. You can use this adapter along with the Ableconn Key B adapter you have and it will work in M.2 Key A/E slots.

[PaddyX]

Thanks always good to know of any others that work

One challenge with it is of all the other systems I have those ports are jamed in very very tight space and in Half-size format Its the pain so when have the time will be looking for one with an Extender Cable were they have a Half-size /Full-size and a cable connect..
IE: Mini PCI-E/mSATA to Mini PCIe Flexible Extender Cable With SIM Card Slot for Mini Card WIFI WWAN WLAN Module for MSATA SSD OR
M.2 NGFF Key A/E/A+E to Mini PCI-E Adapter FPC Cable WiFi Wireless Adpater Supports Half-size Full-size Mini PCI-E Network Card
Nice part of it is can then mount the adapters in a more convenient location..

Working on re-installing an old laptop to play with both Openwrt and Linux build to compair and see what will be of interest and ready for a later round..

[PaddyX]

I started with all types of routers up to my last the WRT32x which is about as fast as they get. I was still being limited by hardware so jumped to "minipc" and never looked back. The MiniPC's can be much more powerful and can come with many more options such as mPCIe port (with pcie and usb lanes). Great little x86 boxes for running things such as OMR/LINUX/WINDOWS10/OPENWRT. Then you can build the latest and greatest x86 version of whichever OS you need and have hardware faster than any router. Just takes more effort if your willing to play and do the work its worth it in the end IMO.

quick questions.. What LINUX version would you think would be the best fot router/firewall as alternative to openwrt??

[mtl26637]

I used ubuntu. Once installed and updated search on the ubuntu wiki for 'BuildYourOwnKernel' and follow the 'apt-get' kernel build instructions so you can build for your installed version. There may be some hickups along the way but you can rebuild and work your way through until successful. Don't forget to edit the mhi driver. Once successful it builds several .deb packages. After they are built you will install those and you should have a working version of ubuntu with modified mhi driver. You will also need to head over to the ModemManager pages and read up on the FCC unlock as you will also need to create the links for the FCC unlock scripts.

The above is for the HP version of the T99W175. The other versions already have MHI driver support and also ModemManager support. I also had to copy the 105b FCC unlock scripts (lenovo version) to 03f0 (HP version) on one of the systems.

Once you get a working version of ubuntu and ModemManager you can then go to settings of your wired connection and under Details "Make available to other users" and under ipv4 and ipv6 set "Shared with other computers" and it will act like DHCP server/router and provide internet connection through the wired connection and will share the WWAN modem connection.

As for OpenWrt/ModemManager its basically the same as above but you will have to build and set a few things under menuconfig and also build with latest kernel and set some more things under kernel_menuconfig. Its not as easy to get going as ubuntu was.

I'm sure i've forgot some things along the way but thats pretty much the basics.

[PaddyX]

Round 2: success. Kept the test as windows so was easy to see if working..

Still no sign of the needed openwrt version wanted and not holding up hopes as MHI was not visible in package list but will keep checking..

Anyhow: This round was to get a cheap mini pc and see if could get it working..
Challenge was it only had one m.2 port and is in form of wifi/bluetooth m.2 a/e

Ordered of amazon: Shiwaki 1 Set M.2 (NGFF) Key A/E/A+E To Mini PCI-E Adapter With FFC Cables Practical (has a ribon cable so can mount the bulky part were you have space.. ) And it arrived a week and half early so was not expecting this to be tested till over a weeks time
Combined that with the trusty Ableconn MPEX-134B: Mini PCI-E Adapter too key b with sim

Device manager picked it up as qualcom..
Installed the HP driver sp138337
Reboot after each..
Bingo connection and an running!

Will be working on re-imaging too linux build in coming week..
Thanks for the help and will keep posted

[PaddyX]

So of interest....

1st Linux is being a royal pain to get the recompile to complete.. both plenty if issues and a royal pig when coming to CPU use.. anyone trying just incase.. the 'make' function is single threaded. (1 cpu core) and after half a day of compiling found this out when pc lost power and all work Well in digging.. There is a flag for it so it will use multiple cores: -j # (# is the number of cores one wants to use..) Huge difference!

2nd OpenWRT... Mentioned before was not able to find MHI for it.. well this evening I found details on how to get it and install it: https://github.com/kristrev/mhi-for-kernel-4.14 ... Tempted to try install it on my old router to check the process..

[PaddyX]

Round 3 - Part success!!!

Wow what a rollercoaster of a rabbit hole! Dont recall having this much crazyness when whas building them a long long time ago!

Ok, so I have a connection now.. not the most stable and is laggy as ahem, so have further troubleshooting to do... And seems to be resisting setting 5g as preferred connection but while was some reports this was a modem_manager issue and also wondering if the very poor signal have today is also impacting.

Some of the breakdown and maybe some good news..
The kernel compile process was a royal pain! Seems plenty of little steps are missing from here and there so was not working well and takes loads of CPU/hours!
A big item of interest! I upgraded to Kernel v6 and in its default config MHI is a module! IE it is run outside the kernel! So after much searching found the commands to just compile the module structure!! After some testing. Found just have to copy mhi_pci_config.ko and mhi.ko (will double check) and once those are in place it was more interested in working.. A side note: Later drivers have a timeout value changed to give the modem more time to start, did have some of these timeouts even though this was updated for V6.. not sure if this needs setting for v5

Build commands:
make oldconfig
make menuconfig
make scripts prepare modules_prepare
make -C . M=drivers/bus/mhi/hosts
copy across and then run:
sudo depmod

There was also added fun/issues with pci_config.c editing with some conflicting info! the instructions claimed tag the entry on the end of the list.. but the file says put it in an order and found it in order on one of the patches!! Am not sure how important this is as was working on it before realised needed to also copy the 2nd file over.. Suspect it searches until reaches a higher number then stops so if was out if order would never find it..
Some other notes... V6 Kernel has a lot more modem support so hopefully in time this will be included by default..

Thoughts for next round.. As Kernel v6 is not fully out may make another try at default v5 kernel..
-Likely will also do a re-install so as to also flush out any un-needed items and get back to a cleaner install
Onward!!

[mtl26637]

What did you end up using? Did you build kernel from scratch via linux kernel or did you pick an OS and download kernel updates for your particular installation? I started with building the kernel from scratch but in the end decided I would be running ubuntu anyway so just downloaded source from ubuntu and updated kernel through ubuntu source using the above links. I did have to rebuild a couple times to get to completion but I don't recall it being that bad? Ultimately learned a lot along the way about source and build process so was a good experience in the long run.

You mention not being able to find openwrt? Now that you have an idea of how the build process works just build openwrt from master as stated above and in menuconfig select latest kernel and you will have MHI support that you can then edit if needed. It isn't as easy to get working as was ubuntu for me but doable. Also, you learn a lot along the journey too.

It does have its quirks to iron out though. Getting FCC unlock to play along nicely and getting 5G connection is on my todo list. I don't have 5G with the carrier I'm using at the moment so not able to work on that. I'm also having to manually restart the connection about every day or every other day for whatever reason, need to research that one too.

[PaddyX]

dowloaded the complere kernel package tar.gz, part of the fun was arround a number of certs signing not playing dice and then found they should be removed for custom compiles.. Was initialy trying to build it into the kernel but ended up with a range of issues including not booting from ZFS.. Had used the save existing config to keep things on level.. Reverting to just compiling as module made it a lot easier once had found the commands..

For the openwrt.. That was for my new router and part of the fun is there is no 32meg build with the git comments saying it needs some config changes or will hang up if trying to use 16meg versions and found a thread were someone had tried it and was having issues.. Very true on the " Now that you have an idea of how the build process works" etc willl be trying some moding when have time..

Interesting one, with v6 did not have any need for unlock part.. Have just re-installed the system and trying again with 5.15.56
RE: getting 5G connection is on my todo list: Have seen a git post about reverting modemmanager to the git version and that solved some of it and got it app to were while it saus one thing it is using 5g..
Hope to be back at this point in a couple of hours and will be able to compair kernel v6 vs v5x

[PaddyX]

Ah ok, found a reason for needing to do a kernal re-compile, it wont accept any other modules due to security settings.. CONFIG_MODULE_SIG "Module signature verification" This has a number of options available: (1) "Require modules to be validly signed" (CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_FORCE)
And this lines up the step of removing certs from the .config..
Busy compiling at the moment........................................

