Quadlite 3G/GPRS datacard installation headache

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fisheye

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Hi there -
I've been successfully using 3G for 10 months with a Vodafone Quadlite 3G/GPRS (SNR: QL4A55W08V) datacard connected to my desktop PC (Win XP Prof + SP2) via a PCI ->PCMCIA adapter.
Recently had to run a repair on Win XP which resulted in a required re-installation of the VMC (ver. 5) software. I followed instructions to the letter i.e. removing the card from PCMCIA adapter, deleting the VMC software, clearing the registry of all references to VMC, etc.
VMC installed fine up to the point where a new profile has to be created (Error message - "There was an error with the configuration. Please try again"). After repeating the process (at least 10 times) I phoned the '155' Helpdesk and after some unsuccessful troubleshooting Service Request Ref. A3-8ZRB-0JIER was logged.
The technician phoned the following day and attempted further troubleshooting without success. He eventually suggested I obtain the most recent VMC (ver. 7) software, which I did. Did a clean install of version 7 and this time it did not recognize my datacard at all (searches for the hardware until it times out).
I've attempted to manually load drivers from the VMC disk without success (BTW - which are the correct drivers for my card?).
When booting the PC with the card in place I get 2 intermittent blue LED flashes, but that's all. There is no indication in Device Manager that the card is being recognized. The PCMCIA adapter (Generic CardBus Controller) is working properly (have also tried another PCI slot). Under 'USB controllers' there is reference to a 'Fusion UMTS GPRS' device which is reloaded each time I uninstall it and reboot. No conflicts indicated.
I came across a lengthy discussion on another forum (http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=29993) on this same/similar problem and it appears to be fairly common? I've tried ALL the suggestions without any luck.
I've gone so far as to reinstall Win XP (SP 2) on a clean partition in the hope that it might solve my problem, but to no avail! Also downloaded and installed the new VMC ver 9.1 - same result.
I'm currently using my GPRS cellphone which has no problem connecting but I hate the idea of using my 3G datacard as a paperweight instead of its intended purpose.:mad:
Any assistance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
Do a search on this forum for registry settings. There was a problem with some platforms that caused the card type to not be selected. You basically had to change the settings to South Africa.

I suspect it's your problem.
 
Thanks for the speedy response vodacom3g - Did a search as suggested and found this previous posting:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A possible reason is that one or two registry keys in
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Vodafone\Setup\NewProf ile]
are missing:

"Country"="South Africa"
"InstallType"="Personal"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If this is indeed the possible solution you're referring to, I've checked my registry and the 2 keys are correctly displayed, so no problem there.

Thanks
 
fisheye said:
Thanks for the speedy response vodacom3g - Did a search as suggested and found this previous posting:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A possible reason is that one or two registry keys in
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Vodafone\Setup\NewProf ile]
are missing:

"Country"="South Africa"
"InstallType"="Personal"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If this is indeed the possible solution you're referring to, I've checked my registry and the 2 keys are correctly displayed, so no problem there.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Rats, ok.

What type of adapter do you use, i.e. based on which chip-set? The fact that you did a clean install and still can't get it working makes me wonder if you don't have a driver issue with the adapter. 99% of PC problems seem to revolve around these cards.

Even thought it may pick up another type of card (what card did you try), it does not guarantee the 3G cards will work.

Typically, the Ricoh-based cards work fine. The Elan ones are more problematic.
 
The card is marked as a 'P111 Card Drive' with a 'ene' chipset (I believe this is the same as an Elan card?).
I only have access to the Quadlite 3G/GPRS datacard and hence have not tried any other type of card on the adapter.
I will attempt to obtain the latest driver for the adapter, but as mentioned earlier, the adapter/ datacard/ VMC setup has been working perfectly for almost a year so what can possibly cause it to stop working or more specifically, prevent a re-installation?
Can you perhaps help out with the correct drivers for my datacard as they are not easily identifiable in the VMC software?
Thanks
 
fisheye said:
The card is marked as a 'P111 Card Drive' with a 'ene' chipset (I believe this is the same as an Elan card?).
I only have access to the Quadlite 3G/GPRS datacard and hence have not tried any other type of card on the adapter.
I will attempt to obtain the latest driver for the adapter, but as mentioned earlier, the adapter/ datacard/ VMC setup has been working perfectly for almost a year so what can possibly cause it to stop working or more specifically, prevent a re-installation?
Can you perhaps help out with the correct drivers for my datacard as they are not easily identifiable in the VMC software?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Did you do any hardware changes on your system?

The P111 is sometimes a difficult card to get working. You should find all the latest drivers on their site (http://www.elandigitalsystems.com/adapter/p111.php). You actually get the drivers by filling out this form: http://www.elandigitalsystems.com/support/pfaq/driver.php

The VMC won't have any drivers for this card as it's not a 3G device.

I suspect you lost the P111 drivers in the rebuild?
 
Thanks for the P111 download link - will give it a shot.
You've misunderstood me re the correct driver request - I'm looking for the Quadlite 3G/GPRS datacard drivers (i.e. the location/file names in the VMC software).

Cheers
(BTW - your link to the Self Help Service on http://help.vodacom.co.za is dead)
 
Installed latest P111 driver (ver. 5.7.7.0) -> fitted the adapter card -> fitted my Quadlite 3G/GPRS datacard -> immediately recognised the datacard, automatically setup a new Vodacom 3G connection profile in VMC ver 9.1 -> connected to the 3G network as if nothing ever happened!
After 3 weeks of blood, sweat & tears I'm back online.

vodacom3g, you're a genius - thank you very much!!
 
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