I am testing a Novatel Ovation MC950D 3G modem on Ubuntu 8.10 Server. Periodically, the modem disconnects and reconnects, but wvdial cannot communicate with the modem until I physically unplug/replug it into the USB port.

I am trying to find a way to automate resetting the USB port. I found a reference to 'usbreset' at http://marc.info/?l=linux-usb&m=121459435621262&w=2 but cannot get it to work.

The modem is on bus 1 dev 023 (lsusb returns 'Bus 001 Device 023: ID 1410:4400 Novatel Wireless'). I see no devices under '/proc/bus/usb', but found:

nhoeller@300PL:~$ sudo ls /dev/usb*
/dev/usbdev1.1_ep00 /dev/usbdev1.23_ep00 /dev/usbdev1.23_ep04 /dev/usbdev1.23_ep82
/dev/usbdev1.1_ep81 /dev/usbdev1.23_ep02 /dev/usbdev1.23_ep81 /dev/usbdev1.23_ep84

I ran 'usbreset' against /dev/usbdev1.23 and /dev/usbdev1.23_ep00 but get back 'Error opening output file: No such device or address'.

Do I need to install additional packages or are there other steps I need to follow first?
Thanks, Norbert