Linksys app WUSB54G.EXE sucks RAM

Has anyone with a Linksys WUSB54G wireless adapter installed on a
Windows 2000 Professional SP4 machine noticed the WUSB54G.EXE app
leaking memory?

I've got an older machine with 128MB of RAM (and 192MB of VM,
standard). On startup, Task Manager shows a Commit Charge of about
75MB out of my total of 320MB.

I watch the Processes and WUSB54G.EXE's memory usage starts at about
15MB and creeps up at about 50KB per minute. I've seen it get into the
60MB range, but usually my system locks up or gives me a "low
resources" warning before that point. Typically, I get less than a day
of up time before the machine dies.

I've got the same adapter installed on a Windows XP Professional SP1
machine without this problem. Presumably this is because the
installation is different on the two machines. The XP machine does not
require the WUSB54G.EXE app.

Not that it matters, but the adapters are connecting to a Linksys
WRT54G broadband router. The only purpose of the wireless network is
to allow the machines to communicate with each other (client/server
application development). No external connections are made. (Yes, I
know that technically I don't need a router in this configuration, but
if I can clear up these problems I will likely bring more client
machines into the fray.)

I've contacted Linksys via email with no response. Their on-line live
help didn't. The CD that came with the adapter seems to contain the
exact same software that I grabbed from the Linksys download site.
Even if this were possibly a hardware issue, there aren't any firmware
upgrades for this product.

If anyone has suggestions (am I doing something wrong?) or workarounds
(other than rebooting the machine twice a day), I would love to hear
them.

I would also appreciate input from anyone who has seen similar
behavior. If this is really a problem I would like to get Linksys to
pay attention...

Fred J. Muggs wrote:
> Has anyone with a Linksys WUSB54G wireless adapter installed on a
> Windows 2000 Professional SP4 machine noticed the WUSB54G.EXE app
> leaking memory?

I never checked it before, but when I went into task manager after reading
your post, it was showing 72,876K and was incrementing at about 2K per
second in 4K increments. I rebooted the computer and then, as soon as I was
able, went into task manager again. It was at 10,200K and was incrementing
again at the same rate.
Besides the poor signal I get because of the distance from the WRT54G
router (app. 50 feet through walls, floors, and concrete), I too get the
frequent disconnects, computer shutdowns and lockups at times.

My machine is a 16 month old Sony 2.4G P4 with 1.5G Ram, and an equal
amount of page file memory. OS is XP Home. I use the wireless for broadband
networking only, not computer to computer networking.

If you find an answer, post it here, or e-mail me.

>
> I've got an older machine with 128MB of RAM (and 192MB of VM,
> standard). On startup, Task Manager shows a Commit Charge of about
> 75MB out of my total of 320MB.
>
> I watch the Processes and WUSB54G.EXE's memory usage starts at about
> 15MB and creeps up at about 50KB per minute. I've seen it get into the
> 60MB range, but usually my system locks up or gives me a "low
> resources" warning before that point. Typically, I get less than a day
> of up time before the machine dies.
>
> I've got the same adapter installed on a Windows XP Professional SP1
> machine without this problem. Presumably this is because the
> installation is different on the two machines. The XP machine does not
> require the WUSB54G.EXE app.
>
> Not that it matters, but the adapters are connecting to a Linksys
> WRT54G broadband router. The only purpose of the wireless network is
> to allow the machines to communicate with each other (client/server
> application development). No external connections are made. (Yes, I
> know that technically I don't need a router in this configuration, but
> if I can clear up these problems I will likely bring more client
> machines into the fray.)
>
> I've contacted Linksys via email with no response. Their on-line live
> help didn't. The CD that came with the adapter seems to contain the
> exact same software that I grabbed from the Linksys download site.
> Even if this were possibly a hardware issue, there aren't any firmware
> upgrades for this product.
>
> If anyone has suggestions (am I doing something wrong?) or workarounds
> (other than rebooting the machine twice a day), I would love to hear
> them.
>
> I would also appreciate input from anyone who has seen similar
> behavior. If this is really a problem I would like to get Linksys to
> pay attention...


