New Wireless Problem - help appreciated!

[snpollack]

I have a T41p running XP Pro SP1, with pretty up-to-date drivers and IBM utilities, including Access Connections 3.20. I have a wired Ethernet adapter Intel Pro 1000/MT and a wireless adapter 11 a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI (Arcadyan) as well as a Bluetooth wireless adapter.

I used to have all of these adapters working just fine, with Access Connections appropriately configuring my settings based on my changing locations (I have 5 or 6 different locations programmed). When at my home location, my system is set to used wired adapter first (which works fine) and if no available wired connection, to use wireless (which used to work, but now doesn't). The icon in the system tray says wireless connection unavailable. In fact, I can't even turn the radio on using the PCI adapter icon. If I type Fn-5, I get the wireless radios window, but only the Bluetooth radio appears (which I have no trouble turning on), but the wireless radio doesn't appear as an entry (but it used to).

I can force the radio on by going to Network Connections -> Wireless Adapter -> Properties -> Configure -> Advanced -> Radio On/Off and selecting On (it was Off, and I don't even know what this setting should be), but this keeps the radio on constantly (even upon startup), and not controllable by the System Tray icon for the PCI wireless adapter or by Fn-5, or by Access Connections.

I fear that I may have screwed something up in my attempt to minimize my software overhead by turning off processes that I thought were unnecessary (I did this a few weeks ago, and have had no problems, but haven't needed wireless until today). I wonder if anyone knows if this could have caused this behavior or not. I would love to get a list of services that really should be on Automatic, Manual, and Disabled (so I can turn on things that really should be on that I might need), but I can't seem to find any such recommended list. I tried turning on some services to Automatic I thought would help (like Wireless Zero Configuration), but I still can't solve the issue. Oh, I wish I could go back to how things were before I [presumably] screwed them up!

Any assistance in any way would be most appreciated, I can assure you.

Thanks,
Stu Pollack

[GACrabill]

Probably not worth much, but here's two cents.

WZC should be Manual or Disable if using Access Connections.

Update your Access Connections from 3.20 to 3.21 .... 3.20 was replaced quickly with 3.21 because of problems.

[jsmit86]

Try running MSCONFIG, and re-enabling any startup processes you unchecked.

[snpollack]

Unfortunately, I didn't merely uncheck services in MSCONFIG; rather, I changed some from ACTIVE to DISABLED (or maybe MANUAL) under Administrative Tools -> Services. When I check in MSCONFIG, eveything is still checked, but some services are started and some are stopped. I have no idea what should be what at this point, or if that even plays a role.

I will try updating Access Connections in the meantime. I would appreciate if anyone can post or e-mail me a list of their default services, which I think can be exported under Administrative Tools -> Services -> Export List... (by right-clicking Services (Local)).


Thanks,
Stu

snpollack at earthlink dot net

[Kenn]

The advice I heard was to NEVER use msconfig to change your services, since it lets you do some destructive stuff. You're using services.msc, which is the right way to go. From my experiences, with SP1, Wireless Zero Config should be DISABLED in services. With SP2, it should be ENABLED if you run into 60 or 120-second timeout delays with the wireless (that's another thing to check. If you have a wireless issue, see if it sorts itself out or otherwise reacts after 120 seconds - this appears to be a windows delay setting that kicks in under various situations both after and pre-SP2).

[gte204i]

reference the following page for the default XP Pro service configurations

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

[snpollack]

Thanks for the great advice, all! Let me give a brief update...

I went to update Access Connections to 3.21 from 3.20. First, I had to update the drive for the wireless adapter from 3.1.1.52 to 3.1.1.5401, which I did after uninstalling Access Connection 3.20, per IBM's instructions. Then, I reinstalled the new Access Connections 3.21 and restarted.

The computer restarted quickly, but took almost 3 more minutes than usual to find a network connection (on the wired connection). Finally, it connected and got an IP address from my router (DHCP). Then, I checked the wireless connection and found that I could now turn on the radio from the system tray icon, and I could see the radio (and turn it on and off) using Fn-5 screen. So far, so good. However, I couldn't get a wireless connection. When I selected view available wireless connections, nothing shows up. In fact, the ADVANCED... button is "dimmed out" and I can't even get to the wireless setup window!!

I restarted the computer, and again, very slow finding a wired connection via Access Connections. Eventually, it connected after 2-3 minutes. Still, my wireless access point not recognized as any signal. And I still couldn't get the available wireless network list or the Advanced... button to become "undimmed".

I was about to throw my stapler through the laptop screen when I, in great frustration, started once again. This time, the computer, still slow to start up (?maybe due to my turning on unneeded services in a frenzy to fix my wireless problem mentioned earlier), eventually connected to the wired network. Additionally, I was able to activate the wireless adapter and finally got a signal when I turned on the radio!! In fact, I was able to connect fine, apparently using my previously entered wireless settings.

I tried unplugging my network cable, and in about 15-20 seconds I automatically was connected to my wireless network. I plugged the cable back in and the wireless connection shut down and the wired connection took over. This is the [desired] behavior that I have programmed in Access Connections, so all works.

I am left with two minor dilemmas:

(1) Why so long to start up now and connect to my network? It used to take only 30 seconds or so and now is at least 2-3 minutes. In fact, I initially thought the computer crashed, before I realized it was just slow to start up. Could it be I turned on TOO many services in my original quest to solve this wireless problem? Or is this a known issue with Access Connections 3.21? Is there any way to view a log of the startup process so I can see what process is taking so long? Perhaps I should go through the "Black Viper" list and change my services to the states he recommends...

