How to configure TATA PHOTON+ EC1261 on UBUNTU 10.04 Lucid Lynx

Shashwat Srivastava -

The new Tata Photon+ EC1261 Modem is not included in default list of USB Broadband modems in Ubuntu 10.04 Network Manager. One of the Geeks found a working solution and would like to share with those in need. It is assumed that you know how to tweak things using command line.

The idea is to make the network Manager automatically detect the USB modem device, which is the new Tata Photon+ EC1261. When you plug-in your device sometimes it wouldn't appear in the list of Mobile Broadband Modems in your network manager and might leave you frustated. Now here is a working solution, where you need to install two .deb files and add your modem in a file which contains the modem list.

How to install Tata Photon+ on Ubuntu 10.04

STEP #1:

Plug-in your device and download two .deb files on your Ubuntu desktop.

usb-modeswitch-data_20100418-1_all.deb

usb-modeswitch_1.1.2-3_i386.deb

Download the above links or from the latest Debian repo listed below.

http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/i386/usb-modeswitch/download

http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/all/usb-modeswitch-data/download

http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/usb-modeswitch-data

http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/usb-modeswitch

STEP #2:

Open a command terminal from Application>>Accessories>>Terminal.

Change your directory level to your desktop and install these files using the command given below (to become SUPER USER we use sudo).

cd /home/user/Desktop

sudo dpkg -i usb-modeswitch-data_20100418-1_all.deb

sudo dpkg -i usb-modeswitch_1.1.2-3_i386.deb

REBOOT your system [recommended]

STEP #3 [Important]

Now we are going to add our modem to List of Huawei, newer modems in a file. The file name is 12d1:1446 and it is located at /etc/usb_modeswitch.d .

Open this file from command line by using following command.

sudo gedit /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/12d1:1446

A text editor will pop-up, where you only need to add 140b in the TargetProductList= line and save your file. For your reference, the line should be edited as given below.

TargetProductList="1001,1406,140c,141b,14ac,140b"

Detach your USB Tata Photon+ EC1261 and insert it again. Most probably your modem should be automatically detected. Right click on Network Manager from the top menu bar, select edit connections, select Mobile Broadband and click on Add. You shall be able to find your modem listed as shown in the picture below.

Your modem is ready, just select your country and TataPhoton+ Broadband service and Enjoy !!

One can also implement this procedure to any latest Linux (Debian flavour) , in case the network manager cannot detect your Mobile Broadband modem automatically.

[UPDATED]: FOR UBUNTU 10.10 THE DRIVER FOR TATA PHOTON+ IS PRE INSTALLED, so no need to install .deb file. Plug in your photon device and select the appropriate options from the Ubuntu network manager.