| MMS Notification Problem and Multitech EDGE Modem |  Search
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NowSMS Support Forums ⬆ NowSMS Support - MMS & Advanced Issues ⬆ Archive through April 05, 2007 ⬆ |
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| Author | Message | ||||
| David MacKay New member Username: Davidmackay Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hello, I'm evaluating the Now SMS/MMS gateway for use in an upcoming project. So far we have been able to use the gateway to send and receive SMS and WAP Push messages. We have also managed to send MMS messages. However, we are having problems receiving MMS notification messages. The modem we are using is the Multitech EGDE USB Modem. SMS Message Storage is set to Direct to Modem. We are setup to receive MMS messages and send them to the MMS-IN directory (which is always empty). We've tried the Multitech driver and also the Standard 33600bps Modem driver as well. Neither has worked. The SIM card is enabled for MMS messaging as we've used it in various mobile phones to send/receive MMS messages. Rogers Wireless in Canada is the operator. Multitech support said they don't support MMS messaging (Yet WAP Push SI and SMS message work fine!). The attached logs show a send and receive for SMS, WAP Push SI, and MMS messages - although there is no logging of the MMS notification...hence the problem  If there is any other information we can provide, please let us know. Thanks, David MacKay
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| David MacKay New member Username: Davidmackay Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hello Again, Not sure if this is relevant but the Multitech EDGE modem does not use the Wavecom chipset as their GPRS modems do. The ATI command displays: SIEMENS MC75 REVISION 01.001 Other relevant information: at+ws46? 12 OK at+cops? +COPS: 0,0,"CC 302 NC 720" OK at+cops=? +COPS: (2,"CAN Rogers Wireless Inc.",,"302720"),,(0-4),(0,2) OK at+cfun? +CFUN: 1 Not sure if this is relevant but from the logs, we see: 21:02:20:092 [5] ThreadProcessModem: AT+CNMI? 21:02:20:217 [5] ThreadProcessModem: +CNMI: 2,2,0,0,1 OK 21:02:20:217 [5] ThreadProcessModem: AT+CPMS=? 21:02:20:358 [5] ThreadProcessModem: +CPMS: ("ME","SM","MT"),("ME","SM","MT"),("SM","MT") OK These seem to be the correct settings for reading MMS notification messages. So again, not sure why the notifications are not being read. Is there any reason for the operator not to transmit the notification? (The SIM is enabled to receive MMS messages). Thanks. David MacKay Software Developer Ginormous Media | ||||
| Malcolm - Now Support Moderator Username: Malcolm Post Number: 181 Registered: 12-2006 |
Hi David, That is interesting to hear that they are using Siemens now. We're getting a new model in for testing next week, so it will be interesting to see differences. I've been talking to my colleagues about this, and they tell me that they have heard similar reports about this type of problem on the Rogers network. I found another thread where someone started testing on Rogers and could not receive any MMS notifications. They took the same modem to a US office, and it worked fine on Cingular. We're at a loss to understand why. And actually, I just looked up that thread, and for that particular customer, they replaced the Multitech modem with another one, and the problem went away, even on Rogers: http://support.nowsms.com/discus/messages/485/17367.html So now I'm really confused. You've tried a lot, but there are a couple of things that I'd be curious about. Try sending an MMS Notification from the NowSMS web interface to the modem, and let's see if that comes in ok. (I expect it will.) There's an old URL that has a raw MMS message that you could use for this test: http://www.nowsms.com/download/btmms.mms Other than that, try the AT+CGATT=1 command that is mentioned in the other thread that I've referenced above, and let's see if that makes a difference. -- Malcolm Now Wireless Support | ||||
| David MacKay New member Username: Davidmackay Post Number: 3 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hello Malcolm, The MMS Notification sent from the NowSMS web interface to the modem was received and the MMS content was downloaded and placed in the MMS-IN directory. I'm curious as to why you suspected this would work. After adding the CommandPostInit1=AT+CGATT=1 line to SMSGW.INI as described in the thread you mentioned, the modem started to behave erratically. Sometimes the AT+CGATT=1 command would fail with an unknown error (error #100). Other times it would succeed but cause other commands (i.e., AT+CMGS) to produce busy errors (error #535). Even with the above troubles, we were able to receive a single MMS message - but only once. We tried numerous times using different content to ensure that the messages weren't being marked as duplicates. However, we were never able to receive another message - either from another mobile or via the NowSMS web interface. This behaviour merits further investigation on our part but I am hesitant to invest more time in the MultiTech modem. We are going give the Sierra Wireless AirCard (750 or 860) a try. Besides the MultiTech line, what modems are other Rogers subscribers using with NowSMS? Other NowSMS users on Rogers please feel free to comment Thanks, David MacKay Software Developer Ginormous Media | ||||
