USB connected phone to PC, but PC (Ubuntu) doesn't see phone - please help?

I am running Ubuntu 11.04 LTS and it is not seeing my phone. However, my phone is being charged via the USB connection. The packaging for the USB cable says it is suitable for power and file transferring. I guess it’s possible the cable is faulty. The reason why I am trying to “see” my phone on the PC is because I am trying to tether it using Easy Tether. I downloaded Easy Tether Lite on my phone (Android), downloaded and installed the deb file on PC in Ubuntu, and get the error that “no compatible device is detected” when I try to “activate” the tether using the command “easytether connect” in Terminal. I downloaded and installed via Wine a USB device driver for Samsung phones from the Easy Tether website, but this didn’t make a difference in the outcome. If my PC can’t see the phone, I’m wondering if the problem isn’t with Easy Tether but with the computer. What else can I try? I’m stumped and can’t find anything online about it.