Linksys USB Wireless-G Adapter

[red21_tx]

I recently purchased a Linksys USB Wireless-G Adapter to connect to the DSL Modem / Wireless Router in-one that I use at home. I installed the drivers and monitor software that came with the device when I got it home the first day. It worked, but after some inspection, I noticed that the monitoring software was very cpu-intensive, often jumping up to 80%.

I tried right clicking the icon for the program in the taskbar and switching to Windows Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC). The service failed to start. I got no error messages and nothing in the event log that would explain this. I've used WZC before on another machine, so I recall what the service looks like when it runs. Nothing was showing up in the taskbar, and no connection was available when the in-box utility was disabled.

I decided today to uninstall the monitoring software to see if that might be causing my WZC problems. After browsing some tech forums for advice on how to do this, I realized that I needed to find and copy the driver files to a different folder, and point the device manager in their direction upon restarting after the uninstall.

I did all of this. Moved the drivers, uninstalled the monitoring software, restarted, let windows do its thing with device manager on restart, and pointed it to the directory where I'd stored the copied driver files. Windows recgnized the device almost immediately, and claims it is working properly. However, I still cannot get WZC to open up. In services.msc, WZC's status is running and set to start automatically. I don't understand, then, why I cannot use WZC to find my network using my adapter.

I think it's also worth noting, and probably related, that I do not get the wireless networks tab when I view the Network Connections window in Control Panel.

Anybody have any ideas?

[johnwill]

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type devmgmt.msc

Please respond to all the following steps.

1. Under Network adapters, please tell me all the devices listed.
2. Are there any devices under Network adapters that have a red x displayed?
3. Also, are there any devices anywhere in the Device Manager display with yellow ? or ! displayed?

Let's see this as well.


Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following command:

Note that there is a space before the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the / in the following command.

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.





Check your Services are Started on all PCs:

• COM+ Event System (for WZC issues)
• Computer Browser
• DHCP Client
• DNS Client
• Network Connections
• Network Location Awareness
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
• Server
• TCP/IP Netbios helper
• Wireless Zero Configuration (XP wireless configurations)
• WLAN AutoConfig (Vista wireless configurations)
• Workstation

Note: You can check the services in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services.

All of these services should be started, and their startup type should be automatic (or perhaps manual).

If a service is not running, open it's properties and check the dependencies. Check each of the dependencies and see which one is preventing the service from running. Checking the event log is also a good idea here, there may be clues to what is failing.

[red21_tx]

Network Adapters listed:

Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter #2
Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC

Copied from IPCONFIG:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>IPCONFIG /ALL

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : CHEWY
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : gateway.2wire.net

Ethernet adapter Wireless Router:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethe
rnet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-40-2B-49-F4-A6

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>

All of the services you listed were running after startup, aside from WZC, which I'm pretty sure the recently reinstalled Linksys monitor software disables.

Thanks for the help, John. I'll be checking back frequently to see if we can get this problem resolved.

[johnwill]

Windows networking is not seeing the wireless adapter, does it have any error indications in Device Manager?

[red21_tx]

No, nothing has any problems (red X's or yellow exclamation marks) in device manager.

And actually, I'm not sure wireless networking is working at all. Like I said, there used to be a tab area on the left side of the window in Network Connections that dealt with wireless networking. I don't know how long it's been this way, but I just don't see it there any more.

For quite a while I had my computer wired to a cable modem and wireless router so that my fiancee could connect with her laptop. We've split recently, and I moved, and my new ISP (Windstream Communications, if you're interested) provided the DSL modem/router combo. So it's been quite some time since I've looked into any of these components and services.

Could there be a problem with the services themselves, and how could I tell?

Thanks again, John.

[johnwill]

If all the services are running, they're probably OK. Was WZC running when you checked?

[red21_tx]

Nah, like I said, the only one not running was WZC. But I figured this was because I had the Linksys program handling the adapter at that time.

But the thing is, it doesn't make any difference. Right-clicking the icon for the Linksys program in the taskbar yields an option to enable WZC, but it doesn't work. It just makes the Linksys program disable itself, and WZC is nowhere to be found.

I tried disabling the Linksys program, then starting (and restarting) WZC manually in Services. Still no dice.

Sorry it took so long to reply, and thank for your continued support, John.

[johnwill]

It sounds like all the installing, uninstalling, etc. has corrupted something.

At this point, I'd remove the Linksys adapter, boot the system and remove any remnants, and then reinstall.

[johnwill]

It sounds like all the installing, uninstalling, etc. has corrupted something.

At this point, I'd remove the Linksys adapter, boot the system and remove any remnants, and then reinstall.

[red21_tx]

Yeah, that's how I uninstalled the only time I did it. Thing is, the original install went smoothly, but still would not enable WZC when I wanted. I'm supposing from this that the problem existed before I ever brought the Linksys product home.

Sounds like a restore may be in order. Thanks for all your help, John. I really appreciate it.

[johnwill]

Sorry we can't get this one working a bit easier.