Wireless Manager + U720 WORKING!

[Guest]

[ScottishCaptain]

Greetings!

Just thought I'd let you guys know that I managed to get the OQO Wireless Manager working with a Bell U720 Novatel MiniPCI card. Yeah- that's right- OQO Wireless working with any other card you might happen to have. So there's really no downside to not upgrading to EVDO Rev A.

From what I can tell, disabling/enabling the card works absolutely great. Clicking the configure button launches my Bell Mobility "Mobility Connect" program. It's all a bit of a hack, but it works just fine in the end.

Here is exactly what OQO's Wireless.oqo  and Admintasks.oqo (which are executables, compiled with Mingw32 by "Brandon" for Win32) is LOOKING FOR in regards to a wireless card:

- A USB device with the hardware ID string of:
USB\VID_1410&PID_2100&Rev_0000&MI_00

Where VID is Novatel's Manufacture ID and PID is the ID of the Device
The ES/EV620 has a PID of 2100, the U720 has a PID of 2110, this is the ONLY difference

- An executable file located under:
C:\Program Files\Novatel Wireless\Sprint\Sprint PCS Connection Manager\OSCM3.exe

The Wireless manager will show the radio as NOT DETECTED if this EXE or the Verizon equivalent is not present. I got stuck on this one for a while (!!).

So, the steps you need to take to get the Wireless Manager working with your OQO and a non-OQO branded MiniPCI card (this might work for HDSPA as well?) are:

- Download a Hex Editor like Hack (over at Sourceforge)
- Make backups of Wireless.oqo and Admintasks.oqo under C:\Program Files\OQO\OQO Manager\Plugins\
- Open C:\Program Files\OQO\OQO Manager\Plugins\Wireless.oqo in your Hex Editor
- Search for the USB PID 2100 or VID 1410.
- Change 2100 in the USB ID string (as shown below) to 2110 for the U720
- Do NOT change anything else in Wireless.oqo and MAKE SURE you do not delete any characters or add any characters, we do NOT want to change the size of the file (!!!).
- To reconfirm, the only thing you are changing is:
USB\VID_1410&PID_2100&Rev_0000&MI_00
to
USB\VID_1410&PID_2110&Rev_0000&MI_00
- Save that file.

- Repeat the same process for:
C:\Program Files\OQO\OQO Manager\Plugins\Admintasks.oqo

- Again, there will be one entry with the USB\VID string you need to change from 2100 to 2110 for the U720 (other cards may have a different VID/PID- change at your discretion).
- Save Admintasks.oqo and quit your Hex Editor

- Next, take a complete copy of your WWAN Card Manager directory under C:\Program Files\<Your WWAN Manager Directory>, and paste it into C:\Program Files\Novatel Wireless\Sprint\Sprint PCS Connection Manager\.

You may need to create these directories as required, but you should already have the Novatel Wireles directory there if you've used a Novatel card before.

So, for example, I copy everything under "C:\Program Files\Bell\Mobile Connect" and paste it all into "C:\Program Files\Novatel Wireless\Sprint\Sprint PCS Connection Manager\".

- Next, rename your Connection Manager's main EXE (the one that launches the GUI- in my case, Bell's UI EXE is named tscui.exe) to OSCM3.exe.

Essentially, the OQO Wireless Manager will report the card as "Not Detected" unless the OSCM3.exe (or Verizon equivalent, under a different path) is present. We are just fooling it into thinking we've installed the Sprint software, when in reality it might be a different version of the Sprint software or another carrier's software, like Bell.

The Wireless Manager will check the above patched USB strings for the device, and then for the presence of the OSCM3.exe application executable. At this point, your 3G modem should be working under the OQO manager, and clicking on the wrench icon should pull up your carrier's configuration utility.

You may be able to just install your carrier software to the Sprint directory as above right off the bat (didn't try this with Bell, I will later) instead of copying the directory contents, I don't really know. Ether way, you need the OSCM3.exe file there- you can create a null file and rename it to OSCM3.exe, but then the wrench icon doesn't launch your carrier's connection manager (the OQO manager will just disappear instead as it tries to launch the null file)

Ether way. I'm happy, my Airport/Plane icon/mode works, and I can turn my modem on and off. Disabling the modem under OQO Wireless Manager causes it to disconnect from the USB bus- probably because the OQO is killing the card's power (it doesn't appear in the Device Manager when disabled). Re-enabling the card makes it show up again and works perfectly.