[mtl26637]

Yes kernel signature checking is one of the things I forgot to mention when building. Since I used ubuntu all I ended up using was the following which allowed me to continue using signature checking rather than removing it:

Code: Select all

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/src/debian
sudo apt install linux-source
sudo cp -v /usr/src/linux-source-*/debian/canonical-*.pem /usr/local/src/debian/

Then edit the keys section to point to the /usr/local/src.. keys.

[mtl26637]

T99W175 modem is - key b

Converter just got: key m too Mini PCI-E Adapter with sim..
Already had: Mini PCI-E Adapter too key b with sim (Ableconn MPEX-134B)

Initially modem was seen but was not seeing the sim.. tried sims in both cards and didn’t help. Tried with sims in both..
=Closer inspection and check of Ableconn MPEX-134B.. It does not have the angle section in the sim socket so the sim can go and click in either way around. When turned it and had the angle side visible on the outside then the sim was seen.
Result, was able to connect and browse the web and ran a speed test that confirmed was the correct ISP detected.

I have an M.2 Key-M to mpcie adaptor but could not get it to work. The only adapter I could get working was the M.2 Key-AE to mpcie. Are you saying you got an adapter with M.2 Key-M working? If so, do you have a link you can share?

Also, I can't remember which version of the T99W175 you said you were working with? What is the VID:PID of the modem you have? I did not see any references to the 03F0:0A6C in the new v6 kernel. And it doesn't matter on the order, it will run through until it finds a match to the specific VID:PID.

[PaddyX]

RE M.2 Key-M to mpcie adaptor but could not get it to work
Yes
I actualy have two adaptors.. one works and one does not..
Working: Ableconn MPEX-134B Mini PCIe Adapter with M.2 Key B Slot - Support USB / PCIe / SATA Based M2 B Key or B-M Key Module for Mini PCI Express (Can find it on amazon)
The not working one that was also red but does not have a sim slot or anything else on it or any sign that any other options could be avalable on it.
Since this finding I lean toward looking at adapters that either have sim slot or evidence there is a sim version and/or state PCI! The Ableconn MPEX-134B has a jumper to set it to PCI mode..

Also I am working with the HP T99W175 version:
lspic: 02:00.0 Wireless controller [0d40]: Device 03f0:0a6c
RE: "I did not see any references to the 03F0:0A6C in the new v6 kernel."
Correct! I can see they added a good many of the other variations of the T99W175 but not the HP one.. But have also seen a couple of git threads where thay have been working on getting a patch for it etc

And have been working with v6 kernel.. For the time being have reverted back to troubleshooting on it as am having less issues with it. (well less in some areas..)
RE: "And it doesn't matter on the order, it will run through until it finds a match to the specific VID:PID." Thanks for confirming this as it was not great to be reading in the file that there was some order to it..

I have been having some other issues I am still looking into..
-It is hell bent not to accept any other DNS servers fo wwan!! Ended up removing network-manager and the other connection manager things.. Reverted to manual mode and finaly my opendns settings are working on wwan..
-Seems to be somthing lagging the T99W175 network conection.. While i am getting connections the ping times are terrible.. IE 8000-14000ms constant! I tried my vodafone sim to check if it was somthing on the EIR network but is the same..

Also thanks for the kernel cert info, will take another look at that as was interested in figuring how to get it compiling exactly like that

[PaddyX]

Also forgot to discuss: "It does have its quirks to iron out though. Getting FCC unlock to play along nicely and getting 5G connection is on my todo list. I don't have 5G with the carrier I'm using at the moment so not able to work on that. I'm also having to manually restart the connection about every day or every other day for whatever reason, need to research that one too."

-manually restart the connection about every day
Have had this issue going back years and on different platforms.. I tracked it back to an ISP side issue were they have a log file that has to be rolled over every day and they drop the connection just enough to role the file over.. well plenty modems hate it and cant handle it!! An intereresting test is take note of the time you last power cycled and see if is arround that same time the next day! I eneded up putting a timer switch on the modem and power cycle it at 3am and once that is in place the connection for the next 23 hrs is much better!!

-I don't have 5G with the carrier I'm using at the moment so not able to work on that.
I missed that was part of you challenge As have another 5g challenge as well.. Suposedly my ISP is now 5g on all sims now.. but there look to be some issues on modemmanager arround 5g! ie: if select more 5g only the connection drops instantly and there is no more connection possible.. Also hmm ok scratching head now.. Was having issues setting 5g as prefered:
root@fwrouter:~# mmcli -m 0 --set-allowed-modes='3g|4g|5g' --set-preferred-mode=5g
successfully set current modes in the modem
This was not working yesterday and any time tried it it would not allow for seeing 5g as prefered!!
Only thought at the moment is I have the other sim in (Vodafone) so maby the it was not allowing it with the EIR sim.. there was one wander about if the 5g was avalable with 1gig add on or had to have a full month package topup.. Will need to check this again..

As a side note. while checking the 5g issues there seemed to be a good few people activly looking into it arround an issue in modemmanager ie they also could not get the modem to ever get a 5g connection and was always LTE.. There was also one mention seed of if was wrong areals ie 3g areal then it would not let it activate or some such.. My other challenge at the moment is my office desk were I test is in a bit of a dead spot so am only getting 16% signal quality.. (long time issue and has been my pain) for my main router I finaly for extenal pair and 10m cable and mounted on a pole ouside.. Its 4g lte and since connecting that up it now gets 100% so thinking need to find time to move the test system to a better spot and find a way to get a memo areal setup so the modem has far better signal!) ps sorry for typoes have keyboard in odd location so making typing more fun/challenging

[PaddyX]

And confirmed that Eir sim is blocking 5g prefered:

Vodafone: current: allowed: 3g, 4g, 5g; preferred: 5g
root@fwrouter:~# mmcli -m 0 --set-allowed-modes='3g|4g|5g' --set-preferred-mode=5g
successfully set current modes in the modem

Eir: current: allowed: 3g, 4g, 5g; preferred: 4g
root@fwrouter:~# mmcli -m 0 --set-allowed-modes='3g|4g|5g' --set-preferred-mode=5g
error: couldn't set current modes: 'GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.ModemManager1.Error.Core.Failed: reloaded modes (allowed '3g, 4g, 5g' and preferred '5g') different to the requested ones (allowed '3g, 4g, 5g' and preferred '4g')'

Will have to check on both providers to see what they are offering as also think i spotted one popup on vodafone about expanding 5g support..

[mtl26637]

RE M.2 Key-M to mpcie adaptor but could not get it to work
Yes
I actualy have two adaptors.. one works and one does not..
Working: Ableconn MPEX-134B

Yes, I have a couple of these adapters and they work perfect. This adapter converts the modem to an mPCIe socket. I've seen adapters described several ways and still not sure the correct way to describe whether this adapter is "mPCIe to M.2 Key-B" OR "M.2 Key-B to mPCIe"..?

What I was wondering is if you have found an adapter that converts from "mPCIe" to "M.2 Key-M" socket so you can use an M.2 Key-M socket on a motherboard. I have one of these adapters but it does not work. I have only successfully converted mPCIe to M.2 Key-AE. I'm not sure it is even possible to use the M.2 Key-M socket on a motherboard for a modem at this point even though it is PCI capable. If it is possible it opens up many doors as the M.2 Key-M socket is most popular I'd guess.

[PaddyX]

hehe "mPCIe to M.2 Key-B" OR "M.2 Key-B to mPCIe" this has been my issues as well.. Usualy see it advertised the oposite way i think about it..

hmm re "mPCIe" to "M.2 Key-M" Checked through and does not look like i have anything that way... With my motherbard having an m.2 m-key slot it was not somthing i was looking for.. Have seem some pretty obscure and interesting things and some challenges was trying to source without paying crazy shipping.. Googling reminds me of what have seen but dont think ever ordered due to above..

