AziLink tethering app won't work with Sonim phone (Solved)

[mouldy]

Its a free open source Android app that does same thing that such as paid app such as EasyTether does. It lets you tether computer via usb to cell phone with tethering blocked.

My story, here in USA, 3G service is on way out. So my old and reliable Samsung Eternity with no tethering block will become unusable. I use a reseller called Red Pocket that buys whole sale from all four networks and resells it as prepaid retail accounts. They say upfront they are ok with tethering on GSM network (ATT) but wont provide technical support. You figure it out, you are welcome to use it.

Ok, I bought an amazingly new looking Sonim XP5 phone locked to ATT network. Its a feature phone, no touch screen, no access to Google Play. But it uses a cut down version Android 4.4. I pop in my Red Pocket SIM. Immediately get voice since I am using Red Pocket on ATT network. Wont go into all details but getting Red Pocket APN to replace ATT APN wasnt easy, sort of a juggling act but I did it. Then had access to data. The sadistic little browser it comes with worked. Remember no touch screen so it's painful.

I found others that paid whole lot more money than $24 I gave for a network unlocked version on Amazon. But one unhappy purchaser said even though unlocked ATT and he could use it on Tmobile, the tethering and hotspot still locked down with the ATT popup. Network unlocked doesnt mean all features are unlocked. To tether you either root the phone or use a tethering app that does an end run around the block.

So I click to allow tethering and get popup to call ATT. Same with hotspot function. ATT really locked this thing down. Well I found one and only one mention how to root it. KingRoot claims its rooted, the build.prop editor says it isnt and wont let me edit the file. Fine so I sideload free crippled version EasyTether. Amazingly it works. I can come to this site since its still http. Most are https anymore. But before paying my $10 to uncripple it, I look around and find AziLink. Always a sucker for open source.... I try it. Install the AziLink.apk on phone. Jump through hoops to get Android tools needed onto dpupbuster64. Amazingly it connects for 5 minutes and lets me surf. 4G is faster! Then disconnects and loops connecting and immediately disconnecting.

Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 ******* WARNING *******: All encryption and authentication features disabled -- All data will be tunnelled as clear text and will not be protected against man-in-the-middle changes. PLEASE DO RECONSIDER THIS CONFIGURATION!
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 TUN/TAP device tun1 opened
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 /sbin/ip link set dev tun1 up mtu 1500
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 /sbin/ip addr add dev tun1 local 192.168.56.2 peer 192.168.56.1
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 TCP/UDP: Preserving recently used remote address: [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 Attempting to establish TCP connection with [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927 [nonblock]
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 TCP connection established with [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 TCP_CLIENT link local: (not bound)
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 TCP_CLIENT link remote: [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927
Wed Mar 11 17:26:22 2020 Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927
Wed Mar 11 17:26:23 2020 Initialization Sequence Completed
Wed Mar 11 17:26:25 2020 Connection reset, restarting [0]
Wed Mar 11 17:26:25 2020 /sbin/ip addr del dev tun1 local 192.168.56.2 peer 192.168.56.1
Wed Mar 11 17:26:25 2020 SIGUSR1[soft,connection-reset] received, process restarting
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 ******* WARNING *******: All encryption and authentication features disabled -- All data will be tunnelled as clear text and will not be protected against man-in-the-middle changes. PLEASE DO RECONSIDER THIS CONFIGURATION!
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 /sbin/ip link set dev tun0 up mtu 1500
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 /sbin/ip addr add dev tun0 local 192.168.56.2 peer 192.168.56.1
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 TCP/UDP: Preserving recently used remote address: [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 Attempting to establish TCP connection with [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927 [nonblock]
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 TCP connection established with [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 TCP_CLIENT link local: (not bound)
Wed Mar 11 17:26:30 2020 TCP_CLIENT link remote: [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927
Wed Mar 11 17:26:31 2020 Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:41927
Wed Mar 11 17:26:32 2020 Initialization Sequence Completed
Wed Mar 11 17:26:32 2020 Connection reset, restarting [0]
Wed Mar 11 17:26:32 2020 /sbin/ip addr del dev tun0 local 192.168.56.2 peer 192.168.56.1
Wed Mar 11 17:26:32 2020 SIGUSR1[soft,connection-reset] received, process restarting

This just loops over and over. Oh tried it on Lubuntu 19.04 and same thing.