| David MacKay New member Username: Davidmackay Post Number: 4 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hello Malcolm, The message board seems to have eaten my last message. Let's try this again. The MMS Notification sent from the NowSMS web interface to the modem was received and the MMS content was downloaded and placed in the MMS-IN directory. I'm curious as to why you suspected this would work. After adding the CommandPostInit1=AT+CGATT=1 line to SMSGW.INI as described in the thread you mentioned, the modem started to behave erratically. Sometimes the AT+CGATT=1 command would fail with an unknown error (error #100). Other times it would succeed but cause other commands (i.e., AT+CMGS) to produce busy errors (error #535). Even with the above troubles, we were able to receive a single MMS message. Once. We tried numerous times using different content to ensure that the messages weren't being marked as duplicates. However, we were never able to receive another message - either from another mobile or via the NowSMS web interface. This behaviour merits further investigation on our part but I am hesitant to invest more time in the MultiTech EDGE modem. We are going give the Sierra Wireless AirCard (750 or 860) a try. Besides the MultiTech line, what modems are other Rogers subscribers using with NowSMS? Other NowSMS users on Rogers please feel free to comment Thanks, David MacKay Software Developer Ginormous Media | ||||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6922 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi David, Apologies for the significant delay in response. I'm putting in an order for one of these modems, in order to get the latest model into our hands for testing. It seems like I have seen a number of these "535" errors lately, all originating with the Multitech EDGE modem. And that particular error seems to be common across multiple networks. According to the Multitech documentation for the EDGE modem, this error means "Protocol Stack Busy". This sounds similar to the 512 errors on the Multitech modems with the Wavecom chipset. We recently did some optimisation of the "Direct to Modem" modem handler to better deal with those 512 errors, which are triggered when the modem is trying to send a message at the same time as one is being received. This might make a difference for the 535 errors as well. The update is at http://www.nowsms.com/download/patch2007.zip. The Sierra Aircards are good ... but they are PCI, and sometimes externals are a better solution. Unfortunately, there aren't many externals with support for the North American frequencies. That's why we've liked Multitech. Anyway, because we've had a few tech support issues on multiple carriers mentioning this "535" error, we're going to get the latest model in for testing ... so hopefully I will have some news in the next week or two on that part of the issue. -bn | ||||
| David MacKay New member Username: Davidmackay Post Number: 6 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hello Bryce, We gave the Sierra Wireless Aircard 750 a try. Again, we have been able to use it with the NowSMS gateway to send and receive SMS and WAP Push messages. And as before we are able to send MMS messages. If I send an MMS notification from the aircard to itself using NowSMS, it is able to read the mms notification message(s) and download the content. However, we are having problems receiving MMS notification messages sent from other mobile phones. The Watcher application is turned off during the tests and we are using the "Network Driver" to make the GPRS connection (and not DUN). When an SMS message, WAP push message, (and for that matter an MMS notification from the NowSMS gateway) is received, an unsolicited result code is generated. However no new message indication is generated and no messages are saved to preferred storage when a mobile originated MMS is sent. I say "sent" because I can't say that it is being received. From the logs: AT+CGATT=1 OK AT+CPMS=? +CPMS: ("SM"),("SM"),("SM") OK AT+CSMS=1 ERROR AT+CSMS=0 +CSMS: 1,1,1 OK AT+CFUN? +CFUN: 1 OK AT+CNMI? +CNMI: 2,2,2,1,0 OK I am curious as to why AT+CPMS=? returns only "SM" entries. Also: AT+WS46? 12 I'm at a complete loss to explain what is causing this behaviour. The SIM can be used in a mobile phone to receive MMS messages. Is there any other way Rogers (the mobile operator) could be sending the the MMS notification? Changing mobile providers is not an option as there are no other GSM networks in Canada (Fido uses the Rogers network now). Any insight you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, David MacKay Software Developer Ginormous Media | ||||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6927 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi David, This has me stumped. There's obviously something strange going on with the network. At issue is that the operator MMSC seems to have decided that it is not possible for your device to receive MMS messages. Or there is some other reason why it is not sending you the MMS notifications. The AT+CPMS=? command only returning "SM" entries isn't necessarily an issue. It just indicates that the only storage location that the modem has for receiving SMS messages into memory is to store them on the SIM (no device memory for SMS message storage). (The AT+CNMI settings that correspond to our "direct to modem" setting tell the modem not to store the messages in the first place.) I'm not really sure what else to try ... unless ... hmm ... You have configured an always active GPRS connection. I wonder if they could be trying to send you the MMS notification via IP over GPRS, instead of routing it over SMS. We've never implemented this for MMS receiving (our MMSC does have the ability to send MMS notifications over IP, but it is practical generally only for lab environments). We haven't implemented this primarily because in a configuration with multiple modems it is very difficult to correlate a received IP notification with a modem. But ... I'm wondering if this is what is happening to you. It's the only idea that makes any sense. (Of course, I would assume that if the MMSC did not see any indication that the device had received the IP push, it would fallback to SMS.) We're going to try to put together a test version to see if this is what is happening. -bn | ||||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6928 Registered: 10-2002 |
David, Let's try the theory I suggested about the MMS notifications arriving via IP over GPRS. I've uploaded an installer for a NowSMS update to http://www.nowsms.com/download/20070306.zip. After installing this update, edit SMSGW.INI, and under the [SMSGW] header, add ListenMMSNotificationIP=Yes. Then let's look for any activity in the SMS-IN directory related to this. As this setting is currently implemented, NowSMS is not smart enough to retrieve the MMS message (we need to add logic to know which modem to retrieve the MMS message via). But if we see the notification arrive as a binary SMS, then we'll know that we're on the right track with Rogers. -bn | ||||
| David MacKay New member Username: Davidmackay Post Number: 7 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hello Bryce, We are using the trial version of the gateway and we've recently exceeded the trial period. Is there any way to extend the trial period so we can give this update a try? Prior to starting this technical investigation I was in contact with Lisa and I've just sent her an email regarding this matter. If there is someone else I should contact please let me know. My email address is david<dot>mackay<at>ginormousmedia<dot>com Thanks, David MacKay Software Developer Ginormous Media | ||||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6965 Registered: 10-2002 |
Yes. I'll forward this to Lisa as an additional reference. | ||||
| David MacKay New member Username: Davidmackay Post Number: 8 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hi Bryce, It seems that the MMS notifications are not being sent via IP. I'm currently in contact with the Wireless Data Engineering group at Rogers Wireless. They say that the MMS notifications are not being sent because of the User-Agent (or Profile - I'm not quite clear on this) associated with the SIMs I'm using for testing. The LightSurf MMSC that Rogers uses stores the User-Agent and/or Profile from the header of the WSP Post. If that value doesn't match an entry from an internal DB then MMS notifications are not delivered. Nor do they send a text message letting the user know they have an MMS waiting for them. My contact informed me that I could reset the User-Agent/Profile in two ways using the SIM in a mobile phone 1) Use the WAP browser from on my mobile phone to browse the web 2) Use the MMS client on my mobile phone to send an MMS message I assume these suggestion should update the User-Agent stored by Rogers to a value supplied by the phone software. However, neither of these suggestions have allowed us to received MMS notifications with the "dirty" SIMs. I'm waiting to hear back from Rogers to find out why this didn't work. We took a SIM (from a SonyEricsson W810i) which was never used with with NowSMS and attempted to receive MMS messages using the Sierra Wireless Aircard. We also added the following to the MMSC.INI: HeaderProfile="http://wap.sonyericsson.com/UAprof/W810iR301.xml" HeaderUserAgent=SonyEricssonW810i/R4DB Browser/NetFront/3.3 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 UP.Link/6.2.3.15.0 We were able to receive an MMS notification and download a single picture. However, we were not able to receive any subsequent messages. So it seems I can associate a SIM with an incorrect User-Agent but I can't match it to a "good" value....and this I don't understand. Is this the correct way to set the Profile and User-Agent? Frankly, prototyping this application has not gone well. Our other option is a J2ME application but our preferred choice is still a message-based service. Thanks again, David MacKay Software Developer Ginormous Media | ||||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6990 Registered: 10-2002 |
David, That is very interesting. And I think it is good information that will finally point us in the right direction. (The idea that the MMS notification was sent over IP ... and without a fallback to SMS if the IP notification was ignored ... was definitely a longshot.) It sounds like after you send an MMS message with the SIM in a phone, you are able to receive one MMS notification. However, after you receive that MMS notification and download that MMS message ... you're effectively blacklisted again. In this scenario, there is one legitimate reason why the MMSC might blacklist you ... and one illegitimate reason. And hopefully we now have enough information from your contact with Rogers that we can understand the specifics of the illegitimate reason and the user agent profile part of this. Before we dive into the user agent profile waters, let's take a legitimate issue that I hadn't considered before. When NowSMS receives the lucky first time MMS notification, it downloads the associated MMS message. So far, so good. However, after this, it needs to acknowledge back to the MMSC that the message has been delivered. And it is conceivable that if the MMSC does not receive this acknowledgment, it may decide not to deliver notifications for additional messages. In order for this acknowledgement to be posted properly, it is important that the "MMS Server URL" be set correctly in the "Receive MMS Settings". I've reviewed your earlier config and logs, and it appears that it is set correctly. (And I can see in a related log that you are able to send MMS ok using the same "MMS Server URL" setting in an "MMSC Outbound Routing" definition.) So I think everything is alright here. HOWEVER ... I would like to see an MMSWAPDEBUG.LOG that shows your system receiving the lucky "first MMS notification" after having sent an MMS message with the SIM card in a phone. Basically, I want to review this log and make sure that everything looks normal in the processing of the notification, retrieval and acknowledgment ... and verify that there is no issue related to that. All this said, before you take the trouble of moving the SIM back to a phone and sending another message ... let's focus on the "User-Agent" string being the most likely culprit. Try changing the HeaderUserAgent parameter like this: HeaderUserAgent=SonyEricssonW810i/R4DB Browser/NetFront/3.3 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 Basically, remove the "UP.Link/6.2.3.15.0" from the string. This extra bit is added by an Openwave WAP gateway, which presumably the operator is using. So when you have this string already in the user-agent, it is possible that the operator gateway is then adding it again ... so when the request gets to the MMSC, it sees "SonyEricssonW810i/R4DB Browser/NetFront/3.3 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 UP.Link/6.2.3.15.0 UP.Link/6.2.3.15.0". Try sending an MMS message with this modified setting, and see if that wakes up the MMSC to send future notifications. If it does not, then take a look at the MMSWAPDEBUG.LOG and make sure that you see this string in the dump that shows the request that NowSMS is sending. If you do not, then there is a problem with the placement of the setting in the MMSC.INI file. Make sure that the setting is under the [MMSC] section header, and that there are not multiple [MMSC] section headers in the file. If you can see this string in the hex dump, but the notifications are still not working ... then it is possible that this user-agent string is wrong. That is the user-agent string sent by a particular firmware version of the SE W810, however it is the user-agent string sent by the browser. SE used to use the same user-agent string for the browser, MMS client, Java apps ... but in newer devices, they are different. You might want to try the User-agent string for a W800i instead: HeaderUserAgent=SonyEricssonW800i/R1N HeaderProfile=http://wap.sonyericsson.com/UAprof/W800iR101.xml Those are the strings that I see when the phone sends an MMS. By contrast, when the W800i browser makes a request, the "User-Agent" changes to "SonyEricssonW800i/R1N Browser/SEMC-Browser/4.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1". So it is likely that the W810i only sends "SonyEricssonW810i/R4DB" as the "User-Agent" string from the MMS client. Hopefully we're on the right track looking at the User-Agent strings being the issue. -bn | ||||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6991 Registered: 10-2002 |
David, A follow-up. I've done some additional investigation, and I've noticed something. When NowSMS connects to send an MMS message, it sends a session header of "User-Agent: Now SMS/MMS Gateway 2006" when it connects to the WAP gateway. It then overrides this session header with a request header value of "User-Agent:" based upon the "HeaderUserAgent" value. HOWEVER ... how the WAP gateway actually handles this is not well-defined. So it is possible that the WAP gateway is sending the session value of the header to the MMSC. I also noticed that there is an oddity in how NowSMS connects to the WAP gateway. To test the dial-up connection, it performs an initial connection sending "User-Agent: Now SMS/MMS Gateway 2006". It then disconnects, and reconnects sending the "User-Agent:" based upon the HeaderUserAgent setting. This could also cause some confusion. We've dealt with other mobile operators that were picky about the "User-Agent" header (Telstra in Australia comes to mind) ... but maybe this confusion is causing a problem on Rogers combination of WAP gateway and MMSC. I've posted an update to http://www.nowsms.com/download/20070316.zip which removes the confusion described above ... so perhaps combined with the above, this will finally provide a resolution. -bn So in addition to what I mentioned above. | ||||
| David MacKay New member Username: Davidmackay Post Number: 9 Registered: 02-2007 |
Bryce, I'm working on getting the MMSWAPDEBUG.LOG for that first "lucky" MMS message. The three test SIMs we are using are currently not being sent MMS notifications. I'm waiting for Rogers tech support to do their thing. Nothing I can do on my end via User-Agents can change this. Therefore none of the various User-Agent scenarios you suggested (with and without the supplied patch)were successful. Using the test SIMs in a mobile phone should have "turned on" MMS notification on the MMSC. Because this failed, the Rogers engineers I've been in contact with believe there is a problem with the LightSurf MMSC and they are working to resolve the issue. When MMS notification begins working again I will re-try the various User-Agent scenarios you described. David MacKay Software Developer Ginormous Media | ||||
ConfigAndLogs
