Mike wrote :-
What concerns me here is that John seemingly cannot
even get the driver to install, instead the installer just
hangs and never completes.
.. and yes I am aware of the importance of installing
the drivers before inserting the device...
Hmm ... except that in this case, the manufacturers instructions require the
device to be inserted and then to cancel the wizard immediately BEFORE
running the driver (and software) installation utility.
FWIW - As I alluded earlier, I recall having issues installing a Gigabit USB
2.0 stick on my old WinMe laptop both in the legacy USB 1.1 port and more
particularly via a PCMCIA-USB 2.0 card back end of last year.
A couple of years ago, the MS Knowledge Base pointed to a dead link
concerning USB2.0 - Wifi Adapter issues with WinMe but it finally got pulled
before it (the link) was ever fixed and so I never did manage to find out
any details.
That said, I had similar issues (instability) with a USB 2.0 WiFi stick
(Siemens Gigaset USB Adapter 108) on a couple of different laptops which
only had single legacy USB1.0 ports. In each case, I fitted completely
different unbranded 'generic' 4 port PCMCIA (Cardbus) USB2.0 cards. One
always worked correctly and the other displayed similar symptoms to John's
(hanging during the install process). Both cards worked normally with other
USB devices but one didn't like the USB2.0 Wifi adapter. I ended up using
the USB1.0 port for the WiFi stick as it was more (but not totally)
reliable.
I also wonder if John has USB 2.0 ports on his PC?
Extract form MSN TechNet article:-
Wireless LAN Support in Windows: Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/net...faq.mspx#E3BAE
snip
" Q. What wireless support is built into Windows Me, Windows 98, and Windows
NT 4.0?
A. There is no built-in wireless LAN support in Windows Me, Windows 98, or
Windows NT 4.0. Wireless network adapter manufacturers must supply all
wireless and authentication functionality for these versions of Windows.
To configure a wireless client computer running Windows Me, Windows 98, or
Windows NT 4.0, you must use the wireless configuration tool provided by
your wireless network adapter manufacturer. Please see the instructions for
the wireless configuration tool to configure 802.11 and 802.1X
authentication settings.
/snip
So MS implies it's not so much a WinMe issue but more likely it could be due
to 3rd party drivers. A trawl around Google also suggests that WinMe and
USB2.0 WiFi is not an exact science. I suppose John could try Ralink Tech
Support.
Mart
"Mike M" wrote in message
...
Mart,
What concerns me here is that John seemingly cannot even get the driver to
install, instead the installer just hangs and never completes. If he
could at least do this he might be able to proceed, and yes I am aware of
the importance of installing the drivers before inserting the device, but
unless he can get the driver to install I feel he is going nowhere. In
contrast it took some 15 seconds or so for the installer to install the
drivers on a Win Me system here although that is where I had to stop since
I don't have an EW-7318USg to test whether the driver installation was
correct.
--
Mike Maltby
Mart wrote:
Hi Mike & John,
'Scuse butinski (and pardon me if I've missed some of the thread) ...
but although :-
http://www.edimax.co.uk/en/support_d...id=1&pl2_id=44
implies that the EW-7318USg works with WinMe, in section 1.3 on page
5 of the User Manual :-
http://www.edimax.co.uk/images/Image...anual-0710.pdf
WinMe is not included in the compatibility list - AND goes on to say
the it "May not work on USB 1.1 port, and performance will be greatly
reduced"
Further - according to the User Manual - there is a 'correct
sequence' of installing the Software (and drivers) by first
cancelling the 'Found New Hardware Wizard' (see p20) then go to p23
'Software Installation'
My own experience with a Siemens Gigabit 108 USB WiFi stick was that
you MUST follow that (or at least a very similar sequence) to get it
to work with USB 1.1 - and even using USB 2.0 (via a PCMCIA card on
WinMe laptop) I found it very iffy to setup and run. Pointing the
'found new hardware' wizard to the .inf file was not a solution.