Wireless WMP11 NIC Problem 1

[site4sure]

Hello Everyone,

I installed a Linksys WMP11 NIC in a new Dell OptiPlex. We also have a Linksys Wireless Router. Here is the problem. When I reboot the Dell, say after an update from Microsoft or installing a program, the wireless NIC does not work any more. The utility shows up down in the lower right hand corner by the clock and the network connection says it is unplugged. Now if I go and unistall the software and reinstall it and reboot, it will work fine until you reboot again. We are running Win2k. There is also two users on the computer, Administrator and Secretary, which is a Power user. Can anyone help. We also have to login as Administrator sometimes for the network to come up and then after that log out and login as Secretary so she can do her work. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[keishik]

Check out thread 916-470268 "Linksys WMP11 PCI card problems with Win2000Pro". They list a similar problem and a possible solution. I'm going to try it myself tomorrow.

 

[bcastner]

The direct link to the thread is: thread916-470268
I have recieved email and comments that the message can vary slightly in some cases than the one I posted earlier, though this was mainly from XP users that decided to use the Win2k drivers instead of the XP ones.

From the comments I have recieved here and at one other Forum that I posted a similar answer, the current software drivers have the same problem of misconfiguring the registry with the location of the installaton source, rather than pointing to the final destination location in Windows.

Hope it helps both of you. I am just darned glad you weren't asking about problems with the earlier form of this 802.11b wireless device, the horrible Linksys WDT11. The WMP11 with its large pointable antenna works pretty well.

It was popular for a while, and the "G" version is popular now, because it was the only way to get a mini-PC card adapter for wireless. It is easy enough to remove the mini-PC from the PCI frame, and the pins are there for connecting to a laptop with an internal antenna.

Best.

 

[keishik]

I have run into a similar situation, where the card would quit working after a cold boot. Fixing the path entry in the registry solved that part of the problem (Win 2000). Now I am faced with a slightly different twist:

If I log in as Administrator, the card comes up fine, and stays up if I log out, or log in as another user. However, if I cold boot the system, and just let it come up (no Admin login, no user login) the card doesn't come up and the system can't be seen online. If I log in as any other user than admin, the card also does not initialize.

I'd like to be able to run the card and software as a service so the system can run without requiring an Admin logon.

 

[bcastner]

keishik,

This is a Windows permission issue. It is not a card issue. Even if you ran the card as a service, which would make little difference from it currently running as a resident process, it would not solve your problem.

The card's configuration includes the Client for Microsoft Networks. That means that when the card is initialized the first time there must be a valid user name and password used (even if an empty password) or the card will by Windows be denied access to the Windows Network.

This is true of non-wireless cards as well.

By the way, this is as true of Windows 95 as it is of Win2k or XP. You are on a network and even if there are no passwords being used you have to logon to the network to be able to use it. Hitting Escape or Cancel yields the same result, the machine may go into Windows, but it will do so without Networking Services enabled.

Now if you removed Client for Microsoft Network, and File and Printer Sharing from the configuration of the adapter, it would work for pure TCP/IP services.

Let me anticipate some other possible work-arounds that you might consider. Hardware profiles will not help, as the configuration of the adapter does not change between profiles.

You could possibly enable autologin for the machine with a default user name and password that is a valid network user. This should work.

 

[site4sure]

Hi,

Anyone else have any ideas? I am going to try the one dealing with the registry. There must be a simple fix, as larger companies use the same card with Win2k and user accounts. I'm still open for ideas to try. Just bothers me that they have admin access.

-Chris

 

[keishik]

I am not sure if I am understanding this right.

If it is a windows permission issue, then I should get the same results with a hardwired NIC. I don't. If I fire this box up with an SMC card installed, all services run normally, and I can connect to it remotely. This isn't the case with the wmp11, unless I first log on as Admin; once I have done that, then logged back out the card works fine. This may be a permissions issue, but if it is, it is a bad one. Incidentally, when I initially log on as any other user (without first logging on as admin) the card completely fails; no TCP/IP or client sharing, and the card status is "cable unplugged" in the systray.

 

[site4sure]

Hi,

Sounds indentical to my problem that I posted originally. The other wierd thing is I formatted and reinstalled everything on the computer setting up the same power user and it still does it. The only workaround I have found is if you put the powerusers on the Admin list also, which defeats the poweruser account anyway. Any ideas?

-Chris

 

[bcastner]

It is clearly a permissions issue.

If sit4sure grants administrative permissions to all users, all users login in. keishik has no problem when logging in as administrator.

The Linksys software does not check permissions, the operating system does.

The key is that under Win2k the monitor is installed essentially as a service. This is why it will persist after at least one successful administrative logon. So where is the permissions problem?

I do not have one in front of me to test, but I believe the problem comes about from the difference between a registry entry that starts a process from HKEY\CURRENT_USER versus a call to initialize the service entry from HKEY\LOCAL_MACHINE.

Of all the possible places where the service entry could be made, this is my guess as to what would work:

[tt]

Service Entry Point Works?

[Win.ini] No
[Win.ini]Run Yes
[NT User]Load[Win.ini map] No
[NT User]Run[Win.ini map] Yes
[All NT Users]Logon No
[User]Run Permissions Issue
[User]Run Once Permissions Issue
[User]Run Once Extended Permissions Issue
[User]Run Services Permissions Issue
[User]Run Services Once Permissions Issue
[User]Startup Menu Permissions Issue
[All Users]Run Yes
[All Users]Run Once Yes
[All Users]Run Once Extended Yes
[All Users]Run Services Yes
[All Users]Run Services Once Yes
[All Users]Startup Menu Yes
[/tt]

I do not find MSCONFIG useful for these problems. I use aspy32.exe to mess around with problems like this. It is a little freeware utility I have used for years. One link is:

http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?1294

Login as administrator and use aspy32 to tell you where the monitor client is currently being called. Highlight the entry and right-click to edit. Scroll the deposition list and move it to an all users catagory such as All Users Run. Important: Then save the edit, then do a File Save to make the registry change. If you just edit without a File Save the registry change is not made.

Again, I do not have a setting at hand to test this, but my gut tells me that moving the initiialization to the HKLM registry hive instead of the HKCU hive will fix the problem.

See if that helps any. Please post your results.
Best.

 

[site4sure]

Hi,

I tried that and it didnt seem to work. I think it is a permissions problem, but how odd is that. Any other ideas?

-Chris

 

[bcastner]

It is impossible to guess what the administrative template for group policies was applied. I think judicious use of gpedit.msc in the Computer Configuration, Windows Settings, Security Settings, User Rights could be modified to allow non-administrators to load device drivers.

But I am curious if anyone has tried installing the device drivers and monitor when logged in to the Domain as an administrator user, instead of installing as administrator of the local console without a domain logon.

 

[bcastner]

If anyone tried the gpedit.msc approach to permitting device driver loading and unloading I would appreciate some feedback.

Note: a reboot is required after the change for the local policy setting to take effect.

 

[bcastner]

All,

I experimented this weekend with mounting the Monitor application as a service and it worked fine.

I used the FireDaemon utility:

http://www.firedaemon.com

Which is free for one service install.

This utility does nothing differently than you could do yourself using the Win2k SDK service install utilities, it just is easier.

I tried with the WPC11 Version 3, WMP11, WUSB11 V.2.6, and WPC54G.

Best.

 

[bcastner]

Forgot one note,

With the WPC11 the running service would often hit 10% CPU utilization. So I would kill it by hand through Task Manager. I would be tempted in a production setting to automate that task. For such things the pstools freeware utility kit by win/sysinternals is terrific:

http://www.sysinternals.com

Best.