Questions[tethering](ubuntu)

I have recently started using tethering through an android phone for internet access.

Connection triggers nmcheck.gnome.org, which I understand is something to do with connectivity facilitation through Network Manager, per this question Some supisious software making request to nmcheck.gnome.org

Fine. Except, I seem also to be receiving an ad attached to the nmcheck response screen. Not fine.

Where is this ad coming from? Is it my ISP intercepting the http traffic? How do I stop this?

Edit:

I have looked at a tcpdump of the traffic on port 80 during the connection process. I see connections to

• the mobile ISP
• Red Hat, the host of gnome.org
• a cloud provider, which I think may provide a gateway service for the ISP.

I installed Ubuntu 18.04 (gnome) on my laptop (dual boot with windows 10). I am not able to tether my phone (Moto G5S plus) to the laptop (some other phones work but not all others). Tethering has been turned on on the phone and works with other laptops (that have Ubuntu 16.04 to 18.04 installed. I tried an ubuntu 16.04 live boot usb on the laptop. Tethering works there.

It would be good to know if this is a problem with drivers or something else and how can it be fixed.

I've included the lines from dmesg that were added after I tried to tether.

[  273.496487] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=22b8, 

idProduct=2e82
[  273.496492] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  273.496496] usb 1-1: Product: Moto G (5S) Plus
[  273.496499] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: motorola
[  273.496502] usb 1-1: SerialNumber: ZY3227KD5X
[  308.485368] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 8
[  308.912138] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 9 using xhci_hcd
[  309.061446] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=22b8, idProduct=2e24
[  309.061448] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  309.061450] usb 1-1: Product: Moto G (5S) Plus
[  309.061451] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: motorola
[  309.061452] usb 1-1: SerialNumber: ZY3227KD5X
[  309.098517] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ether
[  309.101645] rndis_host 1-1:1.0 usb0: register 'rndis_host' at usb-0000:00:14.0-1, RNDIS device, a2:ff:40:66:ec:f6
[  309.101716] usbcore: registered new interface driver rndis_host
[  309.112511] rndis_host 1-1:1.0 enp0s20f0u1: renamed from usb0
[  309.154818] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp0s20f0u1: link is not ready
[  309.224187] rndis_host 1-1:1.0 enp0s20f0u1: unregister 'rndis_host' usb-0000:00:14.0-1, RNDIS device
[  309.252183] rndis_host 1-1:1.0 usb0: register 'rndis_host' at usb-0000:00:14.0-1, RNDIS device, b2:4f:9e:67:b6:21
[  309.255446] rndis_host 1-1:1.0 enp0s20f0u1: renamed from usb0
[  364.510528] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[  364.510534] NETDEV WATCHDOG: enp0s20f0u1 (rndis_host): transmit queue 0 timed out
[  364.510567] WARNING: CPU: 5 PID: 0 at /build/linux-lZKWha/linux-4.15.0/net/sched/sch_generic.c:323 dev_watchdog+0x221/0x230
[  364.510569] Modules linked in: rndis_host cdc_ether usbnet ccm thunderbolt rfcomm snd_hda_codec_hdmi nouveau bnep ttm snd_hda_codec_realtek snd_hda_codec_generic nls_iso8859_1 hid_multitouch dell_smbios_wmi dell_wmi mxm_wmi wmi_bmof intel_wmi_thunderbolt dell_wmi_descriptor arc4 snd_hda_intel dell_laptop dell_smbios_smm snd_hda_codec dell_smbios snd_hda_core intel_rapl dcdbas snd_hwdep x86_pkg_temp_thermal intel_powerclamp coretemp dell_smm_hwmon kvm_intel kvm irqbypass crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul ghash_clmulni_intel iwlmvm pcbc mac80211 snd_pcm snd_seq_midi aesni_intel snd_seq_midi_event aes_x86_64 crypto_simd snd_rawmidi glue_helper cryptd intel_cstate intel_rapl_perf snd_seq iwlwifi joydev snd_seq_device uvcvideo snd_timer videobuf2_vmalloc btusb input_leds btrtl videobuf2_memops cfg80211 btbcm
[  364.510654]  serio_raw videobuf2_v4l2 btintel idma64 videobuf2_core snd virt_dma bluetooth soundcore videodev media cdc_acm mei_me intel_lpss_pci processor_thermal_device ecdh_generic mei intel_pch_thermal intel_lpss shpchp intel_soc_dts_iosf int3403_thermal wmi int3402_thermal mac_hid int340x_thermal_zone int3400_thermal intel_hid acpi_pad tpm_crb acpi_thermal_rel sparse_keymap sch_fq_codel parport_pc ppdev lp parport ip_tables x_tables autofs4 i915 i2c_algo_bit drm_kms_helper syscopyarea nvme sysfillrect sysimgblt psmouse fb_sys_fops r8169 drm nvme_core ahci mii libahci i2c_hid hid video
[  364.510729] CPU: 5 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/5 Tainted: G        W        4.15.0-22-generic #24-Ubuntu
[  364.510732] Hardware name: Dell Inc. Inspiron 7577/0J8HMF, BIOS 1.4.2 01/25/2018
[  364.510736] RIP: 0010:dev_watchdog+0x221/0x230
[  364.510739] RSP: 0018:ffff918ecf543e58 EFLAGS: 00010286
[  364.510742] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 0000000000000006
[  364.510745] RDX: 0000000000000007 RSI: 0000000000000092 RDI: ffff918ecf556490
[  364.510747] RBP: ffff918ecf543e88 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 00000000000005bc
[  364.510749] R10: ffff918ecf543ee0 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000001
[  364.510751] R13: ffff918eb7082000 R14: ffff918eb7082478 R15: ffff918eb489c680
[  364.510754] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff918ecf540000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[  364.510757] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[  364.510760] CR2: 00007f1de2989350 CR3: 000000040c80a003 CR4: 00000000003606e0
[  364.510762] Call Trace:
[  364.510765]  <IRQ>
[  364.510772]  ? dev_deactivate_queue.constprop.33+0x60/0x60
[  364.510780]  call_timer_fn+0x30/0x130
[  364.510786]  run_timer_softirq+0x3fb/0x450
[  364.510791]  ? ktime_get+0x43/0xa0
[  364.510798]  ? lapic_next_deadline+0x26/0x30
[  364.510805]  __do_softirq+0xdf/0x2b2
[  364.510811]  irq_exit+0xb6/0xc0
[  364.510816]  smp_apic_timer_interrupt+0x71/0x130
[  364.510822]  apic_timer_interrupt+0x84/0x90
[  364.510824]  </IRQ>
[  364.510830] RIP: 0010:cpuidle_enter_state+0xa7/0x2f0
[  364.510833] RSP: 0018:ffffb92f0196fe68 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: ffffffffffffff11
[  364.510837] RAX: ffff918ecf562880 RBX: 00000054de84efcb RCX: 000000000000001f
[  364.510839] RDX: 00000054de84efcb RSI: fffffffddb4d39f5 RDI: 0000000000000000
[  364.510841] RBP: ffffb92f0196fea8 R08: 0000000000002e70 R09: 00000000000000c8
[  364.510843] R10: ffffb92f0196fe38 R11: 000000000000061a R12: ffff918ecf56cb00
[  364.510845] R13: 0000000000000004 R14: ffffffff98771db8 R15: 0000000000000000
[  364.510852]  ? cpuidle_enter_state+0x97/0x2f0
[  364.510858]  cpuidle_enter+0x17/0x20
[  364.510864]  call_cpuidle+0x23/0x40
[  364.510868]  do_idle+0x18c/0x1f0
[  364.510874]  cpu_startup_entry+0x73/0x80
[  364.510878]  start_secondary+0x1a6/0x200
[  364.510884]  secondary_startup_64+0xa5/0xb0
[  364.510887] Code: 38 00 49 63 4e e8 eb 92 4c 89 ef c6 05 28 56 d9 00 01 e8 23 38 fd ff 89 d9 48 89 c2 4c 89 ee 48 c7 c7 a0 73 39 98 e8 2f 04 81 ff <0f> 0b eb c0 90 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 55 
[  364.510966] ---[ end trace cd363f8d000b7ca4 ]---

