NAME
usb_modeswitch - switch mode of "multi-state" USB devices
SYNOPSIS
usb_modeswitch [-hvpVPmM23rdHn] [-c filename]
DESCRIPTION
Several new USB devices have their proprietary Windows drivers onboard,
most of them WAN dongles. When plugged in for the first time, they act
like a flash storage and start installing the Windows driver from
there. If the driver is already installed, it makes the storage device
disappear and a new device, mainly composite with modem ports, shows
up.
On Linux, in most cases the drivers are available as kernel modules,
such as "usbserial" or "option". However, the device shows up as "usb-
storage" by default. usb_modeswitch can send a provided bulk message
(most likely a mass storage command) to the device which is known to
initiate the mode switching.
In some cases, USB control commands are used for switching. These cases
are handled by custom functions, and no bulk message needs to be
provided.
Usually, the program is distributed with a set of configurations for
many known devices, which in combination with a wrapper script launched
from the udev daemon allows a fully automatic handling of a device upon
insertion.
OPTIONS
This program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long
options starting with two dashes ('--'). A summary of options is
included below.
-h --help Show summary of options.
-e --version
Print version information and exit.
-v --default-vendor NUM
Vendor ID to look for (mandatory), usually given as hex
number (example: 0x12d1). Each USB device is identified by a
number officialy assigned to the vendor by the USB
association and a number for the respective model (product
ID) chosen by the vendor
-p --default-product NUM
Product ID to look for (mandatory).
-V --target-vendor NUM
Target vendor ID. When given will be searched for and
detected initially for information purposes. If success
checking (option -s) is active, providing target IDs
(vendor/product) or target class is recommended
-P --target-product NUM
Target product ID
-C --target-class NUM
Target Device Class according to the USB specification. Some
devices keep their original vendor/product ID after
successful switching. To prevent them from being treated
again, the device class can be checked. For unswitched
devices it is always 8 (storage class), for switched modems
it is often 0xff (vendor specific). In composite modes, the
class of the first interface is watched
-m --message-endpoint NUM
A specific endpoint to use for data transfers. Only for
testing purposes; usually endpoints are determined from the
device attributes
-M --message-content STRING
A bulk message to send as a switching command. Provided as a
hexadecimal string
-2, -3 --message-content2, --message-content3 STRING
Additional bulk messages to send as switching commands.
Provided as hexadecimal strings. When used with mass storage
commands, setting --need-response is strongly advised to
comply with specifications and to avoid likely errors
-w --message-delay NUM
If there is more than one message content, wait for NUM
milliseconds before sending the next one. Otherwise it is
ignored. Note: this will release and reclaim the interface
-n --need-response
Read the response (command status wrapper) to a mass storage
command transfer. Some devices have trouble switching if the
response is not read; most are disappearing right away. When
sending multiple mass storage commands with -2 and -3, this
may need to be set to avoid transfer errors
-r --response-endpoint NUM
Try to read the response to a storage command from there if
option -n is active. Only for testing purposes; usually
endpoints are determined from the device attributes
-d --detach-only
Detach the storage driver as the only action. This is
sufficient for some devices to switch successfully
-H --huawei-mode
Send a special control message used by older Huawei devices
-S --gct-mode
Send a special control message used by Sierra devices
-G --gct-mode
Send a special control message used by GCT chipsets
-O --sony-mode
Apply a special sequence used by Sony Ericsson devices.
Implies option -s
-R --reset-usb
Send a USB reset command to the device. Can be combined with
any switching method or stand alone. It is always done as the
last step of all device interactions. Few devices need it to
complete the switching; apart from that it may be useful
during testing
-c --config filename
Use a specific config file. If any ID or switching options
are given as command line parameters, this option is ignored.
In that case all mandatory parameters have to be provided on
the command line
-Q --quiet
Don't show progress or error messages
-W --verbose
Print all settings before running and show libusb debug
messages
-D --sysmode
Changes the behaviour of the program slightly. A success
message including the effective target device ID is put out
and a syslog notice is issued. Mainly for integration with a
wrapper script
-s --success NUM
After switching, keep checking for the result up to max. NUM
seconds. If target IDs or target class were provided, their
appearance indicates certain success. Otherwise the
disconnection of the original device is rated as likely proof
-I --no-inquire
do not obtain SCSI attributes from device (default is on).
For proper identification of differing devices the attributes
of the storage part provide valuable information. This is
not needed for devices that are known and supported
-i --interface NUM
Select initial USB interface (default: 0). Only for testing
purposes
-u --configuration NUM
Select USB configuration (applied after switching). Mainly
for testing
-a --altsetting NUM
Select alternative USB interface setting (applied after
switching). Mainly for testing
AUTHOR
This manual page was originally written by Didier Raboud
(didier@raboud.com) for the Debian system. Additions made by Josua
Dietze. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
The complete text of the current GNU General Public License can be
found in http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt