gsm-ussd

gsm-ussd is a small command-line tool to send USSD queries via your UMTS or GSM modem. USSD queries can tell you your current prepaid account balance, the phone number of the SIM card in your modem, and a lot more, depending on your GSM net provider.

What is new in this release:

• A big internal redesign as a base for further development.
• Two more Huawei modems identified as needing PDU encoding.

What is new in version 0.3.3:

• Bugfix release

What is new in version 0.3.2:

• Two distinct changes went into gsm-ussd..
• First: After entering the PIN, the modem first has to register in its net. gsm-ussd waits for that and only proceeds if the modem reports a successful registration, but some modems are a bit too optimistic. They might be freshly registered, but USSD queries still time out. Now, gsm-ussd waits for another turn if the modem just registered to give it time so settle, so that USSD queries can succeed.
• Second: If several programs are using one and the same serial interface, the data coming from the modem get corrupted. After all, a serial interface is a point-to-point connection; having more than the modem and one program on the interface has to break. In Linux, access to serial interface is regulated by lock files saved in /var/lock. Sadly, up to now gsm-ussd did not adhere to this convention, so if there was still a picocom running (for debugging purposes), both stepped over each other, ruining everything in the progress. This bug is done now, gsm-ussd will create lock files or quit if one already exists.

What is new in version 0.3.0:

• gsm-ussd now supports USSD sessions. Normally, USSD queries are one-shot commands: You ask for some info like your prepaid account balance, receive an answer and you're done. But sometimes, the answer requests more information from you and displays a simple menu or some text with instructions which data to enter.
• Now you can a further calls to gsm-ussd to
• a) enter the requested data or choose menu entries until you're done
• b) cancel the session.

Requirements:

• Perl