The other reminder I got was some-one saying the adapter was b/m and complaints the m had to go up-side down so did not fit well with the chips hitting the board.. but not sure what bord that was..

What adapter do you have? I may end up looking for one for performance testing and one of interest was:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004641053693.html
There are reviews and one comment on performance had got so at least have some feedback that got working.. also another option is look for MINI PCI-E to NVMe as some dont use m.2 b but say NVME and this does make me think the issue with some adapters is they dont have the needed wiring ie there are a number of bus types, USB, PCI, SATA, SSD, NVMe and they seem to have there own fun.. an example would be Ableconn saying supports USB / PCIe / SATA and having a Jumper setting select PCIe x1 or SATA signals..

[PaddyX]

Round 4 - up in smoke (figuratively) and no phoenix yet

In troubleshooting I found additional settings that got me wanting to re-install the removed network management agent stuff.. Also the side issue of not able to load it on any soft restart mysteriously started working .. So wanted to try for clean start with all the new info as I want to find and detail what exactly fixes/helps each issue…

Well after re-install it refused point blank to work at all…

Took hours to rectify and not sure why or maybe was in some state from when working or unstable re-install.
What I have seen in the aftermath is the multiple and crazy levels of management, ‘auto’, intercepting, and multiple things all trying to manage the same things.. And in finally getting DNS mostly working it still ignores what should be override settings!

Still got the bad ping/performance so have moved it to other side of house and no change at all so may be some of the areal fly leads are not happy from all the moving around while testing. Tempted to research how to rip all the management stuff out and go to old school config (like am used to) and will double check what conections pair up and see about swapping a pair of leads and to a better set of antena..

Anyhow, as schedule is now getting in the way will be a while before can update again.

Wishing all the best!!

[PaddyX]

ohhhhh maby I spoke to soon, well to an unknown degree!!

So in tidying up I found the last of the set of aerials that came with the modem. i.e. it came with a set of 4 for a laptop screen.

So rather than try other pigtails and setup I put them on. well….

1st Seemed a little better i.e. pings went from 8k-12k down to 5k-8k and nslookup commands were sizable amount faster...

2nd After a few min the ping suddenly plummeted!! Now between 20-105ms! Signal still claims is verry weak! And the browser actually managed to get a web page up! Tried a speed test a couple of times and it just gets latency timeout..

In trying to check modem status the command claimed was no modem!!
Checked the system logs and found repeated firmware crashing! I did check the version some days ago and it is old: firmware revision: T99W175.T0.0.0.4.1.GC.003.028

Have seen as high as T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.TO.006.079 mentioned and other issues with versions bellow 075

Another area am now wondering about is what band is it using as I know we only use 3 and 20 here and normally 3 is terrible! Now this is were one would hope the 5g could kick in and get it onto 5g channels..

[PaddyX]

Digging for firmware... Seems like lenovo has been on top of the crashing and stability with many reporting and them working and fixing with the latest builds..

Have not found any updates or quesries on the HP side.. Anyone know if/where can get HP firmware or would the lenovo be compatable..
Does seem like is the same beast with just some company custom and even the firmware naming looks to be identical.. Is odd as in deciding what ver to go for had heard HP was better in the world of drivers and stuff but in this latest look seems like lenovo are much more on the ball.. unless there is some way to upgade included with the driver bundle as this seems to be how lonovo seem to ship it..
Will install the lenovo package and see what it looks like..
Holding off on flashing for now..

[PaddyX]

Getting there slowly! Thanks again for the help!
Found how/where the HP firmware update comes from.. It is in the driver and looks to be a part of the install cycle! Suspect it was not done last time as installed the drivers while the modem was not plugged in!!

Last step in install run via cmd launched using run as administrator: (another flash windows opens with big dont turn off etc)
[STEP PASS] Copy file [SDx55_Version.dll] to target successful

was on: T99W175.T0.0.0.4.1.GC.003.028
sp138337 = T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.GC.004 071 (Confirmed this on linux)

Altho the 071 was bellow what they were saing what was stable.. Will monitor. So far no crashes but ping is still higher than then..
Initialy the ping is quite a bit better than originaly and at 200 - 6k but likly the weather is impacting! we have huge storm over us with weather warning for half the country.. so loads of wind and heavy rain!
Went to re-check the ping and was alll the way up to 40k so not the best conditions to be testing in

Also had to plug it into my windows system to update.. did come checking/testing on windows while was at it.. Of the bat confirmed was running at 5g! The performance was not good but expect part of that is the weather and the other part the ISP is not the fastest and my windows system may as well be in a bunker when it comes to signal.. but at least confirmed 5g and its ping was not bad and was able to run speed test / browse.. so gives some comparason..

One other item to mention.. The last build of linux has had some strange results.. The avalable Modes is much reduced compaired to the last so will try to re-build the mhi and see if that helps..
Trying to also check the bands again but not easy to figure out.. may need to plug it into windows again and do some more checking on it..

Onward!!

[mtl26637]

In reference to pings, I would bet that has something to do with your particular ISP or poor signal as I've not had any issues with ping times on either of mine. I did run into some of the kernel crash issues but don't think it was on both. Will have to check into that issue a bit further. In regards to the latest firmware for the modem, be careful as the latest firmware have modified the FCC unlock and I know ModemManager had to recently make additional modifications. Think it is referenced as old FCC Unlock (version 1) and new FCC Unlock (version 2).

In regards to signal stats and AT commands you can check out the Thales version of the T99W175. The "Thales Cinterion MV-31W" is close to the same device and on there site they have the AT command manual available for download once you create an account on their website. It is a very detailed manual covering all of the AT commands that are available on the T99W175. This turned out to be extremely helpful so you might get a copy for your files.

[PaddyX]

ohhhh many thanks for the AT command file info!! downloaded and safely stored! Only had an old AT lists from donkies ages old modem.. Now just need to figure out how to get modemmanager to start in debug or would you know of another way to get AT to work than the mmcli?

RE: I would bet that has something to do with your particular ISP or poor signal
Yea very likely! I had got the sim to get an alternative to Vodafone as they do not offer 5g on payg without forking out an xtra 50% more and they cap the speed!

The performance of the new sim has been dire from the start although was more slow than anything else.. ping seemed ok but download was 1-2meg if lucky and that was on an old 4g modem so was not sure if they had killed 4g to boost 5g but this makes it look like that is a no! The other odd one is the APN they claim does not work and the only one that seems to work is an the APN for the old network thay took over! But again and again I see the new APN mentioned. Will reach out to them tomorrow to see what they say and even ask them to replace the sim!

RE: In regards to the latest firmware for the modem, be careful as the latest firmware have modified the FCC unlock and I know ModemManager had to recently make additional modifications.

What are the symptoms of this unlock issue? I took it that it did not work at all? Did see people mention re-running into and it changing as versions we along! I was a little carful in that before I upgraded I made sure I could get the old old old drivers and hp have it listed back to what must be initial release so download them in case!
edit: think part of the reason have not run into unlock is am on a new enough modemmager 1.18 and above " * foxconn: added support for the T99W175 (SDX55) module, including built-in FCC unlock procedure."

[mtl26637]

ohhhh many thanks for the AT command file info!! downloaded and safely stored! Only had an old AT lists from donkies ages old modem.. Now just need to figure out how to get modemmanager to start in debug or would you know of another way to get AT to work than the mmcli?

When using debian/ubuntu setup this is best way to get ModemManager into debug mode:
modemmanager.org/docs/modemmanager/debugging/

If/when using OpenWrt edit "/etc/init.d/modemmanager" and the 7th line change

Code: Select all

LOG_LEVEL="INFO"

to

Code: Select all

LOG_LEVEL="DEBUG"

This is show ModemManager debug info in system logs.

That being said, I would not use ModemManager (mmcli) or qmi-utils (qmicli) to send at commands. I would build into firmware or install "minicom". Once you have minicom installed run "minicom -s" to setup. All that is needed is to change the following:
Serial port setup / Serial Device : /dev/wwan0at0
Screen and Keyboard / Local Echo : Yes
Save Setup as dfl
Exit (Control+A then Q)

Once minicom has been setup as above you then type minicom again and it will take you directly to new screen to enter at commands. Type "ati" to check comms. You should receive a response that is echo'd to the screen. To exit minicom you hit (Control + A then Q) again. That is the easiest I have found to directly enter AT commands in debian/ubuntu/OpenWrt systems. If you run into issues just let me know.

