USB networking

This page describes how the maemo platform can be turned into a USB network device. There are two parts to this document. The first part of this document describes how to configure the Nokia 770/n800 to be a USB plugable network device. The second part of this document describes how to configure various platforms to use the Nokia 770/n800 as a network device. These are the reasons that you may want to use Usb Networking with the Nokia 770/n800


 * Transfer data back and forth between the Nokia 770/n800 and a host computer.
 * Perform remote logins to the Nokia 770/n800 from a host computer.
 * Add a third connectivity tool to the existing WAN and BlueTooth support that the Nokia comes with out of the box.

As with all usb hardware, driver software must installed on the host computer before the usb device is attached. Please make sure that your Nokia 770 is not connected to the computer while performing these steps.

= Nokia 770/n800 USB Network Environment Configuration =

http://m770cias.garage.maemo.org/images/usbnet/usbnet_concept_800.png

An usbnet concept image helps to see what the configuration will do. In normal circumstances, the USB Mass storage driver had control of the usb hardware. USBNet will displace the mass storage driver's control of the usb hardware with the g_ether network driver. Until the replacement occurs, the host computer will see the 770/n800 as just another mass storage device or an empty cable.

NOTE: After installing USB networking you should setup DUMMY access point to allow network access from www browser etc. http://maemo.org/maemowiki/DummyIAP

Start and Stop Script
For convenience, I placed the following script /etc/init.d/usbnet on my Nokia: In order to add this script to your device, you will need root access. Please see root access for information.


 * 1) ! /bin/sh
 * 2) Startup script for USBnet (networking, instead of USB Mass Storage behaviour)
 * 3) Author: Michael Mlivoncic
 * 1) Author: Michael Mlivoncic

PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin NAME=usbnet DESC="USB Networking for Nokia 770" INITFILE=/etc/init.d/$NAME

case "$1" in start)       umount /media/mmc1        umount /media/mmc2        sleep 2        USBNET="`lsmod | grep g_ether`"        KERNEL_VERSION="`uname -r`"        if [ "$USBNET" = "" ]        then           echo "entering Ethernet via USB mode (g_ether)..."           insmod /mnt/initfs/lib/modules/$KERNEL_VERSION/g_ether.ko           echo "waiting, then starting up the usb0.."           sleep 1           /sbin/ifup usb0        else          echo "already in Ethernet-via-USB mode..."          echo "try ping 192.168.2.15"        fi        ;; stop) echo "switching back to USB Mass Storage mode..." echo "removing module g_ether" /sbin/ifdown usb0 sleep 2 rmmod g_ether ;;       printf "Usage: $INITFILE {start|stop}\n" >&2 exit 1 ;; esac

exit 0

Definitely, there is some room for improvement, but it can be used as a startup script or - as I currently do - manually:

sudo /etc/init.d/usbnet start activates the USB-networking while

sudo /etc/init.d/usbnet stop deactivates, i.e. switches back to USB mass storage device mode.

While switching, it is important to have USB disconnected! Otherwise the kernel modules will be blocked.

I found that the usb0 configuration was already there in the SE2005 image on my Nokia. Check /etc/network/interfaces. Otherwise, you need to configure the network on the device by adding the following lines to /etc/network/interfaces on the 770 and comment out or delete the existing usb0-entry: iface usb0 inet static address 192.168.2.15 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.2.255 up route add default gw 192.168.2.14 I.e. on the windows side, the USB cable will be 192.168.2.14, the Nokia's side will be 192.168.2.15. Feel free to change that as you like.

= Host Platform USB Network Configuration = The Nokia 770/n800 configuration was the focus of part I of the USB Networking document. In part II our attention is turned to the configuration of various host computers.

Common Kernel Issues
The focus of you Linux distribution will determine if you need to support this step or not. If the distro you use has a general purpose Linux kernel configured, then you may not need to worry about usbnet configuration support in the kernel.

... CONFIG_USB_USBNET=m
 * 1) USB Network Adapters
 * 1) USB Network Adapters

The Linux usbnet configuration is show above.


 * Fedora You can locate this information by looking at the config* files in your grub /boot partition.
 * Debian
 * Ubuntu
 * Suse

Debian
There is another howto located here: How to USB Network with Debian Note that this HOWTO recommends a different IP address configuration. If you don't want to change the config on the device you already setup, substitute 192.168.2.14 for 192.168.2.1 in the guide.

