** Resolved ** Integrated Sierra MC5725 3G(Verizon EVDO) modem

[jp7x7]

I have 10.5.6 running (beautifully, for the most part) on a ThinkPad X61 (non-tablet). The only deal-breaker is the intergrated Verizon EVDO 3G modem. I need to make it work before I can get much use out Mac OS X on the laptop because it's my only option for Internet access.

 

I am currently running Ubuntu on a separate hard drive for Internet access, and the Verizon card works perfectly.

 

Based on what I've discovered so far, I think this card can be made to work, but I'll need some help...

 

I haven't found many posts regarding this modem, 1 from 2006 which wasn't successful, nor for too many similar modems; this 5720 modem also didn't work, and another example of a 5720 that supposedly DID work but the poster didn't know how he had accompished it. So why would I think mine should work?

 

Mac OS X recognizes the modem as a USB device. When I load the "Watcher Lite" application from Sierra it doesn't see the device.

 

I found this post, which makes the claim that increasing the idProduct integer in the drivers Info.plist file by 1 will make the Watcher recognise the card. This didn't seem very likely to me and, indeed, did not work. In Linux, which I am much more familiar with, the VendorID and ProductID that the device reports need to match in the driver or it won't work.

 

On a side note, I also found a claim on the Apple message boards (I can't find the link, I'm sorry) that the built-in Apple sierra driver for Leopard is based on the Linux sierra driver. I don't know if that's really true or not but gives me hope anyway!

 

There are several examples of the 595U USB version, based on the same chip, working in Leopard. Also, the card is recognized as a USB device in OS X and the Sierra Watcher Lite application, when installed, seems to indicate in the Info.plist file that it supports my exact modem.

 

What I've done so far:

 

When I first installed the Watcher Lite app, it just said "No device detected". Based on this post, I tried the idProduct increment by one trick, though skeptical. It didn't do anything. I am not very familiar with OSX drivers, etc., but I suspect the idVendor and idProduct fields in Info.plist correspond to the "VendorID:ProductID" info displayed in `lsusb` on linux. I noticed that, on my Ubuntu install, these numbers are:

VendorID=0x1199

ProductID=0x0220

 

Info.plist in the Watcher Lite driver lists the numbers (in integer form) for this card as:

idVendor=4505 (0x1199 in Hex - ** Matches)

idProduct=32 (0x0020 in Hex - *** Doesn't Match)

 

Since Apple System Profiler actually shows the modem as 0x1199:0x0220 I changed Info.plist to:

4505:544 (0x0220 in integer) and got an interesting result. The modem still won't work, but the interface to Watcher Light now "blinks". It alternates between greyed out and black writing. Nothing works and it still shows no device but it looks like it's almost seeing something...

 

I can't help thinking that if I could change another setting or two in the Watcher Lite driver, such as other settings in Info.plist, I could make this work.

 

Attached is a dump from the linux command `lsusb -v` for this device which will hopefully contain some useful info. I will also drop my Watcher Lite Info.plist file(s) and the USB bit from Apple System Profile and anything else someone might think useful on request. The OSX bits will need to wait for tomorrow morning when I have a wireless network at Work. I don't have a flash drive or anything to dump files off to here are home.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you may give. I will post detailed instructions if and when we can make this work.

 

-John

sierra.txt

[jp7x7]

I have 10.5.6 running (beautifully, for the most part) on a ThinkPad X61 (non-tablet). The only deal-breaker is the intergrated Verizon EVDO 3G modem. I need to make it work before I can get much use out Mac OS X on the laptop because it's my only option for Internet access.

 

I am currently running Ubuntu on a separate hard drive for Internet access, and the Verizon card works perfectly.

 

Based on what I've discovered so far, I think this card can be made to work, but I'll need some help...

 

I haven't found many posts regarding this modem, 1 from 2006 which wasn't successful, nor for too many similar modems; this 5720 modem also didn't work, and another example of a 5720 that supposedly DID work but the poster didn't know how he had accompished it. So why would I think mine should work?

 

Mac OS X recognizes the modem as a USB device. When I load the "Watcher Lite" application from Sierra it doesn't see the device.

 

I found this post, which makes the claim that increasing the idProduct integer in the drivers Info.plist file by 1 will make the Watcher recognise the card. This didn't seem very likely to me and, indeed, did not work. In Linux, which I am much more familiar with, the VendorID and ProductID that the device reports need to match in the driver or it won't work.

 

On a side note, I also found a claim on the Apple message boards (I can't find the link, I'm sorry) that the built-in Apple sierra driver for Leopard is based on the Linux sierra driver. I don't know if that's really true or not but gives me hope anyway!