What are the symptoms of this unlock issue? I took it that it did not work at all? Did see people mention re-running into and it changing as versions we along! I was a little carful in that before I upgraded I made sure I could get the old old old drivers and hp have it listed back to what must be initial release so download them in case!
edit: think part of the reason have not run into unlock is am on a new enough modemmager 1.18 and above " * foxconn: added support for the T99W175 (SDX55) module, including built-in FCC unlock procedure."

All of the PCI based modems should show up in "lspci" which I believe you already know. But when the FCC Unlock has been enabled on the modem and the ModemManager scripts have not been applied then everything will seem to be working correctly except the modem will NOT come out of low power mode. The manufacturers basically disable powering the antennas until you prove that you are authorized. If you have connection to the ISP then all is good.

[PaddyX]

fab thanks for the info! yes have had no issues seeing it under lspci and suspect the reason I have not run into the unlock issue is due to 1st trying in earnest to used it on a late enough version of linux/mm so can count my lucky stars..

With what you mentioned I may take another look at the router as there was some mention of modem drivers being backported to mm1.16 something, but don’t recall anything else or any mention of the unclock.. it is using ROOter by Of Modems and Men so is a good number of versions behind in a umber of areas.. but with the added info and getting more familiar with the compiling when have some time will re-check it.. need to check what it has in detail!

Further ISP/areal. I suspect issues with both! the ISP is not accepting the APN it should and I found info about some sims being from sub-let ISP and they use the old APN and either way there is something not happy on that side!!
The arial has always been a challenge for me and do think what they shipped is cheap! While I live higher up on a hill we are in a slight depression so our signal is terrible inside! like lucky to get 15-20% inside! Many months ago I got a good grade 10m cable and nice big external ombi's and put that up a few months ago and wow! having it at about ridge level but at the edge instantly got the 4g modem to 100% rock solid signal! I was looking at pinouts and when can take the other offline will connect it and another set and see what I get! looks like the pin out is 0 and 3 make up one pair at the higher end of function while 1 and 2 are the lower end.. I was looking for any omni 5g compatible but did not find anything in my price range and pickings were scares’ either way with the bulk being directional. Will carry on with the investigation!

[PaddyX]

Well dont recomend upgrading to that firmware! sp138337 = T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.GC.004 071 IS a no no!
Crashing firmware seems to be worse on it.. So things are pretty unstable.

Will be away for a bit so will look at it when back. Plan is if there is not a updated ver will reach out to HP again and ask about any upcoming drivers even otherwise downgrade it.. May also reach out to original manufacturer and see what can be done to get to versions were the crashing is fixed..

firmware level does seem to line up with what had aslo read.. ie Lenovo is better on the firmware update rate side so now looks like it may have been a better bet. They also seem more ingaged in fixing things.

[PaddyX]

Think it is not that there is a lack of USB support it is that they do all have a 'full' version that has USB but you will pay a lot more for it!
The challenge is more arround: check what 5G devices the flavor of OS/router supports as they can/will have only a set they support.. And the routers are slow to move on from USB mode..
Some of the routers also have offers that include the 5G modem but as mentioned these will be the more expesive versions and again check what OS they have as there may be some issues upgrading..

Are you wanting to go the router route or a PC and build you own?

The one thing i can see is over time things have got better but there is a fair way to go!

[PaddyX]

I have a WG1608 with a T77W968 in use currently. I'm using rooter instead of OpenWRT so I don't have modem manager.

Been considering a sff pc, a BPI-R2 Pro/R3, and other little odds and ends. The WG1608 keeps hitting CPU max so I'm sort of anxious to get off it.

Finally back in the land of the living! I to am using rooter instead of OpenWRT as Openwrt does not support the 32M WG1608 yet

RE "Been considering a sff pc, a BPI-R2 Pro/R3, and other little odds and ends. The WG1608 keeps hitting CPU max so I'm sort of anxious to get off it."
Interesting, have not had any high cpu issues..
I too have got an sff pc that am playing on..

I looked over the BPI-R2 Pro/R3 you mentioned and o my! For me the M3 would be of far more interest for its fibre ports and it looks to have an openwrt build already available!
While what looked of interest on the R2 was that it is like a pc and can use Linux direct..
The big question would be if its ports are off USB or PCI..

In digging found a spec for R2
(proof would be in the pudding) https://www.cnx-software.com/2022/05/09 ... ip-rk3568/
1x mini PCIe socket (PCIe + USB)
1x M.2 Key-E socket (PCIe + USB)

While R3 https://www.cnx-software.com/2022/09/05 ... t7986-soc/
Mini PCIe slot with USB signals only + MicroSIM card slot
M.2 KEY-M PCIe interface (2-lane PCIe 2.0)

Most interesting, didn't see an m2 slot on initial look and when read that checked again and found it is on the back.. The strange one was some people discussing the lack of pci support but seems like they were focusing on the mpci slot.. Have adapters so could convert from key-M to Key-B.

If you get one let us know how it goes!

[PaddyX]

Round 5 ...

So had mentioned: Have seen as high as T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.TO.006.079 and other issues with versions bellow 075 While
Original: T99W175.T0.0.0.4.1.GC.003.028 and last update got me to 071
sp138337 = T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.GC.004 071 (Confirmed this on linux) on Oct 16, 2022

On the news of interest, HP finally released an update and it looks to come with:
firmware revision: T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.GC.004 - 076
1.0.0.45 Rev.A Dec 29, 2022 https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp144001 ... 144352.exe

After updating:
On windows things seemed to be good with speed test having great ping and speed instantly hit a little over 10 and stayed there. (makes me think there is a throttle.. )
Linux was not much better and the modem crashed as soon as tried to use it so further testing needed.. And still seems to claim 3g/4g..
Next test will install a window image and do some cross checking on the system to verify things before trying linux again.

[PaddyX]

What OS are you using on it? (Also did you get the 2 or 3?) Also what adapter did you get?
Also what flavour of your T99W175? (linux or openwrt run lspci)

The HP one on windows needs the driver installed and will work without much challenge..#
HP on Linux requires quite some work and have to install a bunch of added modules and recompile with changes to mhi drviers!
HP on openwrt.. Will try this again when have time as now playing with openwrt on x86 but for now working on linux Ubuntu to confirm all works....

The lenovo version app is easier to get working on linux..

Let us know

[PaddyX]

oh my! soooo close!

Gave up on the windows install as was taking ages and the modem was not working at all and research found others had issues if modem is in the system at install time then windows freaks and does not allow its drivers and it to work..

Went on to load openwrt on one drive and Ubunti on another..
Ubuntu after getting everything configured and recompiled was working great! Speed was good, ping was good and it was working all day.
This was with the latest HP firmware and using kernel 6.1.7 Just had to add the few lines to the MHI before compiling..

Small anomalies was on some boots the MHI failed to load but other than that was going great! Had thought was near done until..

Today however when got back onto it this evening the modem was not showing and after rebooting it is back to its old trick..
One odd thing, yesterday the signal was 4% when speeds were good... Today the signal is 25% and ping is bad and higher functions are just timing out.
That has me wondering if they have a tower with issue and had been lucky enough to be connected to one further away.. Also still does not want to enable 5g and had put that down to bad signal but now not sure.. On the to do list is swap the sims over and test with Vodafone and see if its better and go and get the sim swapped out

[PaddyX]

So after further playing..
1) There is definitely something up with the sim that needs investigating. With it in the modem will not allow 5g preferred and also not sure what happened the day things were great but when put into a phone the the next day when speed was bad the speed was slow on the phone too so will be off to the ISP to ask them about the issues!

2) Definitely some issues are coming from Ubuntu! As much as I try to get things to save and be persistent, DHCP and DNS keeps on breaking and the last DNS get right was open the file and save it so something very strange going on unless end up adding a script to do after the fact updates to re-config!! And is not populating files that it should and purging others!
Going to do another rebuild and this time going to completely rip out the the network management stuff as it should be doing things that it is not while also not behaving! Will also work on getting the recompile with small/min Kernel.

Also wandering if the modem is having something bad buffering.. ah the fun.

In the mean time having lots of fun with the wifi, like something is interfering with it.

[mtl26637]

This modem is extremely similar to its brother the Dell DW5821e (T77W168). There is a document out there for that modem that has a lot of specifics and things that would help with what you are looking to modify. Seems I've seen a link to that document on this site at some point. I can't recall the exact name, it started out as just a link to someone's google drive document. The command and method used for modification is confirmed working for both modems.

Fyi, typically 0% signal is a good indicator of software disabled modem (FCC lock). I recall getting FCC unlock to work with modemmanager and openwrt was a bit tricky at first. Basically no matter what you try will not work to turn on the radio until the module has been unlocked.

[mtl26637]

Never had issues on firmware updates but one thing comes to mind that may help. Trying to remember details, but seems like I had the same issues with FCC unlock and not being able to correctly symlink etc etc so coped the files directly to folders and such. If I remember correctly I was still having issues getting it to unlock so I think I manually sent unlock command using freshly built libqmi package and that was successful. Might have had to downgrade from the very latest firmware as they changed the FCC unlock in latest? After that I never had to manually unlock it again it just started working correctly. I have seen the firmware crashes also but it has seemed to just go away as of now and haven't seen any crashes in long time.

That really sucks about the antenna port. You might do a search and see if you can find someone that does that repair. It has been discussed a couple times I think.

I'll see if I have any details on the process that I used to update firmware and will check back in if I find any notes.

[mtl26637]

Some things are coming back around the more I think about it. You mentioned both being Lenovo but one is HP? On the face of the modems which brands are printed? These modems are so similar I wouldn't be surprised that the HP firmware will work for the lenovo modem an vice versa. At first I had more luck with the lenovo since it was automatically recognized with the mhi drivers and such but after it all said and done the HP is the one I'm mainly using now as I've had better luck with it for whatever reason. I remember searching the internet and collected all versions of the firmwares from HP and Lenovo for the T99W175 I could find. Upgrades were done automatically using windows 10. A sim swap would automatically trigger between at&t / T-mo / Vzw firmwares. I think if you download the lenovo firmware package and extract it there is a text file with instructions on how to manually force firmware upgrades and manual installations and things. You might skim through that and see if you can manually force it to take one of the newer firmwares?

[mtl26637]

Did you try to swap sims from different providers and restart windows? This was how I remember triggering the firmware upgrades. I think I used an old simple mobile or tracfone branded sim to get it to install the 'generic' firmware version.

[mtl26637]

Awecome! You are very welcome for what little help I was able to provide. I'm glad you got it at least working, I know when I started on this modem I was lost and did not know much at all. By the time I got it working I had learned so much about linux/Openwrt/Modemmanager. That said, I know how much work you have put into this project to get it going. In the end the satisfaction of running a box that is more powerful than any router along with a top of the line 5G modem that costs just over 50 bux is quite the feeling of accomplishment . It is worth the journey for anyone willing to put in the effort to learn.

Btw, I can't really say that I've had luck with 5G signal as of yet. I have Tmo but my signal is extremely weak. I have not been able to actually confirm if the modem is actually using 5G or not during tests. Speeds are up there in the 20-30MB down range but I don't know if its 4G or 5G bands giving that speed. Its hard to confirm as there isn't a very good way to watch the modem connection rather than just manually sending in AT commands for signal strength while downloading.

[mtl26637]

Do you know if, like the DW5821e/T77W968, this ships with only 2x2 support instead of 4x4?

This I'm not sure. My main laptop died that had all of my software on it for the DW5821e. After I got the modem working I've not really messed with it much at all.

I did check my kernel version and at the time I built mine it was 5.15.67. I'm gonna try to built new and see if newer kernel helps with 5G as you suggested but will once again have to start from scratch since my laptop is down for the count.

[mtl26637]

The user who was running 5.17 was on Kubutu I think. Good luck and sorry about the death of the laptop. I've got 2 spare HP 260 Mini G2's if you want to take one off my hands.

I really do appreciate the offer. I'm gonna try to get my lappy up and running again, it's only a couple years old and shouldn't be dead yet. Asus, no power seems to be sort of a common issue with dead mosfets so I'm gonna dive in and try to track down the issue as I was able to find the boardview and such. A bit over my head with this repair but thought I'd see how rusty my skills are and dive on in. The mini G2 does look pretty interesting for sure as at the moment I don't have any other x86 setups that can run my other T99W175 at the moment. I'll keep you posted though, thanks again!

[PaddyX]

Sorry for the delay in replying. Things have been crazy busy on my side and had to give up for a little while as work through a few things..

In regards for how things are going my side for a week solid it was working much better and was stable. I then renewed the pay as you go to another option and (%^*"£$"%ed....

That being said.. The newer versions were a lot better!!
I upgraded firmware to the latest HP and that is finally above the problem versions..
Linux kernel was taken up to I think 6.1.7 (looks like .12 is now there) builds were better and more fixes are in place..
I also rebuilt the MHI module and added another fix to it.. There was an issue were restarts would not always work and if there was any restart while up the modem would never come back and this fixed that all of that. Let me know if want details and will dig them out..

What can still say is ISP's each have their issues and I think there may be a bad tower some place around me..
I am still not 100% happy with Linux as it still managed to lose DNS stetting and do its own thing after some reboots and if DNS is not working its dead in the water!

I also started investigating the latest snapshots of openwrt and looks like some interesting stuff! (still no support for my router so playing with x86 64 as well.)
They are finally building in native MHI modules! I installed 5.14.9x and it was not picking up the HP so would be interested if the lenovo one worked if wanted to check it out?

Info: Version: 5.15.94-1
Package: kmod-mhi-bus
Package: kmod-mhi-net
Package: kmod-mhi-pci-generic
Package: kmod-mhi-wwan-ctrl
Package: kmod-mhi-wwan-mbim

Still trying to figure out how to recompile on openwrt..
On the other work list have another adapter on the way miniPCI to m.2 AE. The one i have has very thin cable so getting a better quality one to double check.. And going another route, instead of via miniPCI will be via m.2 M.
Also managed to find a cheap 1gig 4g modem 4x4 so want to play with that to cross check things.
Another item am looking for is reasonable prices outdoor 5g antenna as the indoor signals here are bad and have heard of some 5g systems refusing to work at 5g if they don't detect 5g compatible and either way would like ones that have good support for said frequencies.

Will keep monitoring and respond when able.

[PaddyX]

Am on: (this was the latest as of few weeks back. Seems like HP update every 3-6 months
firmware revision: T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.GC.004
| 076
There was a thread on lenovo about problem versions and what to be above for stability..

The main change for the not recovering for restart was the following change and then compile with it..
+++ b/drivers/bus/mhi/pci_generic.c
@@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ static void mhi_pci_recovery_work(struct work_struct *work)
if (err)
goto err_try_reset;

- err = mhi_sync_power_up(mhi_cntrl);
+ err = mhi_async_power_up(mhi_cntrl);
if (err)
goto err_unprepare;

make sure to find the correct entry as there is another similar..
/* MHI bus does not power up the controller by default */
err = mhi_prepare_for_power_up(mhi_cntrl);
if (err) {
dev_err(&pdev->dev, "failed to prepare MHI controller\n");
goto err_unregister;
}

err = mhi_async_power_up(mhi_cntrl);
if (err) {
dev_err(&pdev->dev, "failed to power up MHI controller\n");
goto err_unprepare;

There was also another fix was putting in early on but not needed since. It was around longer delays for if the modem was just taking longer to boot..
with the async things got a lot better.. The only other stability issue read up about have not managed to figure out its fix.. it needs a rebuild on modemmanager.. for it they found if had both MHI and QMI active they both try to talk to the modem so confuse it.. so the fix was to hard disable one of them in modemmanager.. but didnt look into that to hard since getting this more stable..

