[Dextrose] How does "Modem Configuration" feature work in dextrose-builds-without-gnome?

[Ajay Garg]

Thanks Martin for the reply.

Ok, so I believe the gsm connection is instantiated when the
gsm-connection-device is detected, which in turn makes use of the
"Modem Configuration" settings.

So,

a. Disabling "usr/sbin/modem-manager" (where present) will prevent
modem-connection instantiated in a gnome environment. (Already
verified).

b. I have the following query:
    -------------------------------------

    For disabling gsm connection in a sugar-environment, will the
following two customizations suffice ? :

    (i)     changing the method from version-1 to version-2 (in
sugar/extensions/deviceicon/network.py)

   =====================================================================================
    version-1
   ========
    def _check_device(self, device_op):
        nm_device = self._bus.get_object(_NM_SERVICE, device_op)
        props = dbus.Interface(nm_device, dbus.PROPERTIES_IFACE)

        device_type = props.Get(_NM_DEVICE_IFACE, 'DeviceType')
        if device_type == network.DEVICE_TYPE_802_3_ETHERNET:
            device = WiredDeviceObserver(nm_device, self._tray)
            self._devices[device_op] = device
        elif device_type == network.DEVICE_TYPE_802_11_WIRELESS:
            device = WirelessDeviceObserver(nm_device, self._tray)
            self._devices[device_op] = device
        elif device_type == network.DEVICE_TYPE_802_11_OLPC_MESH:
            device = MeshDeviceObserver(nm_device, self._tray)
            self._devices[device_op] = device
        elif device_type == network.DEVICE_TYPE_GSM_MODEM:
            device = GsmDeviceObserver(nm_device, self._tray)
            self._devices[device_op] = device
  ========================================================================================================

  version-2
  =======
      def _check_device(self, device_op):
        nm_device = self._bus.get_object(_NM_SERVICE, device_op)
        props = dbus.Interface(nm_device, dbus.PROPERTIES_IFACE)

        device_type = props.Get(_NM_DEVICE_IFACE, 'DeviceType')
        if device_type == network.DEVICE_TYPE_802_3_ETHERNET:
            pass
        elif device_type == network.DEVICE_TYPE_802_11_WIRELESS:
            device = WirelessDeviceObserver(nm_device, self._tray)
            self._devices[device_op] = device
        elif device_type == network.DEVICE_TYPE_802_11_OLPC_MESH:
            pass
        elif device_type == network.DEVICE_TYPE_GSM_MODEM:
            pass
=============================================================================================================

Note : Disabling ETHERNET and OLPC_MESH are not related as such to gsm
configuration; they are not needed for afghanistan-deployments.


 (ii)      Removing "Modem Configuration" from Control Panel (this
will turn redundant, due to (i) above, so it will be good to remove
any
           non-useful feature)



(Actually, just allowing wireless-network-device-recognition, and not
recognising other-network-devices-recognition (at the OS level), might
be the cleanest, root-level solution.
udev might help; still figuring out ..)

Regards,
Ajay

On Sat, Nov 5, 2011 at 2:43 AM, David Farning
<dfarning at activitycentral.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 3:06 PM, Martin Abente
> <martin.abente.lahaye at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hello!
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 1:10 PM, Ajay Garg <ajaygargnsit at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Martin.
> >>
> >> I have been working on making custom changes for Afghanistan deployments;
> >> disabling 3G access is one of them.
> >>
> >
> > Interesting, whenever you have the time I would like to hear the reason
> > behind that decision. I am curious :)
>
> The build is for a socially conservative region in Afghanistan. The
> teachers in the region want to make sure that all internet
> connectivity happens via a school server.
>
> david
>
> >> As the resolution for this, the permissions for "usr/sbin/modem-manager"
> >> have been set to  0000, and the change tested on a f14 image with gnome.
> >> Following were the test cases that were carried out :
> >>
> >> a. Checked if "ps -aux | grep "modem-manager" gave anything.
> >>     It didn't, as expected.
> >> b. Although the option to add a new modem connection via GUI was available
> >> through nm-applet; however no connection could actually be instantiated in
> >> practise, as expected.
> >>
> >>
> >> I then moved on to checking on dextrose-builds-without-gnome (f11 based)
> >>
> >> It was found that there is no "/usr/sbin/modem-manager" on
> >> dextrose-builds-without-gnome (although "usr/sbin/NetworkManager" was
> >> present)
> >
> > I think there was no modem-manager integration back in NM 0.7 (the one
> > available for f11).
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> So, my queries are ::
> >>
> >> 1. How does the "Modem Configuration" feature work in
> >> dextrose-build-without-gnome?
> >>     This is important, as additional customization may need to be done to
> >> disable all 3G access attempts.
> >>
> >
> > It is because of NM architecture, at least until version 0.7+, the "settings
> > management" service was implemented inside nm-applet, and since there is no
> > nm-applet in sugar, sugar implements its own "settings management" service
> > (take a look at ...source/sugar/src/jarabe/model/network.py to see the
> > implementation).
> >
> > That implementation uses custom gconf values (different from gnome ones) to
> > store the 3G/GSM setting (note that only stores 1 setting for 3G/GSM).
> >
> > Because of what I just explained, there is no relation between gnome and
> > sugar settings (for 3G/GSM and WIFI).
> >
> >> 2. Is it possible to have a (3G) modem connection in
> >> dextrose-build-without-gnome at all?
> >>
> >
> > Yes (I just explained why).
> >
> >>
> >> Looking forward to a reply.
> >>
> >
> > No problem, take a look at http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Features/3G_Support
> > for more detailed information.
> >
> >>
> >> (Thanks Anish, for pointing me to Martin.)
> >>
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Ajay
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Dextrose mailing list
> > Dextrose at lists.sugarlabs.org
> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/dextrose
> >
> >