 

There are several examples of the 595U USB version, based on the same chip, working in Leopard. Also, the card is recognized as a USB device in OS X and the Sierra Watcher Lite application, when installed, seems to indicate in the Info.plist file that it supports my exact modem.

 

What I've done so far:

 

When I first installed the Watcher Lite app, it just said "No device detected". Based on this post, I tried the idProduct increment by one trick, though skeptical. It didn't do anything. I am not very familiar with OSX drivers, etc., but I suspect the idVendor and idProduct fields in Info.plist correspond to the "VendorID:ProductID" info displayed in `lsusb` on linux. I noticed that, on my Ubuntu install, these numbers are:

VendorID=0x1199

ProductID=0x0220

 

Info.plist in the Watcher Lite driver lists the numbers (in integer form) for this card as:

idVendor=4505 (0x1199 in Hex - ** Matches)

idProduct=32 (0x0020 in Hex - *** Doesn't Match)

 

Since Apple System Profiler actually shows the modem as 0x1199:0x0220 I changed Info.plist to:

4505:544 (0x0220 in integer) and got an interesting result. The modem still won't work, but the interface to Watcher Light now "blinks". It alternates between greyed out and black writing. Nothing works and it still shows no device but it looks like it's almost seeing something...

 

I can't help thinking that if I could change another setting or two in the Watcher Lite driver, such as other settings in Info.plist, I could make this work.

 

Attached is a dump from the linux command `lsusb -v` for this device which will hopefully contain some useful info. I will also drop my Watcher Lite Info.plist file(s) and the USB bit from Apple System Profile and anything else someone might think useful on request. The OSX bits will need to wait for tomorrow morning when I have a wireless network at Work. I don't have a flash drive or anything to dump files off to here are home.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you may give. I will post detailed instructions if and when we can make this work.

 

-John

 

 

WORKING!!

 

I was correct in that the idProduct in Info.plist just needed the proper number. I think my mistake was in not deleting the Extensions.mkext file so it hadn't rebuilt but I'm only guessing.

 

Here is the modems info from Apple System Profiler:

 

Sierra Wireless MC5725 Modem:

 

Product ID: 0x0220

Vendor ID: 0x1199

Version: 0.02

Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec

Manufacturer: Sierra Wireless, Incorporated

Location ID: 0x3d100000

Current Available (mA): 500

Current Required (mA): 0

 

 

I had to change 2 Info.plist files, both in /System/Library/Extensions of course:

 

1) SierraSupport.kext/Contents/Info.plist

I changed idProduct from 32 to 544. It now looks like this:

                <key>SierraDeviceMC5725</key>
               <dict>
                       <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
                       <string>com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraSupport</string>
                       <key>ConfigFile</key>
                       <string>/System/Library/Extensions/SierraSupport.kext/Contents/Resources/sierra595.plist</string>
                       <key>IOClass</key>
                       <string>SierraPCS</string>
                       <key>IOProviderClass</key>
                       <string>IOUSBDevice</string>
                       <key>InputBuffers</key>
                       <integer>16</integer>
                       <key>OutputBuffers</key>
                       <integer>24</integer>
                       <key>idProduct</key>
                       <integer>[b]544[/b]</integer>
                       <key>idVendor</key>
                       <integer>4505</integer>
               </dict>

 

2) SierraSupportKicker.kext/Contents/Info.plist

Same change: idProduct from 32 to 544. The relevant part now looks like this:

 

ierraSupportKicker.kext  Info.plist:
               <key>SierraInterfaceDriverMC5725</key>
               <dict>
                       <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
                       <string>com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraSupportKicker</string>
                       <key>IOClass</key>
                       <string>SierraSupportKicker</string>
                       <key>IOProviderClass</key>
                       <string>IOUSBInterface</string>
                       <key>bConfigurationValue</key>
                       <integer>1</integer>
                       <key>bInterfaceNumber</key>
                       <integer>0</integer>
                       <key>idProduct</key>
                       <integer>[b]544[/b]</integer>
                       <key>idVendor</key>
                       <integer>4505</integer>
               </dict>

 

 

That was all that was needed. Once I dumped the Extensions.mkext file, I just started up Watcher Lite and OS X informed me a new network port had been detected. It automagically set itself up in Network Settings and shows as "Sierra Wireless MC5725 ModemVerizon" and I can connect/disconnect from either the built-in utility or Watcher Lite.

 

NOTE: There was also a reboot in there before the modem worked but I'm not sure that did anything. I suspect the required piece was rebuilding the Extensions.mkext.

 

I hope this helps someone else out there with this modem.

 

Cheers!