Now main remaining issue is investigate the bad performance..
Also confirmed am on kernel 6.1.7

[PaddyX]

Ah and further your trying to get 5g working on its own or working at all...
This is something I have been having issues with as well..
Initial challenge was sim card not able / willing to do it. (isp claimed was 5g!) but turned out to be old old sim that did not support 5g
Got a replacement and while that allowed it to select if I had 'just 5g' is drops the connection immediately and does not re-connect.
That was with one ISP
Another ISP was happy to allow 5g in the selection but also as soon as 'just 5g' is drops the connection immediately and does not re-connect.
Just had another thought.. may go down to the other ISP and see if what they think and if there are newer type sims (just in case)

What I mentioned about compatible antenna is what I want to make sure of next as had heard of some devices not enabling 5g if they detect the antenna does not support. And the dinky ones that came with the router i would not trust to be 5g even though the router is available to get with a very expensive 5g modem.. Just a pain as many of the 5g compatible ones are not cheep!

EDIT: just got to your latest response.. Am using ubuntu linux as my main test platform.. had the same issue with openwrt were is not easy to get at compiling things.. One angle that I need to re-investigate is GIT as there are some ways of using git to import fixes.. and there are people on there that have pulled together what looks like all the fixes! This echo's the it take time and hope it will be native once day. Also would love if they got my modem supported on openwrt.

[PaddyX]

Ah ok got you! yea if only got openwrt then know the fun as I have been trying to figure it out as well.. The initial challenge for me was to find the kernel files that could use.. Also the mention of playing with the partition size on the x86_64 build was something I needed to fix as well! This is were having a Linux system can make life a little easier as I attached it to the Linux machine and used native tools to do it.. a bit easier when is not being booted off..

As mentioned have played and seen some ways to use git to apply patches and seen extensive works to bring the fixes together.
Example: https://lkml.org/lkml/2021/3/16/543
Think this is the same thread as one git one but not.
Have not been able to figure out how to apply it or get it to apply..

Another pain for me is on git I can see they have done the work to create openwrt for my router but it has not made its way into the open yet
Also half tempted to save and get a lenovo chip as well as their ID seems to have less hoops to jump through and ultimatly will be needing to have more than one router active.

[PaddyX]

oh wow thanks for pointing out your link! That is an amazing price for sure! close to a 3rd of what had been looking at!
Only pain is the 60euro shipping fee so will be sending it to my US friend for re-routing.

Further antenna / cables.. Cables are not normally specific unless made that way like having added resisters and have not seen many of those ever..
The main fun with the cables is how long are they as that can be a big impact and more so depending on quality of cables/connectors!
Question would also be what is you signal strength?
In my office I get between 16-48% and am in a bit of a problem spot.. I got 2 good 4g ones and a 10m cable and mounted them above the roof and that took the signal on my old modem from about the same too 100%. I was half tempted to get another set but if spending more would rather get full 5g supporting ones..

One item would like to find for loan is a 5g phone to cross check as it is a bit of a problem not knowing if there is a basic issue on the sim/isp side or the modem side. But have read some accounts of things working fine in phones and not in modems so more likely there is on the modem side.. Tempted to make another post on their forum and ask if it has antenna detection and limited 4g if not found function..

[PaddyX]

Fe%^$^s
So other modem arrived. is a 4g 1k.. Fired it up on the same system and after some fiddling..
a) OS did its DNS bs so have to reconfigure the dns yet again..
b) for troubleshooting moved it to a usb connector (well is nice to have that option for sure!)
c) FCC lock! oh yea now now exactly what it is! And odd one the fix link has to be re-done after each reboot..
d) Crap signal in the office! but...
Ping was great and stable! performance was okish or at least could browse and do tests..

Then moved it to my main router to compare main sim apples for apples as at least it is supported on rooter os..
Well 10Mbps! and this on a contract that claims "Unlimited 5G Data, fastest available speed"
Other cheaper offers are caped at 10! Was then in checking the ISP:
Network type Estimated Maximum Download Estimated Maximum Upload
3G 3Mbps 0.5Mbps
4G 10Mbps 3Mbps
5G 25Mbps 5Mbps

What the!! I recall 6-7 years ago getting 110Mbps on mobile 4G+ from my local tower.. This may explain a lot as to why other phones don't have good Download.
Then the propaganda "Certain price plans will come with a maximum mobile data speed which is designed to match how you use your data. This will mean the speeds above will not apply and the maximum mobile data speed in your plan applies instead. Click here for details for maximum speed plans." Will be having a chat to them this weekend!!!!!!!!!

Next test will be go back and get it working on the m.2 so can cross compare performance there as well. It also showed me that the BS with issues and pains with modems has been going on for far too long! Will be good to see how it goes

[mtl26637]

Couple weeks ago I had mentioned I was going to upgrade my current setup of Openwrt to the newest 6.1 kernel. After realizing that Openwrt isn't quite there yet and is beyond my ability to get it going I settled on just building the latest master branch. The really good news is that 5G seems to be working with this latest build. Its hard to confirm 100% but my speeds are up in the 300+ mbps download range which I'm pretty sure I can not get to at my location with 4G signals. Also running qmicli signal commands returns 5G cell information and such so I'm fairly confident that it is using 4G AND 5G rf signals at this point. The only problems I was having was the previously mentioned "recovering from restart" where the modem would not show up upon a restart. My previous build did not have this issue which was built around 6 months ago? Luckily if I boot using my previous build and then restart with the latest build it recognizes everything properly and has been up for several days at this point. The error code was the same error code that was mentioned earlier so I'm sure some patching to the mhi driver is needed but for now I'm going to leave it running and see how things go for awhile.

Just thought I'd share that a fresh build of Openwrt seems to have what is needed for 5G at least for the HP variant. Fyi, mmcli shows "firmware revision: T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.GC.004" as the current firmware I'm using on the modem.

[Muhannad]

When I first started playing with this modem I started out on Ubuntu. I installed the latest version of the OS. I then built latest kernel, ModemManager, libqmi, libmbim and installed. As far as versioning, I'm not real sure what versions they were, they would have been latest around 6 months ago however.

You have to unlock/enable the modem using the built in scripts for FCC unlock in ModemManager which are located in "/usr/share/ModemManager/fccunlock.available.d". There is no script for the HP variant so you have to copy the 2 files for the lenovo version which are named "105b" and "105b:e0ab". Copy "105b" to "03f0" and copy "105b:e0ab" to "03f0:0a6c". You then have to link or copy all of the scripts located in the aforementioned directory into "/usr/lib/ModemManager/fcc-unlock.d". You might even link or copy them to "/etc/ModemManager/fcc-unlock.d" in case ModemManager is looking for them in "/etc". Once the scripts are copied restart and it should find the HP variant.

Based on the fact you have "wwan" devices, it seems everything is already finding everything correctly? Have you tried to enable the modem using "mmcli" commands? Can you access your debug logs from startup to see what all is happening with ModemManager? You could also run ModemManager in debug mode to track down where things are failing. If all else fails you might try to run the fcc-unlock scripts using "qmicli". Seems I recall that worked for me at some point. It's been around 6 months since I've used the ubuntu setup so all of this is just off memory so I could be missing some things.

WOW 300Mbps and propably 5G! Looks Great! Congratulations! Have you noticed reduction in Latency? IIRC that was a Advertised for 5G or was that just for mmWave?

This Thread seemed more matching to me...

