using gnome-ppp i was able to connect to verizon’s cdma network using the v640 card. all i literally had to do at this point was plug the card in, start gnome-ppp, click on ‘detect’ so it’s not looking at /dev/modem, and done. (i did set the speed to 115200, i’ll have to rtfm to see if that’s too low)

flipp@borked:~$ ifconfig ppp0
ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
inet addr:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx P-t-P:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Mask:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:5 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
RX bytes:64 (64.0 b) TX bytes:97 (97.0 b)

update: edit /etc/ppp/options and add ‘lcp-echo-interval 65535′ (or set it to 0). i was only able to stay connected for 2.5 minutes w/ the default (i believe it was 30)

i’ve had the v640 card for awhile, just needed to wait for my expresscard to pcmcia adapter. surprisingly enough, my dell latitude d620 is listed as supporting the card. ha! atleast i have a small warm-fuzzy about this possibly working in ubuntu and not having to just use it inside a winxp vm.

after plugging the adapter in, and then inserting the v640, the output of `dmesg` verifies that the system does see the v640.

[104552.492000] /build/buildd/linux-source-2.6.22-2.6.22/drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for GSM modem (1-port)
[104552.492000] option 6-1:1.0: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
[104552.492000] usb 6-1: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[104552.492000] option 6-1:1.1: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
[104552.492000] usb 6-1: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB1
[104552.492000] usbcore: registered new interface driver option
[104552.492000] /build/buildd/linux-source-2.6.22-2.6.22/drivers/usb/serial/option.c: USB Driver for GSM modems: v0.7.1

i am curious why the card attached itself to ttyUSB0 and ttyUSB1 though. `ifconfig` doesn’t show any new devices either. after checking del.icio.us for bookmarks tagged v640, i can either start configuring the v640 manually, or use a gui ppp client to connect with the v640. one thing i should have done was actually read the bookmarks while i was waiting on the card. i have no clue what the 10-digit verizon number is that is associated with my card. boo. guess this is on hold till i figure that out.

right now, the only reason i’m using a virtualized winxp is for:

• outlook (boo.. hiss. boo!)
• tmobile wing activesync
• sysadmin java programs & apps that require internet explorer
• ubuntu’s nm-applet stomps on the resolv.conf [ launchpad ]
• issues configuring nm-applet-openvpn (manual openvpn works though)

most of the windows specific things i can offload to a virtual machine running on my work network. the archive email i’m still trying to figure out though, i’ve never really been good at going back through old email and seperating the cream from the  noise. the noise from my work group’s default alias has been piped into a new ticket system so i can easily take my current outlook psts and crunch them down to a fraction of their size. currently don’t have a lot of meeting requests or other work outlook calendar items, so i can easily just add those manually to google calendar when something comes up. i guess i really don’t need to worry about syncing my personal evolution with my work outlook mail, but i do need to go through and clean up the email from this year and just archive it.

it’s just a lot of different blobs of data… not as difficult to manipulate as i’m making it. i should really stop focusing on how to get it to plan nice in my new environment because some of the data/apps don’t play nice off their native windows systems. syncing the pocketpc shouldn’t take any priority either, i’m definantly switching to an android handset as soon as they are available in Q2 2008.