Category Archives: 2010 Spring

For the Red Cross project that 6 of us from my Major Studio is tackling, I asked to be assigned to the SMS receiving and database management portion of the project.

Based on other NGO’s success with FrontlineSMS in similar types of projects in different areas in Africa, I began working on setting that up first (a special thanks to Andrea Bradshaw for bringing the program to the attention of the class). Through a good amount of research on forums, etc, I selected an unlocked Sierra Wireless 885 Aircard (also called Sierra Wireless USBConnect Mercury) as my modem of choice. I also purchased an AT&T “Pay-as-you-go” data plan SIM card (unlimited text and data, $0.25/minute calls) since I will only be using it for text messages.

When setting this up make sure you follow the directions included in the FrontlineSMS download. There are some files that need to get copied over and some Terminal information that needs to be executed. Do that first, and follow their directions carefully.

I spent a number of days troubleshooting why my Mac (running Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6.3) was not able to connect to the Sierra 885. There are a lot of forum posts and write-ups out there about the best way to get the device to work that I found to be incorrect, so here are the steps that I took to get my Sierra 885 to be recognized by the system. Please note the name listed on the back of your device because there is a difference on the Sierra website between the 885 and USBMercury Connect:

1. Go to System/Library/Extensions and erase the 4 files that exist in that drive that start with the word “Sierra”.
2. Download this Firmware updater.
3. Download this Native Driver installer. **UPDATE (June 6, 2011)**
4. Download this 3G watcher.
5. Plug in your Sierra 885. Ignore the default true-install that pops up from the device (just eject it).
6. Run the Driver installer that you just downloaded. Don’t restart yet. Just leave the window there asking if you want to restart.
7. Run the Firmware Updater you just downloaded. Install the new firmware if it shows you need an update. If not, you’re good to proceed to the next step.
8. Run the 3G Watcher installer you just downloaded. Don’t restart yet. Just leave the window there asking if you want to restart.
9. Remove the Sierra 885 from you computer.
10. Restart your machine.
11. Most likely the 3G watcher will start up when the computer gets running. If not, just go to your applications and run the program.
12. Insert your Sierra 885.
13. Wait a few seconds, and you should see it initialized by the 3G Watcher.
14. Turn on Frontline SMS and wait a minute or two while it connects for the first time.

If you ever need to check to see if more up-to-date software is available for your device, check the Sierra Wireless download support section for you device. Another key point is if your Mac does not recognize your Sierra 885 when trying to update the firmware, try updating the firmware on a PC first. I was successful getting this setup on Windows XP using these same steps.

Thanks to Ken, Tom, and Morgan for their responses to my post on the FrontlineSMS forum. You guys were a big help.