The Platform Document on USB Networking also describes a Debian PC setup.

Requirements

 * Windows XP SP2 contains the required .sys files.


 * Windows 2000, you will need to download the RNDIS drivers from http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/network/NDIS/rndis.mspx.


 * Download the file Nokia770 USB Ethernet RNDIS.inf from here or here It will instruct Windows XP that its built-in RNDIS driver is appropriate for Linux USB networking devices, and the Nokia 770 as such.


 * If you are using an N800, skip all the steps below which apply to the N770; the bora distribution supplies a control panel applet called "maemo-statusbar-usbnet". Once installed, the control panel "Maemo-DM" will allow you to change the function of the USB port from "MMC emulation" to a RNDIS emulation of a USB ethernet interface. You will also need to set the WinXP side's IP address to be fixed at 192.168.2.14.

This file is my updated/improved version of linux.inf from gumstix. The original version did not work with the current download for Windows 2000 from above.

I tried these 3 .inf files on a Windows2000 (5.00.2195 SP3) plateform, but none of them reconized the N770 (the list of drivers stays blank after selecting the directory where the .inf and .sys files are)... any ideas ?


 * ...and of course, as usual, i.e. need to be root / have xterm on the Nokia 770.

Setting up your environment on Nokia 770
For convenience, I placed the following script /etc/init.d/usbnet on my Nokia:
 * 1) ! /bin/sh
 * 2) Startup script for USBnet (networking, instead of USB Mass Storage behaviour)
 * 3) Author: Michael Mlivoncic
 * 1) Author: Michael Mlivoncic

PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin NAME=usbnet DESC="USB Networking for Nokia 770" INITFILE=/etc/init.d/$NAME

case "$1" in start)       USBNET="`lsmod | grep g_ether`"        if [ "$USBNET" = "" ]        then           echo "entering Ethernet via USB mode (g_ether)..."           insmod /mnt/initfs/lib/modules/current/g_ether.ko           echo "waiting, then starting up the usb0.."           sleep 1           /sbin/ifup usb0        else          echo "already in Ethernet-via-USB mode..."          echo "try ping 192.168.2.15"        fi        ;; stop) echo "switching back to USB Mass Storage mode..." echo "removing module g_ether" /sbin/ifdown usb0 sleep 2 rmmod g_ether ;;       printf "Usage: $INITFILE {start|stop}\n" >&2 exit 1 ;; esac

exit 0

Definitely, there is some room for improvement, but it can be used as a startup script or - as I currently do - manually:

sudo /etc/init.d/usbnet start activates the USB-networking while

sudo /etc/init.d/usbnet stop deactivates, i.e. switches back to USB mass storage device mode.

While switching, it is important to have USB disconnected! Otherwise the kernel modules will be blocked.

I found that the usb0 configuration was already there in the SE2005 image on my Nokia. Check /etc/network/interfaces. Otherwise, you need to configure the network on the device by adding the following lines to /etc/network/interfaces on the 770 and comment out or delete the existing usb0-entry: iface usb0 inet static address 192.168.2.15 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.2.255 up route add default gw 192.168.2.14

I.e. on the windows side, the USB cable will be 192.168.2.14, the Nokia's side will be 192.168.2.15. Feel free to change that as you like.

Preparing the Windows host
When you connect the Nokia to the PC, it will look for a suitable driver. As opposed to the USB mass device mode, Windows will not find a suitable driver by default. Actually, Windows XP comes with built-in support for so called RNDIS devices, but it does not know that the N770 will act as such. Therefore, we need to instruct it to do so: In the driver dialog, choose that you will provide the driver's location. Point it to the directory where you previously downloaded the Nokia770 USB Ethernet RNDIS.inf (or linux.inf) file. It will show you a driver called Linux USB Ethernet/RNDIS Gadget. Install it.

Additional step for Windows 2000
As mentioned before, Windows 2000 lacks of the basic driver files. So, first unpack RNDIS-USB-Kit_05.exe you have downloaded above (266kB from July 2005). You only need to copy rndismpy.sys (30 KB) and usb8023y.sys (14 KB) from

RNDIS USB kit 2005\Drivers\x86fre\sys files to a folder of your choice, e.g. c:\Drivers\Nokia770_RNDIS. Add Nokia770 USB Ethernet RNDIS.inf to the same folder; this will complete your driver set. As with Windows XP, now just install it from the Device Manager dialog.

