USB-MODESWITCH(1)USB-MODESWITCH(1)NAME
usb-modeswitch - switch mode of "multi-state" USB devices
SYNOPSIS
usb-modeswitch [-hvpVPmMrdHn] [-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, the storage device vanishes
and a new device, such as an USB modem, shows up.
On Linux, in most cases the drivers are provided as a Linux kernel mod‐
ule, such as "usbserial". However, the device shows up as "usb-storage"
by default. usb-modeswitch solves that issue by sending the respective
command which actually performs the switching of the device from "usb-
storage" to the target mode like "usbserial".
OPTIONS
These programs follow 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 num‐
ber (example: 0x12d1). Each USB device is identified by a
number officialy assigned to the vendor by the USB associa‐
tion and a number for the respective model (product ID) cho‐
sen 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 (ven‐
dor/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 success‐
ful 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)
-m --message-endpoint NUM
A specific endpoint to use for data transfers. Only for test‐
ing; the default is to determine endpoints from the device
data
-M --message-content STRING
A bulk message to send as a switching command. Provided as a
hexadecimal string
-n --need-response
Read the response to the bulk message transfer. Some devices
have trouble switching if the response is not read
-r --response-endpoint NUM
Try to read the response to the bulk message transfer from
there if option -n is active). Only for testing; the default
is to determine endpoints fro the device data
-d --detach-only
Detach the storage driver as the only action. This is suffi‐
cient 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 dur‐
ing testing
-c --config filename
Use a specific config file. If any ID or switching options
are given as command line parameters, no config file (default
or specific) is used. In that case all mandatory and
optional 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 mes‐
sages
-D --sysmode
Changes the behaviour of the program slightly. A success mes‐
sage 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 discon‐
nection 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
USB-MODESWITCH(1)
