NWK200 Linux Setup Guide

For Windows instructions, Click Here.

Introduction

The OnLogic NWK200 is an mPCIe carrier board paired with the Sierra Wireless EM7455 Cellular Modem. This article covers basic setup and troubleshooting.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

SIM cards and Activation

• Locate the Extrovert booklet that came with your system.
• If an ICCID number is listed, your system already has a SIM card installed internally and is ready to activate. If not, you will need to provide a SIM card. See: Using External SIM slot
• Contact your wireless carrier. State that you want to activate a 4G modem and provide the numbers on the front of the booklet.

Modem Setup

• Ensure you are in an area with good signal coverage
• Connect both antennas and boot up the OnLogic PC

Opening the AT Command Terminal

• If the COM port does not open correctly, try ttyUSB0 or ttyUSB1

• The first item to check is the firmware setting. It should match the desired carrier.

at!impref?

• In the example above, the generic firmware is loaded. The carrier specific firmware should be used instead.
• Run the following commands:

Note: if your carrier is not listed, download the correct firmware from the following webpage:

https://source.sierrawireless.com/resources/airprime/minicard/74xx/em_mc74xx-approved-fw-packages/

Operating System Configuration

Now that the modem firmware has been configured, the next step is to configure the operating system. Skip to the section for your OS.

Ubuntu Desktop 16.04

1. NWK200 support in Ubuntu 16 Desktop requires:
   • Kernel version greater than 4.7
   • Modem manager from Ubuntu 18.04 or later
2. You will need to make sure you are running a kernel version 4.7 or newer. This can be checked from the Terminal with:
   • uname -r
   • If your kernel version is older than 4.7, update to newer version with: sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04
3. To configure Ubuntu Desktop with the NWK200 model, you will need to use the Terminal to update and install the Modem Manager, along with a few additional pieces of software.
4. From the terminal run the following commands:
   • sudo add-apt-repository “deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main”
   • sudo apt-get update
5. You can now install the new modem manager:
   • sudo apt-get install modemmanager
6. Remove the repository:
   • sudo add-apt-repository -r “deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main”
7. After modem manager has been installed, reboot the system and unplug all wired Ethernet connections

• Follow the prompts to add your LTE connection configuration.

Ubuntu Desktop 18.04

• Install modem manager with the following terminal command:

 sudo apt-get install modemmanager

• After modem manager has been installed, reboot the system and unplug all wired Ethernet connections

• If you are connecting for the first time, the Set up a Mobile Broadband Connection wizard is launched. The opening screen displays a list of required information. Click Next.
• Choose your provider’s country or region from the list. Click Next.
• Choose your provider from the list. Click Next.

• Confirm the settings you have selected by clicking Apply. The wizard will close and the Network panel will display the properties of your connection.

Ubuntu Desktop 20.04

• Install modem manager with the following terminal command:

 sudo apt-get install modemmanager

• After modem manager has been installed, reboot the system and unplug all wired Ethernet connections

• If you are connecting for the first time, the Set up a Mobile Broadband Connection wizard is launched. The opening screen displays a list of required information. Click Next.
• Choose your provider’s country or region from the list. Click Next.
• Choose your provider from the list. Click Next.

• Confirm the settings you have selected by clicking Apply. The wizard will close and the Network panel will display the properties of your connection.
• Wait a few minutes, and the connection should be established

Ubuntu Server 20.04

1. Install Modem Manager

sudo apt-get install modemmanager network-manager
sudo reboot

2. Configure mmcli (modem manager command line interface) so it can interface with the modem

sudo mmcli -L
sudo mmcli -m 0 

3. The 0 here is returned by sudo mmcli -L and will vary depending on the configuration. Replace the 0 if the output of the first command differs.

The output of the mmcli -m 0 command will output the modem info. The info we want to grab is “primary port.” This will most likely be ‘cdc-wdm0’ and will be used in the following command in place of <interface>.

