Built-in USB tether: Does it work on Mac?

[souladdikt]

Has anyone actually confirmed this yet? I've been reading various threads and it seems that no one has actually tested sharing the phone's internet connection via usb tethering on a mac.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

I've gotten PDAnet to work, and thats a more involved process. Best bet would be to find out after the official release

 

[stoli412]

Its not necessary. You can get iCal and Address Book to sync with google contacts eliminating the need for this software, since thats all it does.

I have no interest in the HTC Sync software. But the same Windows installer that installs it also installs the driver that enables the built-in tether to work. That's where the confusion is coming in.

You're saying that the driver that will allow tethering is built into Mac and Linux, so no separate driver installation is necessary. I just wish someone can confirm this. I can't believe there isn't anyone on these forums with a Mac and EVO that can confirm.

It's not a big deal in the end if I have to buy PdaNet. I'd just prefer to use the built-in solution if possible.

 

[souladdikt]

I just wish someone can confirm this. I can't believe there isn't anyone on these forums with a Mac and EVO that can confirm.

It's not a big deal in the end if I have to buy PdaNet. I'd just prefer to use the built-in solution if possible.

I'm a bit surprised as well. I guess we'll just have to wait until the phone is released. Please post your findings when you get your EVO.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

ADB drivers are not needed on Mac and Linux... I can confirm that. I don't have an Evo to play with, so I can't actually test out the USB Internet Sharing. I have a Hero with the correct PRI so I can't test it out on my Hero, either.

 

[stoli412]

I have a Hero with the correct PRI so I can't test it out on my Hero, either.

Not to get too off topic, but what is a PRI? Just curious.

 

[souladdikt]

droiddog.com just came out with their review. While he couldn't test the internet sharing via usb tether (the phone was borrowed and he needed some info that he didn't have access to), his mac did recognize the phone as a modem. Seems like a good sign for this function working out of the box for mac users. You can read the review here.

 

[stoli412]

droiddog.com just came out with their review. While he couldn't test the internet sharing via usb tether (the phone was borrowed and he needed some info that he didn't have access to), his mac did recognize the phone as a modem. Seems like a good sign for this function working out of the box for mac users. You can read the review here.

I'm assuming the info needed would just be the usual #777 stuff?

 

[Gmaxxx]

So as long as I am in a 4G coverage area I can connect my Macbook Pro up to my EVO use the built in tethering and be online at no additional cost as long as I have the Everything Data plan?

 

[ragnarokx]

I hope USB tethering works w/OSX. I have Windows 7 on my Macbook, but I only use it when I absolutely have to. I'll even take a workaround.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Not to get too off topic, but what is a PRI? Just curious.

PRI is whats on the phone that allows the towers to recognize what carrier is on the phone. Sprints all end in 03. If it ends in some other number, its not recognizing it as Sprint. Back about 2 months ago, us Hero users were using chopped up Eris builds to satisfy our 2.1 needs. Some of us got our PRI's changed to VZW (mine didn't). When others started flashing official Sprint based ROMs, it kept the old VZW PRI which dictated control of the data network. Sprint blocks USB tethering on Hero's it knows is part of their system (PRI's ending in 03), and doesn't block it on PRI's ending in another carriers' number (i.e. VZW). That is why some Hero users can USB tether using the "internet sharing" option. I made it as basic as I can think of.

 

[stoli412]

Makes sense. I'm guessing the extra required $10 fee is part of the reason why Sprint is leaving it enabled on the EVO.

 

[souladdikt]

Anybody test this out yet?

 

[stoli412]

OK, I can NOT get this to work on Mac. I plug in the EVO, and OSX sees it as a modem (serial device), so it wants phone number, user name, password, etc. Nothing I try works.

So, I looked around the Internet and discover that it should be seeing it as an ethernet interface (RNDIS, USB over ethernet) instead of as a modem (serial device).

This is how Linux recognizes it, and I confirmed...you plug it in and it shows up as just another network connection...no configuration required. Same thing for Windows once the driver is installed.

Does anyone know how to get this recognized correctly on the Mac? My god, if it works out of the box on LINUX with zero config, you'd think Mac would be covered!

 

[souladdikt]

Kind of a bummer. Looks like we'll have to use PdaNet. Let us know if you find a workaround.

 

[evowner]

found a somewhat involved workaround...

Installed VirtualBox - free
Installed Ubuntu 10.04 - free

Shut down the Virtual Machine (VM)

Connect the Evo to your Mac and have the phone set to Internet Sharing mode.

In VirtualBox (VB), select the machine you just installed (Ubuntu 10.04), go to Settings -> Ports

You should see a USB cable with a "+" icon overlay. Click this, and select "HTC Android Phone [xxxx]"

Click OK

Disconnect phone from Mac or change it to a different USB mode.

Start your VM (Ubuntu)

After logging in, connect the phone or change it back to Internet Sharing mode.

VirtualBox should pass the USB connection through to the VM at this point, and it should recognize it as a network adapter and allow traffic to flow through the Evo.

To test this, I disabled the network adapter in the VM that is installed by default. If your laptop is not in a wi-fi zone, traffic should automatically go over the phone radio (3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi)


It's not the most efficient way, but the traffic isn't limited to just HTTP.
You could pay the $10, but this is free.

EDIT: I should note that this will get you internet access on your VM, but not on the Mac (Host machine).

 

[mlr_90]

I don't think USB tethering is going to work on phones not coming from Google I/O. I get a registration failure message. The same message I get when trying to use mobile hotspot. I think USB tethering comes with the $30 wifi package. Or at least that is what appears to me.

 

[stoli412]

I don't think USB tethering is going to work on phones not coming from Google I/O. I get a registration failure message. The same message I get when trying to use mobile hotspot. I think USB tethering comes with the $30 wifi package. Or at least that is what appears to me.

USB tethering is working just fine for me...it's not limited to just I/O phones.

The issue is how the Mac USB driver is recognizing the EVO. It's trying to treat it as a serial modem instead of a USB ethernet device. On Windows and Linux it's recognized just fine and there is zero configuration (after you install the driver on Windows).

 

[mark_bell4]

Yes it works. email me for instructions. mark_bell4@yahoo.com

 

[mark_bell4]

HTC EVO TEHTERING WORKS ON MACBOOK

It is easy to setup your Mac to work with tethering on your evo phone. It works well for me and I have a Macbook. If anyone is interested in the instructions please send me an email: mark_bell4@yahoo.com
I will be happy to share. I use PDANET.

Thanks,
Mark