A new network card with this name will become visible afterwards. I assume, you know or can figure out how to set up this network adapter. Minimally, set its IP-address to static 192.168.2.14. Optionally activate ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) on your network adapter to share the outside world with your little Nokia.

Testing the connection
To test the connection, you can either type ping 192.168.2.15 on your PC or vice versa, ping 192.168.2.14 in the xterm.

For troubleshooting, use ifconfig -a and route to verify on the Nokia, ipconfig /all and route print.

Known issues
As opposed to connecting with a Debian host, I realize some problems when unplugging and replugging the USB cable between the two devices - Windows will indicate a code 10-error indicating that the device could not start properly. The problem seems to be actually on the Nokia side - as rebooting the device helps. So, make sure to first initialize g_ether, then connect the cable and enjoy networking.

Probably some background service on the N770 interferes with unloading/loading sequence of g_ether and g_mass_storage. i.e. some task mounts/unmounts MMC card when plugging in USB.

I would highly appreciate any comments on this - Does re-connecting USB work for you? Seems to work fine with XP together with IT2006. Does anyone know a fix for this?

Final remarks
I have my Nokia 770 now for almost a week. A impressive little Linux box. I like the BT networking as it consumes less battery than WLAN. Now, It is even a USB network card (or even a USB to BT and WLAN dongle). Many of the Howtos here were very useful (especially Swap device, BT networking, BT OBEX,...) So, hope you enjoy my contribution and do not hesitate to add some stuff.

A few ideas about how to use this feature: I already have OpenSSH on the Nokia. So, if the PC has WinSCP installed, you can browse the Filesystem or copy files to the MMC card (other than the first partition, as it is automatically deactivated when USB is plugged in; however you can re-mount it with

mount /media/mmc1

As I mentioned at the beginning, my PC has the faster USB interface. Now, when I'm connected, I can backup the whole root-fs to my Linux box with maximum performance.

rsync -avzxlrP delete inplace --numeric-ids / 192.168.8.4:/Nokia770_Backup

Why am I backuping everything? If I ever screw it up again (before SE2006), I hope to be able to use the trick from http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ModifyingRootImage and flash my backup back onto the device.

I will let you guys know ;-)

Windows 98 and ME
Any chance that these OSes might support USB networking?

Since the first thing I would do with a computer of mine that ran these OSes was to get rid of them I'm talking about other people's computers, and I need to be sure I won't break anything. So I'm not gonna try out stuff myself.

Questions about these procedures
I tried to get this working with Windows XP, but I couldn't figure a few things out.
 * 1) Do we need to download both .INF files, the Nokia770%20USB%20Ethernet%20RNDIS.inf and the linux.inf? If we only need to download the Nokia770%20USB%20Ethernet%20RNDIS.inf, then maybe correct the line that says:
 * 2) * Point it to the directory where you previously downloaded the linux.inf file.
 * 3) * No, one is enough, it states above that it is an updated/improved version...
 * 4) So if we have already plugged in our 770 into XP, and it recognized it as a drive, do we need to remove the driver software that makes it appear as a USB drive, and replace it with the USBNet drivers?
 * 5) * No, windows will assume it is a different device, so no conflict with the update/storage/network drivers for the Nokia770.
 * 6) * However, as stated above: you have to insmod the kernel module on the N770 before you connect the cable!
 * 7) When I try to do the above, I get an error stating that the driver I am trying to choose doesn't have anything to do with my hardware.
 * 8) * Make sure you have activated USB networking on the Nokia side correctly. I'm also using 2006OS Beta if that makes a difference
 * 9) * Haven't tried with the Beta, but with the official release from 06/30/2006.
 * 10) My tablet can now talk to my XP machine, but how do I get out to the rest of the network? Firstly, set up a dummy access point, dummyiap, so that you can configure the network settings in connection manager for your usbnet connection. This will allow you to configure proxy server access. Secondly, install a proxy on your local machine. Examples include proxomitron or freeproxy.

=Other Notes= It is possible to have the MMC cards available for local use on the device (but not available for the computer) while using USB Networking. See here: How_to_use_both_USB_networking_and_the_memory_card_at_the_same_time