<name> can be set to any value. This will be the name of the connection that shows up in networkmanagers / nmcli. The will be dependent on the SIM in use and it’s respective carrier APN.

nmcli c add type gsm ifname <interface> con-name <name> apn <operator_apn>

For example, a verizon SIM configuration will use the following commands:

nmcli c add type gsm ifname cdc-wdm0 con-name vzw apn vzwinternet

nmcli c modify <name> connection.autoconnect yes

nmcli r wwan on

nmcli c up <name> 

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Updating the Firmware

Firmware updates can be downloaded from the Sierra Wireless website linked below.

• Firmware versions are carrier specific. Download the version for your carrier. Use Generic if yours is not listed.
• You will need to register for a free account to download.
• Firmware Downloads
• Run the executable and let it complete. Power down and unplug the system from power for 10 seconds. When you power it back up, the new firmware will be active.

Accessing the SIM card

The modem has its own SIM slot on the bottom side. This is the preferred location to install a SIM card. OnLogic installs all SIM cards here by default.

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Using the external SIM slot

The NWK200 comes with two built-in SIM slots. It does not have any provision for automatic SIM switching, so a user must intervene in order to change SIMs. SIM slot 1 on the card connects to UIM0 on the modem. SIM slot 2 on the card, or any motherboard or external slot, connects to UIM1.

• Open an AT command terminal by following the instructions in the Opening the AT Command Terminal section.
• Run the following commands in the AT terminal:

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Changing NWK200 SIM Slots

The NWK200 comes with two built-in SIM slots. It does not have any provision for automatic SIM switching, so a user must intervene in order to change SIMs.

Follow the instructions to open the AT command terminal.

SIM slot 1 on the card connects to UIM0 on the modem. SIM slot 2 on the card, or any motherboard slot, connects to UIM1.

To select the “operating” SIM slot, run:

• AT!UIMS=n Where n is 0 or 1

A password is not required for this command. If an error is received switching to UIM1 then it is currently disabled (likely by a modem reset).

Use AT!CUSTOM=”UIM2ENABLE”,1 to enable UIM1.

Hot-swapping a SIM card (e.g. via external slot) may reset the selected UIM at which point it will have to be configured correctly again.

Troubleshooting

Before performing any troubleshooting, ensure you have completed all steps in this article and have activated your SIM card.

• If no connection is established after 5 minutes, open Putty and run the following 2 commands. Note that the COM port number may change after switching firmware. You may need to check /dev and adjust Putty accordingly.

Diagnostic AT Commands

• Open an AT command terminal by following the instructions in the Opening the AT Command Terminal section.

The commands below can help diagnose various modem issues. Tech support may request screenshots of the output of each of these commands. If you have reached this point and require additional help, please email support@onlogic.com and include a copy of these screenshots as well as your system serial number.

AT!ENTERCND=”A710”	Enters the password for certain password protected commands.
At!impref?	Display active firmware version
AT+CSQ	Display signal quality. Scale from 0-31, 31 being best signal. 99= no signal
AT+ICCID	Print SIM card number. If error, SIM is not configured correctly or installed.
At+cgdcont?	Shows the active APN
AT!GSTATUS?	Prints general status info
At+cgact?	Checks if paths to the network are active. Should output 1,1
AT+CGSN	Prints the IMEI of the modem
AT!PCINFO	Return the modem’s power control status.

Insert SIM Error

Poor upload speed on Verizon

If good download speeds but low/zero upload speeds are encountered on the Verizon network, try setting the MTU manually for the wireless interface.

Open a terminal and run the following two commands:

sudo ip link set dev wwan0 mtu 1428
sudo ip link set dev wwan1 mtu 1428

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Known limitations

1. The GPS functionality is not supported by OnLogic.
2. SMS (text messaging) is not supported on the VZW firmware image
3. Static IP assignment depends on carrier network and may not be possible or consistent