Here is mention of AziLink I was following: https://www.linuxsecrets.com/archlinux- ... ering.html

There are other random mentions, but comes down to no upgrades or support for around ten years now. Hey if I have to, will pay the man the $10 for EasyTether, but gotta love the challenge of AziLink. Especially since I am darn close, had it working for like 5 minutes.

[Flash]

What does this have to do with Puppy Linux? Or did I miss something?

[mouldy]

What does this have to do with Puppy Linux? Or did I miss something?

You missed something, I am tethering dpupbuster64 computer to this phone using AziLink. Or doesnt the forum support dpupbuster64 anymore? The quoted screen is from dpupbuster64 computer.

These tethering apps require an apk app on the Android phone and software on computer being tethered. AziLink is for tethering Android phone to a linux computer via USB. OK? Might look at that Archlinux link I gave above to see how it works.

EasyTether and some of other commercial end run tethering apps have software so you can use them on windows, linux, or MAC. I found mention that way way back AziLink did have way to use it on windowsXP. But only brief mention of it, nobody gave any real details.

[mouldy]

Here is ten year old thread on AziLink that didnt generate much interest then. Only historic thread on this forum mentioning it. Guess I got farther than they did. http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=420100

I had no problem seeing phone as "device". Nor with it connecting, but it wouldnt maintain that connection and just try over and over. Guessing some setting somewhere causing problem, but went through instructions multiple times and dont see it. Like lot of these one man band software projects, once the original developer loses interest, it gets abandoned and less likely to function as technology changes.

Looking at my terminal readout in first post, notice connection alternates between tun1 and tun0 when it resets. That seems odd and guessing that is a big clue if I wasnt so clueless.

[mouldy]

Doing same thing over and over expecting different results is mark of insanity. Somehow doing such worked. I am on dpupbuster64 tethered to the Sonim using AziLink. And it has stayed connected this time for over ten minutes. See how long it stays tethered. Wont call it solved yet.

Its enough hassle I am going to need to create a script to do all this automagically.

[mouldy]

Just for anybody in future looking for info. In tray it says active interface: tun0 So thats what it is supposed to look like when its working properly, not switching tun0 to tun1 and back again over and over.

ifconfig:

tun0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
inet addr:192.168.56.2 P-t-P:192.168.56.1 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:5507 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:4287 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:4935226 (4.7 MiB) TX bytes:396987 (387.6 KiB)

[mouldy]

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1179894

Nice historic discussion of AziLink, this was originally for early Android phone that didnt have native capability of tethering. It wasnt blocked by cell provider but just didnt have it in first place.

The most interesting is their script to connect using AziLink. If there is a downside to AziLink its the multiple commands to get it going. This seems pretty good script. And takes care of making sure /etc/resolv.conf is correct for AziLink. Use any other way to connect and this will be over written. Has to be nameserver 192.168.56.1 for AziLink to work. I think that was my problem initially.

I now have it working on both Puppy and Lubuntu. Even found some instructions for windows, but not sure thats worth it no more than I use windows.

One thing i noticed, you need to pay attention to phone screen when initiating tethering. It doesnt always remember you gave it permissions and so connection will stall until you click off on those permissions. Maybe just my phone or maybe a fault in AziLink apk. Probably my phone, it really wasnt intended to run third party apps. It was sold as a feature phone and just happens to use Android, wasnt sold as an Android smartphone.

I am surprised AziLink just disappeared from all discussions after like 2010-2011. Seriously no mention of it past 2011. Well until I started posting about it. Guess paid apps like EasyTether were... well easy, or easier with slicker packaging. Phone got bit warm using the crippled EasyTether. Stays cool as cucumber with AziLink.

[mouldy]

Using it more, I think when it gets confused and goes into loop, its the openvpn software on computer side. I have experimented the few times its done this. I turn off service in phone app part of AziLink but dont reboot phone. Then reboot computer. Turn on service again in phone app, then hit the script button. That usually does it. I think reboot resets openvpn, whereas once its in loop, something continues running, even unplugging usb from computer and replugging it doesnt help. Only rebooting resets it. Perhaps a kill all command would stop it without reboot?

Luckily this doesnt happen very often, usually only when you pushing lot data through the connection like opening multiple links at same time. Its free, it works mostly. Pretty good for an open source app abandoned ten years ago. I think I can live with it long term.