I also thought the FCC Unlock aint my Problem (yet) seeing you Guys having the Modem recognized in ModemManager but 0% Signal with the Lock. Somewhere in this Thread i red that OpenWRT aint using stock ModemManager so i searched on github.com/openwrt/packages/ for PID 0a6c and couldn't find it As i understood from packages .ubuntu.com Latest Modemmanager is sourced directly from debian .org but i couldn't find any mention of the PID in there either. But did find the Lenovo PID e0ab but only related to the FCC unlock

Another Owner "T99W175" mentioned that he had to patch the HP VID into the ModemManager to get the HP Variant working. but im not sure if that was only for the FCC Unlock because there is also some mbim Stuff in that Code

Code: Select all

--- a/data/dispatcher-fcc-unlock/Makefile.am
+++ b/data/dispatcher-fcc-unlock/Makefile.am
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ install-data-hook:
     cd $(DESTDIR)$(fccunlockavailabledir); \
     chmod go-rwx *; \
     $(LN_S) -f 105b 105b:e0ab; \
+    $(LN_S) -f 105b 03f0:0a6c; \
     $(LN_S) -f 1199 03f0:4e1d; \
     $(LN_S) -f 1199 1199:9079; \
     $(LN_S) -f 1199 413c:81a3; \

--- a/data/dispatcher-fcc-unlock/Makefile.in
+++ b/data/dispatcher-fcc-unlock/Makefile.in
@@ -637,6 +637,7 @@
     cd $(DESTDIR)$(fccunlockavailabledir); \
     chmod go-rwx *; \
     $(LN_S) -f 105b 105b:e0ab; \
+    $(LN_S) -f 105b 03f0:0a6c; \
     $(LN_S) -f 1199 03f0:4e1d; \
     $(LN_S) -f 1199 1199:9079; \
     $(LN_S) -f 1199 413c:81a3; \

--- a/plugins/foxconn/mm-broadband-modem-mbim-foxconn.c
+++ b/plugins/foxconn/mm-broadband-modem-mbim-foxconn.c
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ foxconn_get_firmware_version_ready (QmiC
     self = g_task_get_source_object (task);
     vendor_id = mm_base_modem_get_vendor_id (MM_BASE_MODEM (self));
     product_id = mm_base_modem_get_product_id (MM_BASE_MODEM (self));
-    if (vendor_id == 0x105b || (vendor_id == 0x0489 && (product_id  == 0xe0da || product_id == 0xe0db)))
+    if (vendor_id == 0x105b || (vendor_id == 0x03f0 && product_id == 0x0a6c) || (vendor_id == 0x0489 && (product_id  == 0xe0da || product_id == 0xe0db)))
         update_settings = mm_firmware_update_settings_new (MM_MODEM_FIRMWARE_UPDATE_METHOD_MBIM_QDU);
     else {
         update_settings = mm_firmware_update_settings_new (MM_MODEM_FIRMWARE_UPDATE_METHOD_FASTBOOT |
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ firmware_load_update_settings (MMIfaceMo
     product_id = mm_base_modem_get_product_id (MM_BASE_MODEM (self));
     input = qmi_message_dms_foxconn_get_firmware_version_input_new ();
     /* 0x105b is the T99W175 module, T99W175/T99W265 need to compare the apps version. */
-    if (vendor_id == 0x105b || (vendor_id == 0x0489 && (product_id  == 0xe0da || product_id == 0xe0db)))
+    if (vendor_id == 0x105b || (vendor_id == 0x03f0 && product_id == 0x0a6c) || (vendor_id == 0x0489 && (product_id  == 0xe0da || product_id == 0xe0db)))
         qmi_message_dms_foxconn_get_firmware_version_input_set_version_type (
             input,
             QMI_DMS_FOXCONN_FIRMWARE_VERSION_TYPE_FIRMWARE_MCFG_APPS,

--- a/plugins/foxconn/mm-plugin-foxconn.c
+++ b/plugins/foxconn/mm-plugin-foxconn.c
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ mm_plugin_create (void)
     static const guint16 vendor_ids[] = {
         0x0489, /* usb vid */
         0x105b, /* pci vid */
+    0x03f0, /* HP T99W175 pci vid */
         0 };
 
     return MM_PLUGIN (

Hopefully the Logs will lead me into the right Direction

Unfortunately i haven't been able to get ModemManager Debug Feature to work for me because sometimes MM Times out and sometimes it cant be found in the bus whatever that's supposed to mean

also will read into ModemManager menuconfig next ... Not sure yet if its a set of Commands i can apply in a shell or if its a File i can edit

and reinstall libqmi, libmbim and mm on a fresh Fedora VM (Virtualisation shouldnt cause my Problem as eskaryo Already got the Modem running with Proxmox right?)

Code: Select all

[X ~]$ dmesg | grep mhi
[    4.400424] mhi-pci-generic 0000:00:05.0: MHI PCI device found: foxconn-sdx55
[    4.401708] mhi-pci-generic 0000:00:05.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx 64bit]
[    4.415653] mhi-pci-generic 0000:00:05.0: using shared MSI
[    4.434576] mhi mhi0: Requested to power ON
[    4.434613] mhi mhi0: Power on setup success
[   24.783904] mhi_wwan_mbim mhi0_IP_HW0_MBIM: 100: Failed to receive START channel command completion
[   24.783948] mhi_wwan_mbim mhi0_IP_HW0_MBIM: 101: Failed to reset channel, still resetting
[   24.783967] mhi_wwan_mbim mhi0_IP_HW0_MBIM: 100: Failed to reset channel, still resetting
[   24.783985] mhi_wwan_mbim: probe of mhi0_IP_HW0_MBIM failed with error -5
[X ~]$ ls /etc/config/network
ls: cannot access '/etc/config/network': No such file or directory
[X ~]$ mmcli menuconfig
error: no actions specified
[X ~]$ mmcli -L
error: couldn't find the ModemManager process in the bus
[X ~]$ mmcli -S
error: couldn't find the ModemManager process in the bus
[X ~]$ mmcli -V
mmcli 1.20.2
Copyright (2011 - 2022) Aleksander Morgado
License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

[X ~]$ sudo mmcli -L
error: couldn't find the ModemManager process in the bus

Code: Select all

[X ~]$ time mmcli --report-kernel-event-auto-scan
^Ccancelling the operation...


real	15m58.979s
user	0m0.018s
sys	0m0.010s

[mtl26637]

The HP variant is 03f0:0a6c. The very latest kernels (6.2 and up) are the only kernels that has added this VID:PID. You have to add this VID:PID to the pci_generic.c and build for it to work properly. Can't recall exactly how I did it with my ubuntu setup but for Openwrt I basically built the firmware. Once it was built successfully I went back and edited "pci_generic.c" to include the VID:PID and rebuilt. I'm sure there is an easier way or proper way to get this done, however, this is how I was able to get it working. For the unlock scripts I just copied the 105b to 03f0 and the 105b:e0ab to 03f0:0a6c. This worked for me after copying or linking the scripts as suggested on the ModemManager FCC unlock instructions. Keep in mind for anyone using Openwrt the default link command does not work the same as what is instructed on the ModemManager page. Instead I just copied the scripts to the unlock folder rather than linking them.

In regards to latency, I've noticed no difference. Latency is the same as all of my 4G modems which seems correct since I'm sure it is working in NSA mode.

[mtl26637]

Honestly I'm not real sure which versions they are. What I did was just built the latest master branch from Openwrt/github. I remember the kernel was 5.15.x however. I can check when I get home but it would be the latest supported within master branch.

[mtl26637]

Forgot I could remote in from work. Below is a list of versions:
- OpenWrt SNAPSHOT, r22143-2a104365dc
- Linux OpenWrt 5.15.94 #0 SMP Sat Feb 25 18:57:47 2023 x86_64 GNU/Linux
- mmcli 1.20.2
- qmicli 1.32.2
- mbimcli 1.28.2

Relevant MM info:

Code: Select all

  Hardware |            manufacturer: generic
           |                   model: Snapdragon(TM) X55
           |       firmware revision: T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.GC.004
           |                          071
           |          carrier config: GCF
           | carrier config revision: 0A000804
           |            h/w revision: Snapdragon(TM) X55
           |               supported: gsm-umts, lte, 5gnr
           |                 current: gsm-umts, lte, 5gnr
  -----------------------------------
  Status   |                    lock: sim-pin2
           |          unlock retries: sim-pin2 (10)
           |                   state: connected
           |             power state: on
           |             access tech: lte, 5gnr
           |          signal quality: 40% (recent)
           

Some signal info:

