I saw modem-manager do a few open/close cycles on USB0. Did seem to end up in the "closed"state. Also did not find anything with Google telling me that it was causing serious problems trying to use a USB device. I did try the "service stop" method of disabling while I had the laptop out in the truck. A bit of investigation when I returned to the house indicated that modem-manager wasn't really a typical service but somehow related to dbus which is why the "service stop" did not terminate it. I haven't had time to look into this further.
The cable I have is from Kenwood, "KPG-46U". This has a standard USB connector on one end and an 8 pin modular connector on the other (RJ45 is the designation I think). The box says "interface cable (USB)".
The radio has two potential places that would accept the RJ45. One is the microphone connector the other is the connection for the front panel. The instruction sheet that came with the came is quite "unhelpful" by stating: "Connect one of the KPG-22U/36U/43U/46U USB connectors to the USB port of the computer, and the other connector to the transceiver."
They do not say *where* to connect it. I tried a bit of Google searching with no luck and didn't want to see any smoke escape from this new radio so I gave the Ham Radio Outlet store where I purchased all this a call. They said to connect the cable to the microphone port. So that is what I have been doing.
Is this cable actually what is used to program the radio? If so, where does it connect? If not, WTF is the cable for and why did HRO sell me the cable?
Thanks for your assistance. And thanks for the software - useful so far with the Wouxun and I'm sure before long for the Kenwood as well. 73, Dale