And if it ever does get too annoying, always EasyTether for $10 or I can buy NEW factory unlocked phone where tethering isnt blocked. oh read anymore some provider locked phones come with a "snitch app" that phones home to cell provider if you do an end run around built in tethering block. How nice.

[mouldy]

Just an update. There is absolutely no info on AziLink newer than like decade ago except what I have posted. So if somebody is looking, they may run into this thread. And AziLink deserves more recognition, its OPEN SOURCE and does work really well most of time.

To clarify. AziLink is an Android app to tether Android phone to computer IF you either have a very old Android phone without tethering built in (original purpose of AziLink). OR you have a phone with tethering app greyed out or locked. Cell companies in USA got to doing this to charge extra to tether and control tethering. Their business model assumed people buying cell data would not use all of it. Well if people tether, they tend to use more of the data they bought. A factory unlocked phone wont have the tethering lock. If you can, a factory unlocked (not just network unlocked) is way to go. Most people buy locked phone cause cell companies offer deals and easy payments over time and such. Thus people like me that buy cheap used phone tend to get stuck with locked phones. My cell company is MVNO reseller, they buy full retail plus shipping from actual cell networks and resell in retail accounts. So the locked ATT phone I bought works cause the MVNO is reselling an account on ATT network. Different APN etc. Changing APN on locked phone can be interesting too. To get access to data on cell phone, you need correct APN. My MVNO doesnt care if I tether, say so on website, they just wont provide technical support for tethering. You figure it out on your own, they are fine with it. Now if I had account directly with ATT, they still try to charge extra for tethering, etc. And go out of their way to detect end runs like AziLink and the paid apps that do same thing.

AziLink tethering can be done with windows or MAC since versions Openvpn and ADB for them too, but most info on setup you find will be for linux. Anyway you put AziLink app on your Android phone, but you will need both Openvpn and Adb installed on your computer. If at all possible use a package manager as there can be bunch dependencies missing. The Arch Linux link above gives specifics how to set it up. There are other links on web with same info. You are basically calling Openvpn to connect to AziLink app on phone. You are in effect setting up a mini closed VPN network connection between computer and phone. I have it set up so just click icon on desktop to run script that calls openvpn and negotiates the connection. It would be PITA to manually run the set commands to set up link each and every time.

Like say been using it for couple month now. AziLink has quirk that when you shut your phone down, on restart to tether you have to go to the AziLink app on phone and tell it to expect connection. Check a little box. If you leave your phone on, this doesnt have to be done again.

On computer side I think the occasional on-off loop is an Openvpn thing. It somehow sets up two connections to AziLink on phone then alternates between them or at least that how it seems. Neither then work or only work momentarily. Its extremely rare now. But then I have become very used to using AziLink. You can reboot computer or run "killall openvpn" command from terminal if it does go into the loop thing.

Oh I never tried using AziLink in windows. I found some old free beta version of EasyTether from long ago still floating around the web and it works great in windows. It works fully not like crippled trial version EasyTether that wont do https. Its one of handful paid tethering apps to do end run around phone company blocking of tethering. Apparently this old free beta version too old and wont connect with current EasyTether linux software on computer. EasyTether is persistant, you can turn phone off and turn back on and tether without going to the app in phone and checking box. It in effect does what AziLink does though doesnt use openvpn. I get bored, will eventually do AziLink on windows too. Just dont use windows enough to make it a priority.

Oh its interesting getting it all set up when tethering to cell phone is ONLY internet connection. I recently was playing with Debian 10. To apt-get update then install openvpn and adb. I created a hotspot on Puppy computer while it was tethered to cell phone with "create-ap" and connected Debian 10 on another computer to Puppy hotspot via wifi. Updated and installed openvpn and ADB. Once that was done, created necessary scripts, could use openvpn now installed to Debian10 to tether to AziLink on phone directly.

[enrique]

mouldy

I see your enthusiast. You seems to like others to know you did work hard and finally succeed. Nice I am happy for you.

But can you correct me. Your steps where:

You did follow:
https://www.linuxsecrets.com/archlinux- ... ering.html

I guess you downloaded APK from
http://lfx.org/azilink/azilink.apk

On Puppy I guess you follow archlinux-wiki and use its OpenVpn config.

And yes in America 3G will phase out on 2022. So many phones will be dead in 1.5 years.


As a note: I personally believe we should pay for proprietary software. Clearly OpenSource is the way to go if we don not like to pay. But there are Cracked versions of this over priced Apps.