I have just installed 12.04 and plugged in E160 and nothing happened - modem doesn't mount.

I have found this solution :

Ubuntu does not mount some Huawei devices due to bugs, problems etc. See if these work:

1st option:

Connect the USB modem.

After 10 seconds, type this in a terminal window:

lsusb

The output will be like this:

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 004: ID 12d1:140b Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 413c:3016 Dell Computer Corp. Optical 5-Button Wheel Mouse
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 0b97:7762 O2 Micro, Inc. Oz776 SmartCard Reader
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 413c:8103 Dell Computer Corp. Wireless 350 Bluetooth
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0b97:7761 O2 Micro, Inc. Oz776 1.1 Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 413c:a005 Dell Computer Corp. Internal 2.0 Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

The device is a Huawei modem, so let's look at the output. The relevant entry is:

Bus 004 Device 004: ID 12d1:140b Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd

Hence, you must type:

sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x140b

2nd option

Download usb-modeswitch and usb-modeswitch-data packages from packages.ubuntu.com.

Install them through the command:

sudo dpkg -i usb-modeswitch*.deb

3rd option

Try a combination of both.

but with no result. The modem is still not detected. I've tried to add a new connection but the system can't see my device in setup dialogue.

Also I have noticed that when I open eg. terminal and try to type sth, the system freezes for a while..

Thanks for help!