Nova can't connect. Sees the SIM card, has a signal, but no operator. Any guesses? [partly resolved]

[Harg]

Environment: Raspberry Pi 3b (not 3b+), running in headless mode. In other words, I’m interacting with the Raspberry Pi by SSHing into it over my local WiFi network.

The Nova has a steady blue light right away. The hologram CLI is able to connect to the modem and identify the SIM’s ICCID. The signal strength is reported as 99,99. However, the operator is reported as “None”. And running the following:

sudo hologram network connect -vv

Results in the following:

DEBUG: checking for vid_pid: ('12d1', '1506')
DEBUG: checking for vid_pid: ('12d1', '1001')
DEBUG: checking for vid_pid: ('05c6', '90b2')
INFO: Detected modem NovaM
DEBUG: checking port ttyUSB0
DEBUG: checking port ttyUSB1
DEBUG: [AT]
DEBUG: {AT}
DEBUG: {OK}
INFO: found working port at ttyUSB1
INFO: chatscript file: /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/Hologram/Network/Modem/chatscripts/default-script
DEBUG: [ATE0]
DEBUG: {ATE0}
DEBUG: {OK}
DEBUG: [AT+CMEE=2]
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {OK}
DEBUG: [AT+CPIN?]
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {+CPIN: READY}
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {OK}
DEBUG: [AT+CPMS="ME","ME","ME"]
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {+CPMS: 0,23,0,23,0,23}
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {OK}
DEBUG: [AT+CMGF=0]
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {OK}
DEBUG: [AT+CNMI=2,1]
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {OK}
DEBUG: [AT+CEREG=2]
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {OK}
INFO: Instantiated a NovaM interface with device name of /dev/ttyUSB1
DEBUG: [AT+CGMM]
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {SARA-R410M-02B}
DEBUG: {}
DEBUG: {OK}
INFO: Connecting to cell network with timeout of 200 seconds
INFO: Checking for existing PPP sessions
INFO: Starting pppd
ERROR: Modem hangup - possibly due to an unregistered SIM
DEBUG: Killing pppd
INFO: Failed to connect to cell network
Failed to start PPP

Any idea what the issue might be? According to the dashboard, my SIM card is activated.

[Harg]

Using a Ting SIM card I was able to get the Nova to connect. The problem is now just getting the Hologram SIM to work with the Nova.

First I confirmed the Ting SIM was working. To do so, I activated it online, then used it to send text messages to myself from an iPhone. Then I confirmed the modem was working. To do so, I put the SIM card into the Nova, plugged it into the Pi, started it up, installed minicom with

sudo apt-get install -y minicom

…, ran minicom, selected the appropriate USB device (/dev/ttyUSB1, in my case), and then sent a text message using AT commands with

AT+CMGF=1
OK
AT+CMGS="+1MYPERSONALPHONENUMBER"
> this came to you from a Nova
>

+CMGS: 2

OK

The message went through pretty quickly. Note that, not visible above, I terminated the text message with a Ctrl-Z, per the AT protocol. Following all of the above, I sent a message using the hologram CLI’s send command with the --sms option and an active Hologram device key. It worked. The hologram CLI’s modem operator command, predictably, is also working. It identifies the operator as Ting.

It seems relevant that although the Nova’s blue light was on and steady (unblinking) as soon as the Pi started up, the Nova’s red light did not turn on until I entered the AT+CMGS= command.