Re[ltp] placing the Ericsson 3G modem in an X301 with a Sierra Wireless LTE modem

Bjørn Mork linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Tue, 05 Jun 2012 09:05:44 +0200


Elvair <elvair@gmail.com> writes:

> Wow, so I did manage to get the card working in the end without modifying
> BIOS. 
>
> The idea is this, if you plug Sierra MC7710 into the WWAN pci port, then =
it
> just does not work no matter what and BIOS gives you that error about
> unathorized card, however if you plug it into WLAN where my Intel Wi-Fi L=
ink
> 5300 AGN used to be, then the system boots up ok, OS does not see the car=
d.
> And thats where the "Tape PIN 20" comes in handy. Here is the picture, th=
is
> is how you find PIN 20 - 
>
> http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.endeer.cz/lenovo/F=
3507g-mark.jpg&imgrefurl=3Dhttp://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D2=
9%26t%3D55837%26start%3D420&usg=__C8QpmE1p9Q_i5hlqhsI_HNe38rE=&h=720&w=1155&sz=96&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=J69xrJlXv1BxBM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthinkpad%2Btape%2Bpin%2B20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Good to know!  I suspected that this would work, but it's always nice
to have it actually tested.

> However this is where 2nd round of problems comes into play. So I switched
> cards, and now my intel wi-fi card is plugged into WWAN port, the system
> appears to see the card in device manager (im running windows 7 btw), but=
 it
> says that "device cannot start" and native lenovo connections manager (its
> called "access connections") does not see any network devices at all. So =
I'm
> wondering here how do I make my Intel wi-fi card work?

Cannot help much with Windows problems I'm afraid.  Is the card visible
in Linux?

> The 2nd problem is with the Sierra card itself, I cant figure out what ki=
nd
> of software to use to make it work. 
> I installed Sierra Watcher, it seems to install ok, moreover it has MC7710
> drivers bundled with it, however when I try to run it, it says that =
SIM
> card is missing”. Whats the deal with SIM card? Do I have to have=
 one to
> make it definently work? I don’t really have one, what I do have =
is external
> modem by provider and it seems that SIM card is in built there in the form
> of chip. So I’m wondering here if SIM is definitely required, wou=
ld it be
> sufficient to obtain one from provider and plug it into SIM-card slot
> available on my X301, or that will not necessarily work? Also would that =
be
> possible somehow to bypass that SIM-card test entirely and be able to
> connect to the network without any SIM. It appears that I have all the
> necessary to make connection work, I have modem, I have antennas =
 what else
> do I need?  

The SIM card is how you identify yourself to the network.  I don't think
you'll find any LTE/3G network provider giving away free access, so yes,
you need a SIM card if you are going to use the LTE card.

It goes into the SIM slot behind the battery.


Bjørn