--
Bill

Fred J. Muggs wrote:

> Has anyone with a Linksys WUSB54G wireless adapter installed on a
> Windows 2000 Professional SP4 machine noticed the WUSB54G.EXE app
> leaking memory?
>
> I've got an older machine with 128MB of RAM (and 192MB of VM,
> standard). On startup, Task Manager shows a Commit Charge of about
> 75MB out of my total of 320MB.
>
> I watch the Processes and WUSB54G.EXE's memory usage starts at about
> 15MB and creeps up at about 50KB per minute. I've seen it get into the
> 60MB range, but usually my system locks up or gives me a "low
> resources" warning before that point. Typically, I get less than a day
> of up time before the machine dies.

I found a cause of the memory leak here:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/rema...2560~mode=flat

WUSB54G.exe is the Linksys Monitor utility (blue square icon in the tray).
Right-click on the icon and select 'Stop'. It won't disconnect you from the
network. You don't need it running all the time in XP, anyway. If you need
it to check something, just right-click on it and select 'Start'. After I
stopped it, the memory usage for WUSB54G.exe came to a screeching halt at
its last setting.

>
> I've got the same adapter installed on a Windows XP Professional SP1
> machine without this problem. Presumably this is because the
> installation is different on the two machines. The XP machine does not
> require the WUSB54G.EXE app.
>
> Not that it matters, but the adapters are connecting to a Linksys
> WRT54G broadband router. The only purpose of the wireless network is
> to allow the machines to communicate with each other (client/server
> application development). No external connections are made. (Yes, I
> know that technically I don't need a router in this configuration, but
> if I can clear up these problems I will likely bring more client
> machines into the fray.)
>
> I've contacted Linksys via email with no response. Their on-line live
> help didn't. The CD that came with the adapter seems to contain the
> exact same software that I grabbed from the Linksys download site.
> Even if this were possibly a hardware issue, there aren't any firmware
> upgrades for this product.
>
> If anyone has suggestions (am I doing something wrong?) or workarounds
> (other than rebooting the machine twice a day), I would love to hear
> them.
>
> I would also appreciate input from anyone who has seen similar
> behavior. If this is really a problem I would like to get Linksys to
> pay attention...


--
Bill

I found the same problem using Orinoco USB Silver Adapters on Win98SE.
But once you find best signal position for the USB adapter, you can just
disable the set-up utility from starting up.
Regards,
Martin

Its just a buggy Monitor Utility, you don't need it for the connection,
Remove it from start up use something like net stumbler for signal
monitoring.

Bill Schnakenberg <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<4IwUb.14570$(E-Mail Removed)>...
> I never checked it before, but when I went into task manager after reading
> your post, it was showing 72,876K and was incrementing at about 2K per
> second in 4K increments. I rebooted the computer and then, as soon as I was
> able, went into task manager again. It was at 10,200K and was incrementing
> again at the same rate.
> Besides the poor signal I get because of the distance from the WRT54G
> router (app. 50 feet through walls, floors, and concrete), I too get the
> frequent disconnects, computer shutdowns and lockups at times.
>
> My machine is a 16 month old Sony 2.4G P4 with 1.5G Ram, and an equal
> amount of page file memory. OS is XP Home. I use the wireless for broadband
> networking only, not computer to computer networking.
>
> If you find an answer, post it here, or e-mail me.

Bill,

First, thanks for the input. I'm glad I'm not the only one. And the
fact that you're seeing it on XP Home gives me a much better
indication that it is indeed the software and not the machine or the
installer.

I've only tried the WUSB54G adapter on an XP Pro. I allowed the
Windows to use its own wireless management software and everything
seems to be going well. I don't know if this software is something
that only comes with XP Pro, or if it's available in XP Home.

