Getting a USB GSM modem working on Ubuntu

I have USB GSM modem working on a MAC, and have been using it to send SMS. Now I need to get the same modem working on a Ubuntu 10.04. Here are the steps I took to get it working on Ubuntu

When I first plug the modem into the USB port, the modem is detected as a CD-ROM device. A CD-ROM icon appears on the desktop. Ubuntu also detects the modem as a storage device, as I can tell, from issuing a few commands.

• the device appears as /dev/sr# (# is number which varies), a byte stream device
• the command "lsusb" output shows the device as "Bus 002 Device 005: ID 1c9e:f000." From what I read on the Internet, "f000" indicates it is a memory device.
• the command "ls /dev/disk" shows there is disk "by-label" of "Modem", and "by-id" of usb-USBModem_Disk_1234567890ABCDEF-0:0.

So all evidences show the modem isn't detected as a modem. Via Google search, I found out it is the effect of the ZeroCD feature that the modem manufacturers have been putting in the modem. Here is a wiki description on it. Essentially, the USB modem has a bit flash storage which stores the driver of the modem. When the modem is plugged into a Windows or MAC machine, it first runs as a storage device which auto-installs the driver, the driver then switches the modem out of the storage mode into the modem mode. On a Ubuntu, the driver doesn't run and install, therefore the modem remains as a storage device.

To switch the USB modem out of the storage mode and into the modem mode, I found the Sakis3G script. It is simple and works very well.

$ gunzip sakis3g.zip

$ sudo cp sakis3g /usr/bin

$ cd /usr/bin

$ ls -l sakis3g

Here are the model of the modem and the version of Ubuntu that I'm using:

GSM modem: Zoom 4595 3G tri-band USB modem

Ubuntu: 10.04.3 LTS