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'''Virtual CD-ROM switching utilities''' are programs to disable the virtual [[CD-ROM]] drive found on some devices like [[mobile broadband modem|mobile broadband modems]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pharscape.org/usb_modeswitch.html |title=USB_modeswitch Virtual CD-ROM switching utility |access-date=2010-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212225215/http://www.pharscape.org/usb_modeswitch.html |archive-date=2010-02-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2024}}{{Unreliable source|1=|certain=y|date=August 2024}} A virtual CD-ROM switching utility is a mode switching tool for controlling "flip flop" (multiple device) [[Universal Serial Bus|USB]] gear.
Several USB devices including high-speed wireless [[Wide area network|WAN]] equipment offer a feature where they have their device drivers onboard; when plugged in for the first time they act like a [[USB flash drive]] and start installing the device drivers. The device will then receive a command from the installed device driver and switch mode, resulting in the virtual CD-ROM drive or [[USB mass storage device class]] disappearing and being replaced with the actual device itself. The [[Wireless WAN]] (WWAN) gear maker [[Option N.V.|Option]] calls that feature "ZeroCD (TM)".{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} The device can only be used on OS that support the device driver, as else the driver will never be able to send the command. {{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}
The problem with most USB [[3G]] modems is they have two modes. In one mode they are a USB flash drive and in the other mode they are a modem. Typically they only ship with Windows device drivers, sometimes [[Macintosh|Mac]] device drivers as well. In any case, they seemingly seldom, if ever, ship with Linux device drivers. What normally happens with Windows is the device starts up as a USB flash drive, the [[Computer hardware|hardware]] drivers are installed and then they are responsible for "switching" the device in to modem mode so you can use it. This "switch" is done via some codes, specific to the device, which controlling software can pass as a command to switch from disk to modem mode. The virtual CD-ROM switching utility manages the switch of mode from disk to modem, the latter disconnects any mounted disk containing software we do not care about that will not work anyway and, crucially, creates a modem port/serial device (usually {{mono|/dev/ttyUSB0}}) for the networkmanager.<ref name="3g_usb_modems ">{{Cite web|url=http://www.drupaler.co.uk/blog/installing-3g-usb-modems-linux/497|author=greg.harvey|title=Installing 3G USB Modems On Linux|date=28 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421021905/http://www.drupaler.co.uk/blog/installing-3g-usb-modems-linux/497|archive-date=2012-04-21|access-date=2019-02-10}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2024}}{{Unreliable source|1=|certain=y|date=August 2024}}▼
With USB sniffing programs and [[libusb]] it is possible to eavesdrop the communication of the device driver and isolate the [[Command (computing)|command]] or action that does the switching and to reproduce the same event under an unsupported environment.<ref name="usb_modeswitch">{{Cite web|url=http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/|title=USB_ModeSwitch - Activating Switchable USB Devices on Linux}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2024}}{{Unreliable source|1=|certain=y|date=August 2024}}
The approach of adding Virtual CD-ROM with software drivers on 3G or storage devices has two problems: it presumably raises the cost of the device, and it may ship outdated software or even viruses. Most of the times, up-to-date drivers are anyway built into the operating systems (after all, on systems implementing the USB standard like Linux, any 3G device is a USB serial port, and any storage device is a ... USB storage device). Virtual CD-ROM on U3-compatible devices can be removed by a software tool.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://u3-tool.sourceforge.net/|title=u3_tool - Tool for controlling U3 drives|access-date=2021-01-04|website=[[SourceForge]]}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2024}}{{Unreliable source|1=|certain=y|date=August 2024}} Some 3G devices such as the Huawei support complete disabling of the Virtual CD-ROM.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techytalk.info/disable-virtual-cd-rom-drive-with-built-in-software-on-huawei-and-zte-gsm-modem-devices/|last=Martinović|first=Marko|title=Disable virtual CD-ROM drive with built in software on Huawei and ZTE GSM modem devices|website=TechyTalk.info|access-date=2021-01-04}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2024}}{{Unreliable source|1=|certain=y|date=August 2024}}▼
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Available software utilities include the following:
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