Code: Select all

root@OpenWrt:~# qmicli -d /dev/wwan0mbim0 -p --nas-get-signal-info
[/dev/wwan0mbim0] Successfully got signal info
LTE:
        RSSI: '-75 dBm'
        RSRQ: '-15 dB'
        RSRP: '-102 dBm'
        SNR: '-0.2 dB'
5G:
        RSRP: '-91 dBm'
        SNR: '5.5 dB'
        RSRQ: '-12 dB'

root@OpenWrt:~# qmicli -d /dev/wwan0mbim0 -p --nas-get-cell-location-info
[/dev/wwan0mbim0] Successfully got cell location info
Intrafrequency LTE Info
        UE In Idle: 'no'
        PLMN: '310026'
        Tracking Area Code: '#####'
        Global Cell ID: '########'
        EUTRA Absolute RF Channel Number: '1026' (E-UTRA band 2: 1900 PCS)
        Serving Cell ID: '195'
        Cell [0]:
                Physical Cell ID: '195'
                RSRQ: '-15.0' dB
                RSRP: '-102.1' dBm
                RSSI: '-72.1' dBm
        Cell [1]:
                Physical Cell ID: '12'
                RSRQ: '-14.5' dB
                RSRP: '-104.3' dBm
                RSSI: '-79.3' dBm
        Cell [2]:
                Physical Cell ID: '256'
                RSRQ: '-10.7' dB
                RSRP: '-101.3' dBm
                RSSI: '-79.3' dBm
Interfrequency LTE Info
        UE In Idle: 'no'
LTE Info Neighboring GSM
        UE In Idle: 'no'
LTE Info Neighboring WCDMA
        UE In Idle: 'no'
LTE Timing Advance: '102' us
5GNR ARFCN: '520110'
 

and yes, my signal strength sucks I know

[PaddyX]

Couple weeks ago I had mentioned I was going to upgrade my current setup of Openwrt to the newest 6.1 kernel. After realizing that Openwrt isn't quite there yet and is beyond my ability to get it going I settled on just building the latest master branch. The really good news is that 5G seems to be working with this latest build. Its hard to confirm 100% but my speeds are up in the 300+ mbps download range which I'm pretty sure I can not get to at my location with 4G signals. Also running qmicli signal commands returns 5G cell information and such so I'm fairly confident that it is using 4G AND 5G rf signals at this point. The only problems I was having was the previously mentioned "recovering from restart" where the modem would not show up upon a restart. My previous build did not have this issue which was built around 6 months ago? Luckily if I boot using my previous build and then restart with the latest build it recognizes everything properly and has been up for several days at this point. The error code was the same error code that was mentioned earlier so I'm sure some patching to the mhi driver is needed but for now I'm going to leave it running and see how things go for awhile.

Just thought I'd share that a fresh build of Openwrt seems to have what is needed for 5G at least for the HP variant. Fyi, mmcli shows "firmware revision: T99W175.F0.1.0.0.9.GC.004" as the current firmware I'm using on the modem.

Oooo my word that is fab performance and news!!!!! 300!! that's incredible! Has seen new mhi modules in the in the new versions..
When you say building in the latest branch do you mean installing it or are you making mods before the install?

I got a 2nd disk up so with quick plug can move between ubuntu and openwrt. Will check and grab the latest openwrt and give it a bash!

[mtl26637]

When you say building in the latest branch do you mean installing it or are you making mods before the install?

I'm not using prebuilt snapshots, however, they may work with the Lenovo versions I do not know. For the HP you have to add the VID:PID and then build the driver.

I start from scratch and git pull the master branch and build the latest firmware, I then jump back in 'pci_generic.c' after a successful build and add the HP VID:PID and rebuild the firmware so it has support for the HP version.

[PaddyX]

AHHH Git! realy need to master using it for building! Thanks will look into it! Have another reason to look into it in that my other router is not supported but the work has been dont to get it working but months and months later it has not made it into the wild!

[mtl26637]

Can be a large learning curve if not familiar with linux, but fun to learn along the way. There are several build tutorials out there to use. I'd start with the main openwrt build tutorial and go from there. I'm no expert but if you run into trouble or have issues just let us know and I'll try to help best I can.

[mtl26637]

Ah yes, I meant to mention, I tried to set to 'preferred 5G' and that was a no go. I do believe it is working in NSA mode (4G control, 5G during large download) though. It does let me pull 5G signal strengths and 5G cell info too. 5G SA mode is actually worse in my area than NSA so Id rather have it working with 4G being the control bands. Not even sure SA mode is available honestly, I would be missing out on the lower latency of SA mode if it does exist but not too big of an issue as my latency is around 30ms compared to what about 5-10ms in a working SA mode?

What does mmcli give you as far as access tech? Noticed mine was reading lte, 5gnr under status. Also on your qmicli command when setting modes, you might specify the allowed modes before the preferred mode? Seems I recall reading you have to set the allowed modes first but I could be wrong. Worth a shot anyway. Do you happen to know which 5G bands are available to you and what signal strengths they would approximately be? Is it possible your 5G signal is too weak in your location and it is not letting you use 5G bands?

[PaddyX]

/edit: oh hey yes I'm certain I have usable 5g bands here, I can get 5g on my Pixel 6/7 here

Good to hear! And an advantage of having a 5g phone handy! Does mean there is deff extra fun with 5g modems!!

Interesting one on my side.. Still working on next round of 5g testing but..
On the 4k 1k modem: The pain expressed the other day of only getting 10Mbps... well after trying to free up the system for testing and giving up and putting it all back together the same as are using as main internet... well suddenly was getting 50Mbps.. Not sure what changed or if there is something changed on the network..
Trying another round of freeing it up so can test again!

[mtl26637]

Uh ya, ATT 5G is pretty much a joke. Even in areas that have actual "5G" bands it usually is nothing more than 5Mhz wide (at least everywhere I've seen). Just enough to light up the 5G icon on your phone.

What about Tmo? Their coverage is absolutely terrible in my area but luckily they do have 1 tower about 3-4 miles away and they have best 5G service overall IMO. The tower near me has n41 (100mhz wide) and n71 (20mhz wid) active. That n41 band REALLY opens up the door for download speeds.
Hopefully ATT and VZW pick up their game this year and finally expand their 5G coverage areas.

[PaddyX]

......

/edit: @PaddyX I see you did this patch once, any chance you've got a simple guide to accomplish the same on OpenWRT or perhaps a built module I can download and just place

AH that is a fun store actually for troubleshooting got a PCIE to M.2 M-Key combined with my M.2 B-key to pcie.. and plugged it onto my windows motherboard.. firmware installed as part of the driver install... So somehow the firmware is imbedded in the driver set..

That being said. I got a good look under the hood when trying to upgrade the 4G 1K! That was a royal pain in the ass! it has a pair of .fls files and a separate application for flashing..

Also what I spotted in my progress was in OPENWRT there is a mod for flashing firmware.. check the software list. Not tried it yet or checked if are others..

1st would recommend breaking down the driver and checking all the files!
Then check out the flashing options.. Think Lenovo was friendlier for linux options.. Will try to download what you mentioned and have a look at it as well.

[PaddyX]

Uh ya, ATT 5G is pretty much a joke. Even in areas that have actual "5G" bands it usually is nothing more than 5Mhz wide (at least everywhere I've seen). Just enough to light up the 5G icon on your phone.

What about Tmo? Their coverage is absolutely terrible in my area but luckily they do have 1 tower about 3-4 miles away and they have best 5G service overall IMO. The tower near me has n41 (100mhz wide) and n71 (20mhz wid) active. That n41 band REALLY opens up the door for download speeds.
Hopefully ATT and VZW pick up their game this year and finally expand their 5G coverage areas.

hehe actually being a bit further away may be better! There look to be more longer distance direction 5g options out there.. like
https://www.amazon.com/Periodic-Externa ... B09VVWMS2F
That also allows you to focus on a particular tower..

Interesting on the "The tower near me has n41 (100mhz wide) and n71 (20mhz wid) active. That n41 band REALLY opens up the door for download speeds. " Had seen particular ones on the old set with wildly differing performance as well! Pain were i am at they have 1 5g channel and 2 4g ones so options are slim

[PaddyX]

Ahh tried to grab the lenovo driver and had the same challenge as before.. it wants a lenovo serial number.. how do you get past that or do you use the one on the modem?

[mtl26637]

First click of the download button results in a box that pops up and wants a serial number. LOL, I clicked the "download" button a second time and it started the download.