Nithin Kamath’s Weblog

I recently got a internet connection from Tata Indicom (CDMA Wireless). I purchased the Huawei EC325 modem which uses a USB cable to connect to the PC. My inital reaction was since it was a USB connection and was using a custom software to connect to the net, it would not be possible to connect to the net in Linux using this modem.

After full two months, I finally gave up my laziness and did a quick search. I tried out the first solution offered and it worked out in the first try itself, how often does that happen. It took me a total of 10 mins including searching, restarting and configuring to get connected to the net in Linux.

Here is the procedure to get Huawei EC325 Data Modem in Linux:-

1. Open a terminal window.
2. Log in as root, i.e. type “su -” sans the quotes and enter the root password.
3. Then use vi to edit/create the following file “/etc/wvdial.conf”.
4. Enter the following text into it.
   [Modem0]
   Modem=/dev/ttyUSB0
   Baud=115200
   SetVolume=0
   Dial Command = ATDT
   init1=ATZ
   init2=AT+CRM=1
   FlowControl= Hardware (CRTSCTS)
   [Dialer tata]
   Username= internet
   Password= internet
   Phone=#777
   Stupid Mode= 1
   Inherits = Modem0
5. In the above change the Modem=/dev/ttyUSB0 to what ever your device name is, you should be able to see it while the OS is booting, else give the “dmesg” command and search in that.
6. Final step is give the command “wvdial tata”, and if everything is proper you should now be connected to the net.
7. Press “Ctrl+c” when you want to disconnect.

I have tried this on SuSE 10.1 and it should work on any latest release of any Linux system. Also I had this system configured for net access for BSNL dataone service before, so am not absolutely sure if you have to do any DNS settings or not. But it should work regardless of it.

Great to be back into the Linux world again.

Looks like the holiday season has come early this year, many companies have been generous to give away their commercial products for free for a limited period. Is it not sad that piracy is very rampant in developing countries, and people use pirated software even though free alternatives are available. But now there is a chance to get commercial software for free, so don’t miss this opportunity, download and register them right now.

| Platform: Windows 2000, Windows XP | Size: 35.6 MB |
Offer expires January 4, 2007

A productive software which helps you to design a logo or a graphic for your website or other media, draft a vector diagram, edit your photos or touch up graphics for your website, It uses a super-fast rendering engine means there’s no waiting around to see the results of a tool, either. Even images with complex layers of fills, blends and transparencies will be updated right away. Also note that Xara XS is a special edition of Xara Xtreme that has been created exclusively for promotions on magazine covermounted CDs and is not available from Xara direct.
Registration Details: You can get your serial key by clicking ‘Register this Copy’ which you can see in the initial splash screen, when you start Xara XS.
Download Link

| Platform: Windows 2000, XP, 98 | Size: 8.4 MB |
Offer expires December 13, 2006

Do you use Nero for burning CD/DVD’s? Now is the time to try out a simple but powerful software that matches the power of Nero and you can download and register it for free. It has features to burn files and folders on data CDs/DVDs/Blu-ray discs, burn Audio CDs from WAV, MP3, FLAC, WMA, Ogg Vorbis files and many other features. So hurry only one more week left before the offer closes.
Download and Registration Details

Offer Expires December 10, 2006

The program starts very simply. If you want to join a few film clips together, for instance, then just drag and drop them on to the timeline (MPEG, MOV, AVI and WMV formats are supported), and export the finished results as Windows Media Video (WMV) file. All finished in the minimum of clicks. The program comes with a range of special effects. It also provides a flexible Title editor, letting you add all kinds of animated titles and captions with the minimum of effort.
Download

| Platform Windows 98, NT, 2000, XP | Size 11.1 MB |
Offer expires November 26, 2006 (still available though)

Replacing your tired old hard drive with a speedy, high-capacity model is one of the most effective PC upgrades you can make. Don’t go through the tedious process of reinstalling Windows and your applications on the new drive, though: just run Drive Copy instead, and it’ll clone your existing drive in the shortest possible time. Once your new system is up and running, you can also use the program as a simple backup tool.
| Download | Registration |

| Platform Windows 98, NT, 2000, XP |

Partitioning your hard drive is an invaluable way to optimise the use of disk space, improve performance, or create a dual-boot PC so you can install another operating system.
| Download | Registration |