Below is the result of sudo lshw -C network

    *-network                 
           description: Ethernet interface
           product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
           physical id: 0
           bus info: pci@0000:3b:00.0
           logical name: enp59s0
           version: 15
           serial: 54:bf:64:09:1c:e2
           size: 10Mbit/s
           capacity: 1Gbit/s
           width: 64 bits
           clock: 33MHz
           capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
           configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half firmware=rtl8168h-2_0.0.2 02/26/15 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII speed=10Mbit/s
           resources: irq:129 ioport:d000(size=256) memory:dd304000-dd304fff memory:dd300000-dd303fff
      *-network
           description: Wireless interface
           product: Wireless 8265 / 8275
           vendor: Intel Corporation
           physical id: 0
           bus info: pci@0000:3c:00.0
           logical name: wlp60s0
           version: 78
           serial: 34:41:5d:5c:47:0c
           width: 64 bits
           clock: 33MHz
           capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless  *-network                 
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:3b:00.0
       logical name: enp59s0
       version: 15
       serial: 54:bf:64:09:1c:e2
       size: 10Mbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half firmware=rtl8168h-2_0.0.2 02/26/15 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII speed=10Mbit/s
       resources: irq:129 ioport:d000(size=256) memory:dd304000-dd304fff memory:dd300000-dd303fff
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: Wireless 8265 / 8275
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:3c:00.0
       logical name: wlp60s0
       version: 78
       serial: 34:41:5d:5c:47:0c
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.15.0-22-generic firmware=34.0.1 ip=192.168.1.8 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:138 memory:dd200000-dd201fff
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 2
       logical name: enp0s20f0u1
       serial: 3e:2a:f0:fa:ff:0d
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rndis_host driverversion=22-Aug-2005 firmware=RNDIS device link=yes multicast=yes
           configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.15.0-22-generic firmware=34.0.1 ip=192.168.1.8 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
           resources: irq:138 memory:dd200000-dd201fff
      *-network
           description: Ethernet interface
           physical id: 2
           logical name: enp0s20f0u1
           serial: 3e:2a:f0:fa:ff:0d
           capabilities: ethernet physical
           configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rndis_host driverversion=22-Aug-2005 firmware=RNDIS device link=yes multicast=yes

After the upgrade I noticed that I don't have internet access. The wired network and the wifi settings looked good, but it didn't work. After the login the system always switched itself into airplane mode. I tethered the network via USB and Bluetooth by my mobile but they also didn't work.

I sometimes USB tether my laptop to my phone to allow me to access the internet using 3G. The problem is that all sorts of things, such as the Update Manager, will go online and use up my valuable allowance.

Is it possible to somehow configurate things such that:

• when (and only when) I am connected to the internet using the tethered phone, no application is able to go online, except...
• applications which are run under a certain user (eg sudo -u internetaccess lynx http://mysite/)
• when I am connected using Wifi/ethernet access is normal

Is there a way I can do this?

(I am on Ubuntu 11.04 and my phone is an Android - when I plug in the USB cable, it all Just Works)

For my iphone I was using this with pdanet to tether via usb. Now I have an android phone, also with pdanet. I'd appreciate any help.

Edit

My phone is a droid x. I'm using the latest OS officially available for that phone.