Jun 09 16

Huawei E220, the device has been disconnected or is unavailable

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Thousands of people are having troubles with those Huawei USB modems (assumption based in search engine results and forum posts). Here’s a list of steps to try out or hints to consider if you run into issues installing the drivers and/or software:

  • Always log in with a user account that has local admin permissions.
  • Once you’ve found an USB plug that works, always hook up the modem to the same plug.
  • If you see an error that “the device has been disconnected or is unavailable” when you try to connect, the following might help. The problem was that during installation Windows didn’t recognize the modem’s data interface. Hence, no modem was installed as far as Windows is concerned:
    • Go to My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager
    • Disconnect the USB modem.
    • Right-click on each entry in Universal Serial Bus controllers and choose “uninstall”.
    • Restart the PC.
    • Re-connect the USB modem to the first USB plug. Windows will initialize the device, pay attention to all the messages it displays at the lower right bottom of your screen. It will most likely initialize the device as an USB mass storage device, a CD-ROM, etc. AND hopefully as a “Data Interface”. If it never shows the mesage for data interface you have to try the device on the next USB plug.
    • If Windows brings up an installation dialog for the data interface, allow it to get the drivers from the internet, but tell it to also check in <folder_where_you_installed_Swisscom_software>\Driver\WinXP for suitable drivers (it might not find them otherwise).
    • If the Device Manager doesn’t list Huawei in the Modems and Ports section, you won’t be able to open a connection. Start all over with this guide :-(

6 Responses to “Huawei E220, the device has been disconnected or is unavailable”

  1. muhammed Says:
    August 24th, 2009 at 12:27

    i had the same problem. only one usb port is not recognized for the huawei modem. if the modem connected to other usb ports its works.
    i tried following
    1. restart the pc
    2.used another data cable
    3. clean the usb port and tested with other usb drives its works

    finally i uninstalled the mobile partner and reinstalled. its works fine. but ther r so many files i can see at the installed folder than first time.

  2. Kamal Says:
    October 24th, 2009 at 9:24

    Mate this worked wonders. You are a legend, thank you.

  3. Juan DR Says:
    March 26th, 2010 at 16:51

    It works for me. Thanks

  4. Montse Says:
    June 4th, 2010 at 14:08

    Just for future reference…

    I got this error and I solved it by installing the program with the Huawei Modem connected.

    Probably Windows doesn’t install the proper drivers by itself, and if you install the program without the modem connected, it doesn’t know which drivers to install and doesn’t install any.

    Thanks a lot for the advice :)

  5. Monster Says:
    July 17th, 2010 at 11:23

    i tried but doesn’t work on IBM Thinkpad T40,
    tell me to do something for working on it.

  6. gango Says:
    July 19th, 2010 at 13:10

    I face the same issue..doesnt work on IBM T61…when i restart laptop…able to see signals and connect to internet…but when i disconnect the device and reinsert..it doesnt show the signals..always get message – Device has been disconnected or is unavailable…fed up with this…not able to get the signals back unless I delete USB controllers and restart the TP…

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