Configuring and using USB ADSL modems

I'm trying to get either a Netopia 3342/3352 modem working, or an Alcatel speedtouch usb modem working to have a low powered modem that can run for a while on my RBPi's UPS.


I don't actually have the speedtouch yet, so that may be different, but from what I understand, for the netopia I should put the firmware .bin for it in /lib/firmware (I have) and a config file (cxracru) in /etc. I also have the kmod-usb-atm-cxacru, and br2684ctl packages.

Can anyone help me with this project? I'm stuck with ADSL for the next year at least, and I picked up the modems for a couple dollars each hoping they would be low power solutions that will work, but its not a huge deal if I can't get either one working. It would be cool though, especially since I now have 6 18650 cells on the UPS board and would like to attempt a solar powered solution sometime in the next few months.

This is what I currently have when plugging in the modem:

[133479.022938] /etc/init.d/persistentlucistatistics: stop> /boot/psave/rrd [create</tmp/rrd:1.4M:1:0]
[133479.983466] /etc/init.d/persistentnlbwmon: saving-service-data-save-psave> /boot/psave/nlbwmon
[135531.688933] usb 1-1.3: new full-speed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[135531.816101] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=100d, idProduct=3342, bcdDevice= 1.00
[135531.824685] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[135531.832117] usb 1-1.3: Product: USB NET CARD
[135531.836773] usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: -
[135531.840742] usb 1-1.3: SerialNumber: 16838728
[135531.853648] cxacru 1-1.3:1.0: ignoring cx82310_eth device

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 100d:3342 Netopia, Inc. Cayman 3352 DSL Modem
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               1.10
  bDeviceClass          255 Vendor Specific Class
  bDeviceSubClass         0
  bDeviceProtocol         0
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x100d Netopia, Inc.
  idProduct          0x3342 Cayman 3352 DSL Modem
  bcdDevice            1.00
  iManufacturer           1 -
  iProduct                2 USB NET CARD
  iSerial                 3 16838728
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           67
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           7
      bInterfaceClass         0 (Defined at Interface level)
      bInterfaceSubClass      0
      bInterfaceProtocol      0
      iInterface              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x83  EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x03  EP 3 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x84  EP 4 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0008  1x 8 bytes
        bInterval             200
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered

I think the Alcatel is working, but haven't hooked up the dsl line and everything yet because everyone is still online:

[222969.482716] usb 1-1.4: new full-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd
[222969.603492] usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=06b9, idProduct=4061, bcdDevice= 0.00
[222969.612080] usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[222969.619610] usb 1-1.4: Product: Speed Touch USB
[222969.624351] usb 1-1.4: Manufacturer: ALCATEL
[222969.628806] usb 1-1.4: SerialNumber: 0090D030FCE8
[222970.255093] usb 1-1.4: reset full-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd
[222970.376067] speedtch 1-1.4:1.0: Direct firmware load for speedtch-1.bin.0.00 failed with error -2
[222970.385074] speedtch 1-1.4:1.0: Falling back to sysfs fallback for: speedtch-1.bin.0.00
[222970.736833] speedtch 1-1.4:1.0: found stage 1 firmware speedtch-1.bin.0
[222970.743585] speedtch 1-1.4:1.0: Direct firmware load for speedtch-2.bin.0.00 failed with error -2
[222970.752569] speedtch 1-1.4:1.0: Falling back to sysfs fallback for: speedtch-2.bin.0.00
[222970.766029] speedtch 1-1.4:1.0: found stage 2 firmware speedtch-2.bin.0
[222975.304117] ATM dev 0: ADSL line is synchronising

The firmware came from the link below in the unlikely event someone else wants to try... xD
http://ftp.linux.it/pub/People/md/warez/speedtouch-firmware_0.3012k_all.deb

I would very much like to get the netopia 3342 working and test the power use of both with a 'usb kill-a-watt'. It seems the package for conexant devices doesn't detect this model and because of this doesn't look for or load the firmware.

It's been ages (>>15 years) since I could last use my ADI 930/ Eagle USB ADSL Modem (supported by ueagle-atm), while it worked fine for ADSL1, it always ran rather hot and required above-spec power from the (USB-) host. Personally I wouldn't want to use a USB ADSL modem as daily beater.

2 Likes

Ill have to see what the alcatel draws when the usb power meter I ordered arrives. I am aware that the usb 1.1 spec is rated for higher power devices than the current 2.0 and 3.0 spec.

I doubt Ill damage anything, but the UPS hat that I have on the pi does have a separate 5v connector and puts out 10A in total, so if I need to Ill make a USB adapter with the power coming off of that. My current modem won't be far if it fails though.

As for the 3342 modem, from what I gather the conexant adsl package needs to be recompiled after including this devices ID etc. so it recognizes it and loads the firmware? This is fairly new territory for me, so any help would be appreciated! I like the form-factor of this one better...


The Alcatel doesn't seem to be a huge power hog, and the power use is about the same with the DSL line unplugged. Looks like a good backup modem at the very least.

Looks like my ADSL line is going to serve as a failover for starlink soon anyway (fingers crossed). Any help on the network config would be awesome... I haven't had the time to get it set up and working, and I don't know if its possible to, or how to configure the DSL options. I hope some knowledge about this is still floating around xD