(2) Why can't I get a list of available wireless networks through the usual means anymore (i.e., View Available Wireless Networks option by right-clicking on the wireless icon) and why is the Advanced... button dimmed? This was never the case before. Does the fact that I'm using the new version Access Connections somehow disable this choice or is this a bug?


Thanks again, everyone! You have been incredibly helpful to me so far!

[Leon]

enable wireless zero configuration and your delay will go away...

[mattfromomaha]

Are you talking about the Advanced tab in the Windows wireless config window, or the Access Connections wireless config window? Since you're using Access Connections, it is supposeed to disable some settings in the Windows window (sorry if that's confusing) to prevent two programs from fighting over control of the adapters.

[Leon]

no, i mean enable the service in msconfig

[snpollack]

I enabled Wireless Zero Configuration to Automatic under System services, which caused the following to occur:

(1) I no longer have the startup delay when the computer is [apparently] searching for a network connection

(2) I am now able to see a list of Available Wireless Networks using the adapter interface (i.e., right-click on the wireless adapter icon in the system tray) and the Advanced button is now active, whereas before, it was dimmed.

Problem solved!

The only thing I notice now is that when connected to my wireless network, it intermittently connects and disconnects a few times over a few minutes and then becomes stable. Also, when I'm not connected to a wireless network, the radio will automatically turn itself off after a minute or two.

Thanks to all.

[Leon]

for further improvement (if you haven't already done so), go to View Available Wireless Networks>Advanced, and UNCHECK "Use Windows To Configure My Wireless Settings"

[GACrabill]

And now there is Access Connections 3.30 (includes support for XP-SP2 and various fixes) to replace 3.21 --

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4ZLNJB

[GACrabill]

(2) I am now able to see a list of Available Wireless Networks using the adapter interface (i.e., right-click on the wireless adapter icon in the system tray) and the Advanced button is now active, whereas before, it was dimmed.

And with XP-SP2, you will lose this ability again when using Access Connections instead of Windows to control the wireless networks.

[jsmit86]

I am confused. 2 questions.

> Will you still see the available networks in the Access connections software using Find WLAN?

> Will I lose any of my normal Access Connections funtions in SP2?

[snpollack]

I'm not certain. I am going to hold off on SP2 for awhile, just so I can finally enjoy Access Connections finally working as intended. Once I upgrade, I can anticipate more headaches than benefits...


On another note, once I upgraded to Access Connections, I made some other observations, one good and one bad:

(1) GOOD: For the longest time, I was experiencing regular system freezes upon shutdown forcing use of the power key to shut down. This seemed to only happen after my computer was on for an hour or more. I tried narrowing the startup processes and services as well as killing processes from Task Manager before shutting down, but I could never find the culprit. Guess what? Once updating to AC 3.21, I no longer have the problem and I can shut down irrespective of how long the system's been booted and what I am doing/running. Strange... Did anyone else experience anything similar with respect to shutdown crashes?

(2) BAD: My Access Connections used to be able to determine what profile to apply (I had about 5 or 6 for as many different physical locations), based on "ports" and/or MAC addresses it recognized when first connected at a new location. However, this functionality was lost once I upgraded, and now it merely applies the last profile I used (even though it's often not the proper one for my current location). No problem, I just select the appropriate profile from the AC tray icon menu. I did try deleting the automatic location switching settings, which didn't work, and tried deleting some of the profiles as well. But never did I get it to ask me what it used to ask ("Do you want to always apply this profile for this location?" or something similar). Do I have to trash all of the profiles and start over for this functionality to come back or does someone have any more "gentle" solutions that work?


Thanks!
Stu

[GACrabill]

On another note, once I upgraded to Access Connections, I made some other observations, one good and one bad:

(1) GOOD: ...... Strange... Did anyone else experience anything similar with respect to shutdown crashes?

Yes ... I tried backing off numerous XP updates before searching for interesting topics is this forum (now I search here first). The shutdown hang due to 3.20 was discussed in a thread in one of the forums a number of weeks ago.

[GACrabill]

(2) BAD: My Access Connections used to be able to determine what profile to apply (I had about 5 or 6 for as many different physical locations), based on "ports" and/or MAC addresses it recognized when first connected at a new location. However, this functionality was lost once I upgraded, and now it merely applies the last profile I used (even though it's often not the proper one for my current location). No problem, I just select the appropriate profile from the AC tray icon menu. I did try deleting the automatic location switching settings, which didn't work, and tried deleting some of the profiles as well. But never did I get it to ask me what it used to ask ("Do you want to always apply this profile for this location?" or something similar). Do I have to trash all of the profiles and start over for this functionality to come back or does someone have any more "gentle" solutions that work?

This might be fixed in Access Connections 3.30.
Here's the list of fixes in it :
-(Fix) Connect/Disconnect fails when SSID is set to "ANY" or blank.
-(Fix) Windows logon script fails during Single Sign On.
-(Fix) All domain names are not listed in LEAP logon window.
-(Fix) IE proxy settings for common proxy server for all protocol was enabled.
-(Fix) Automatic/manual prompt problem in LEAP profile was fixed.
-(Fix) Leap domain user authentication fails in auto/manual prompt.
-(Fix) PEAP-MSCHAP/TTLS profiles fail to connect during prelogon roaming.
-(Fix) "File and Printer sharing" getting turned ON at startup time.