On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:28:09 GMT, snowdog512
<snowdog512.1i55jm@WiFi-Forum_dot_com> wrote:
>Installation Failed
>ErrorCode=-3
>ErrorDesc=Required data not found or disk space not enough.
I've seen this before once. It was caused by spyware trying to modify
the registry at the same time as the installation. Only one program
can scribble to the registry at a time. Methinks (not sure) that
Linksys non-cleverly tries to hold the registry open and locked for
most of the installation. If another program comes along and wants to
make changes to the registry, you get a lock error or some bogus error
message.
>After spending a day and a half running around with Linksys techsupport
>(their final analysis was some registry lock problem and that I had to
>call MicroSoft),
Yep. That's it. My traditional guess(tm) is spyware. However, with
all the installs and removals of software you've been doing in the
last day and a half, methinks it best to roll back the system to where
it was before you started. You didn't bother to specify the operating
system, but if it's XP Pro, run the "System Restore" and roll it back
to before where you started. If XP Home, my may be lucky and had some
program create a restore point for you. The Dell C600 comes with XP
so it's a fairly good guess.
For Spyware removal, I use two programs as I can't seem to find one
that catches everything. Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D. Both are free and
available from:
http://www.download.com
I would also suggest running a virus scan with whatever program you
find useful.
>I found that I was not the only one with this problem as was implied
>by Linksys TS's lack of insight.
Time for a mini-rant. You should try doing system troubleshooting
over the telephone. It's not easy. It's like back seat driving while
blindfolded. However, you're correct about their lack of insight.
The common trend in this newsgroup is for people to supply a detailed
and often artistic description of what they had done, without
supplying any information about what problem they are trying to solve
or what hardware/software they have to work with. That makes
"insight" important as my crystal ball and Ouija Board run on insight.
>I had even gone so far as to buy a
>separate WPC11 Linksys adapter (one of their suggestions) and try that
>but had the same result.
That should be a clue. The chances of two different card drivers
having the same error are quite small. That also limits the cause of
the problem to something in your operating system.
>I was able to have my laptop (Dell C600)
>recognize the WRT54G adapter without any problems and it seemed to
>install the drivers automatically but it wouldn't connect to the router
>and I had no monitor program due to the above error.
Ok, you have it partially installed. The monitor icon in the system
tray probably (not sure) is initiated (started) by the driver. If the
driver doesn't start, the icon won't appear. Methinks you're seeing
the effects of a partial driver install, not a seperate problem.
>When I did the
>same with the WPC11 adapter I had bought, it installed the drivers and
>amazingly it connected to the router!! Of course I still had no
>monitor to view signal strength but I figured if that could connect
>with the WPC11 then there was no reason I couldn't get the WRT54G
>adapter working.
The Netgear monitor icon and Wireless Zero Config are mutually
hostile. I've seen systems where either the Netgear monitor, WZC
icon, or sometimes both appear. However, this is the first time I've
heard of neither one appearing. I suggest you dive into:
Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Services
and disable (not remove) Wireless Zero Config, and see if the Netgear
icon appears.
>I started from scratch and tried installing from the
>'www.linksys.com/download' (http://www.linksys.com/download) files
>instead of the CD and still had the same problem. So after about a
>million reboots and more than twice as many curses, I realized that the
>downloaded stuff (and probably the stuff on the CD) had ./Autostart and
>/Utility directories. So I double-clicked on the Setup.exe in the
>/Utility directory. This launched a less fancy (ie. more useful)
>installation wizard. It worked fine with the exception of a "Severe"
>error popup referring to a problem reading a key from the registry (but
>it didn't specify which key). After clicking <OK> to the popup, the
>installation wizard continued fine. When all was said and done the
>wireless monitor was working finally.
Ok, you win, maybe.
>I still didn't have a wireless connection though. The monitor gave an
>inaccurate status saying I was connected to the router but the router
>was not connected to the internet.
Hold on. My idea of "connected" includes delivering a DHCP assigned
IP address from the router. What did you get?
Start -> Run -> cmd
to get an MSDOS window. Run:
ipconfig
If the wireless IP address is 169.254.xxx.xxx, you didn't get a DHCP
assigned IP address. If it's 192.168.1.xxx, then it's working. If
it's 0.0.0.0, the driver is toast or you didn't give it enough time.
>If I plugged in a wired connection
>to the router then I had connectivity (obviously) and the monitor was
>happy.
Ok, so we can assume that the router is working normally on the LAN
ports.
>I went into the Network and Dial-up Connections portion of the
>Control Panel and disabled the Local Area Network connection. After
>waiting a few minutes, the wireless adapter suddenly connected to the
>router and now seems to work fine.
Oh good. It's working, maybe. However, it doesn't sound like this is
going to be a particularly reliable connection if it takes that long
to connect. Something is still busted. Incidentally, while you're in
the Network window in the Control Panel, see if you have a "Network
Bridge" icon. If so, remove it as it screws up connectivity. Here's
what it looks like:
http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/wxpbrdge.htm
Get rid of it.
>Anyway, I plan on sending this back to Linksys with my rather low opion
>of their Techsupport service and would advise everyone else who had
>problems to do the same.
Yep. Tech support is responsible for fixing what methinks is a
screwed up XP system. Methinks if you tried some of the other vendors
tech support, your results and probably your opinion of their
"insight" would be similar.
>Hopefully if they get enough negative
>feedback they might actually improve things (but I'm not holding my
>breath).
Well, let's see.... You probably spent about 2 hours on the phone
with free tech support. My guess is that cost Linksys for outsourced
support about $60. The WPC54G cost about $50 with about $5 profit to
Linksys. Therefore, if 12 people bought WPC54G cards, and you were
the only one to call tech support with a problem, Linksys would break
even. How much more are you willing to pay to have support improve?
--
Jeff Liebermann
(E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558
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