My MC7710 can't work on Linux after plug-in it to Windows8

IoT Modules MC/EM Series
17

After playing with the device, switching it between a linux and windows 10 environment, I found a temporary fix that alleviated my frustration for the most part with windows switching the device to MBIM only. As it seems that the OS has a preference for MBIM, this fix will direct the OS to use USBCOMP 8 (DM, AT, NMEA, MBIM) instead of defaulting to USBCOMP 9 (MBIM) when the system finds the device with a QMI interface. (My laptop is dual booted with Linux and windows, if i forget to change my composition to 8 before switching, Windows automatically forces it to composition 9… which usually means switching back to linux, using the above fix, then booting windows again… sigh)

This fix requires a fresh install of the Sierra Wireless Drivers for your device. If you have them installed already, uninstall them and reboot your computer before continuing.

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

  2. Navigate to the directory containing GenericDriverSetup_Build4277.exe
    cd C:<Path to install file>\

  3. Run the install with the following parameter
    GenericDriverSetup_Build4277.exe WIN8BUSDriver=1 USBCOMP=8 DisableUsbCompAutoUpdate=1 GPS=1 GPSAUTO=1

  4. Finish the driver install as normal, then reboot your computer.

  5. Now you have two options at this point if your device is in USBCOMP 9. The above is not enough to automatically have the system change it to the composition you specified. So if it was in composition 9 before you did the above, it will still be in composition 9 after. To switch it, you can:

    a) Use the linux fix in the posts above to switch it to 8 then plug the device back into windows OR
    b) Update your firmware. Even if you have the most updated one. Just rerun the update tool provided by sierra wireless. Once the update is finished,
    open device manager. You should see a modem, NMEA, and DM Ports along with the MBIM network interface.

After doing the above myself, if i left the device in composition 6 (DM, NMEA, AT, QMI) and then booted windows, windows will now change it to composition 8 by default instead of composition 9.

Hope this helps anyone in the same situation as myself.

Edited October 20th 2015 - Added GPS=1 and GPSAUTO=1. Heard from other users that USBCOMP=8 was not enough sometimes but adding the extra parameters did help

*Edited October 30th 2015 - Added WIN8BUSDriver=1 and DisableUsbCompAutoUpdate=1 . After looking through my windows registry i found the Sierra Wireless software key setting in the windows registry. After using the new parameters, windows no longer tries to switch the modem out of QMI mode! :mrgreen: :smiley:
*Thanks to dl5162 for pointing out the DisableUsbCompAutoUpdate=1 setting that i overlooked :slight_smile:

For those that are interested you can find the Registry keys by opening the registry editor ( regedit from command line) and navigating to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sierra Wireless Inc\DriverInstallOptionsUsed

I have also modified a Configuration.ini file from the driver install package and zipped it to an archive for those that are interested to give it a try. Just unzip it in the same folder as the driver installer and run the installer. Let me know how it works for you. Currently i am running Windows 10 with the MC7354 in Composition 6 which is QMI. :slight_smile:
MBIM_DisableAutoUpdate-Fix[MC77xx_MC73xx].zip (43.6 KB)