Killing everything (WLAN, WWAN, BT) gives me close to if not over 3 hours on the battery. So the U720 does suck up a little power when idling, but hey- now I can turn it on and off really easily and quickly.

-SC

[ScottishCaptain]

Okay...

It is easier to just install the carrier software to the sprint directory after all, then just rename the carrier connection manager to OSCM3.exe or make a copy with this name.

Ether way, it works great, and is certainly possible to get OQO Manager working with oher-then-stock cards.

-SC

[cooltops]

I tried this but Hack search does not find these settings.  I tried both.

[Tekara]

I tried this but Hack search does not find these settings.  I tried both.

Is your original card from Sprint?

What search string did you use?

[cooltops]

Yes, it is the Sprint card.  I still have a Sprint account.  I tried running the search with hack on the files you mentioned.  It kept saying it could not be found.

"USB PID 2100"or "VID 1410"

[ScottishCaptain]

Sorry...

You are looking for the following string:

USB\VID_1410&PID_2100&Rev_0000&MI_00

You can also search for just the VID (1410) or the PID (2100) numbers only- as in, just search for "1410" or "2100". The first result should be the string shown above in Admintasks.oqo and Wireless.oqo.

If you are using a U720, you will want to have this changed to:

USB\VID_1410&PID_2110&Rev_0000&MI_00

If you are using some other card then a U720 like an HDSPA unit, then the string you are changing this information to will likely have a different VID and PID, which you can find under the Device Manager on the Details page of the modem device.

-SC

[cooltops]

You are a genius!!!!

This works awesome.  I can even have both WWAN and Wifi connected.  One thing I might mention is in order to save the two files, you must terminate oqomanager and oqoservices in your task manager or the files will not save.

The great thing with mine is I'm still using sprint so the only mod I had to do was edit the two files to the 2110 number.  That's it.

Great Job!!!

[Ishman]

I am about ready to swap mine over.  The only issue is the warranty concern.  Anyone able to remove the sticker and place it back?   

Thanks

[cooltops]

I tried but it is about impossible.  I heard to use alcohol (not rubbing) and heat it with a hair dryer until it basically falls off. 

Mine came off; however, I probably didn't heat it long enough and it left some of it.  So the sticker is intact but now says void.  I did keep the sticker in some wax paper in case I need to try to put it back but my guess is it will be obvious.

According to many posts on the internet and this blog though they cannot void your warranty by removing the sticker.

[Ishman]

Thanks,

I currently have Sprint.  Did you just call Sprinit and have them change to the new E-number off the card?  What number did you call?

[cooltops]

I called the number on the bill and when it asks what you want to do, I said "Change ES number".  This went straight to a person who knows how to handle it.  I gave them the new number although they usually request the DEC # as well.  They would rather have the DEC# number.  The U720 I had purchased,  this number was on the box but not on the actual device.  They will change it just with the ESN # as well.

They tried to give me a new number to setup the device but all I had to do was click on Go in the sprint manager and it updated my information automatically.  This may or may not work for you.

[zanesmurf]

Sprint should give you an activation number, this time-sensitive code is needed to connect to the network.

[cooltops]

They did just didn't need it.  Once I was setup through Sprint he was walking me back through the initial setup.  I couldn't find it right away so I went to Device info and diagnostics and clicked update profile thinking it would bring up the area for activation.  It dialed up connected to sprint and viola' my card was updated.  Activation code not needed.

[Caleymac]

Woo Hoo.  I just replaced my WWAN with the extracted U720.  The Sprint Connection Manager automatically upgraded the firmware.  A quick call to Sprint and my download speeds are around 1090 and uploads around 300 in Northern Virginia near DC.  That's about a 40% better download and around double my previous upload speeds.

I tried the Sprint Location service, which calls up Live Search.  It put my location about .2 miles away from my actual position, but I'm sitting in my house kind've near a window.

Next step is to hack the wireless manager, and then just sit and wait for those 64GB SSD's to come out...

[zanesmurf]

You can change between MS Live, Google Maps, Yahoo, and Map Quest.
Menu > Settings > Sprint Location Services... about 1/2 way down the dialog box.

Is anyone signed up for the "Premium" GPS service ?