You might want to investigate. Here's my suggestion. First, using the
Unplug or Eject Hardware, safely stop and remove the wireless adapter.
Then go through Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and remove the
Linksys software. Finally, plug the adapter back in. If prompted for
drivers, put in the CD-ROM, but don't install the full software suite.
Just browse to the drivers folder and let it install the drivers for
the adapter. After that, hopefully you will get a network connection
icon in your system tray.

Double click on it to bring up the "Wireless Network Connection
Status" window. If that's not the title of the window, then XP Home
probably doesn't have the software needed to properly manage a
wireless connection. You'll have to install the Linksys software and
use it. If you do get that window, then from the General tab, click
Properties. In the Wireless Network Connection Properties window you
can use the Wireless Networks tab to configure the networks and
encryption. From that point on, you should have far fewer crashes. I
won't guarantee that your wireless connection will be any better, but
having more system resources available is always a good thing.

Good luck!

zaw <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<NQBUb.597$(E-Mail Removed)>...
> Its just a buggy Monitor Utility, you don't need it for the connection,
> Remove it from start up use something like net stumbler for signal
> monitoring.

I know the utility isn't needed on XP machines. I'm doing great
without it on my XP machine. The wireless connection configuration
utility provided by Microsoft works surprisingly well.

But on a Windows 2000 machine I don't think we have much of an option.
The Linksys utility is used to configure the SSID and WEP, both of
which I'm using out of necessity.

Is there a third party or Microsoft utility that will perform the same
function on Windows 2000?

On 6 Feb 2004 11:55:37 -0800, Fred J. Muggs spoketh
>
>I know the utility isn't needed on XP machines. I'm doing great
>without it on my XP machine. The wireless connection configuration
>utility provided by Microsoft works surprisingly well.
>
>But on a Windows 2000 machine I don't think we have much of an option.
>The Linksys utility is used to configure the SSID and WEP, both of
>which I'm using out of necessity.
>
>Is there a third party or Microsoft utility that will perform the same
>function on Windows 2000?

Once you've established a wireless connection, you can exit out of the
Utility without any issues, even on a W2K machine. If you for some
reason lose the connection, just start up the Utility and wait for the
connection to be restored.

Lars M. Hansen
www.hansenonline.net
Remove "bad" from my e-mail address to contact me.

Fred,

At my home I have a Linksys WRT54G wireless router and a Linksys WUSB54G
wireless network adapter. The WUSB54G is used with a laptop running Windows
2000 Professional with SP4 or with a desktop running Windows XP Professional
with SP1. I have similar problems with this WUSB54G:

1. When the WUSB54G adapter is used with the laptop running Windows 2000
Professional with SP4:

* I keep the laptop on/running all the time, I also keep getting this
"Resource low" warning then the WUSB54G wireless monitor icon on the
Windows' lower-right-hand-corner would just disappear.
* Frequently I lose the wireless connection (a few times a day sometimes,
but other times the connection is fine for a few days without any break).


2. When the WUSB54G adapter is used with the desktop running Windows XP
Professional with SP1:

* No "Resource low" warning.
* But everytime I plug in the WUSB54G adapter (remember sometime I use the
adapter with the laptop, other times with this desktop), Windows XP would
say "Found new hardware" and install driver.
* The Linksys wireless monitor application can NOT be installed. Everytime I
start the installation off the CD that came with the adapter or downloaded
from the Linksys website, the installation screen flashes for a fraction of
a second and then just quit! Anyone has this setup/installation problem
under WIndows XP? This is probably why I keep getting "Found new hardware"
each time I plug in the WUSB54G

James

"Fred J. Muggs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> Has anyone with a Linksys WUSB54G wireless adapter installed on a
> Windows 2000 Professional SP4 machine noticed the WUSB54G.EXE app
> leaking memory?
>
> I've got an older machine with 128MB of RAM (and 192MB of VM,
> standard). On startup, Task Manager shows a Commit Charge of about
> 75MB out of my total of 320MB.
>
> I watch the Processes and WUSB54G.EXE's memory usage starts at about
> 15MB and creeps up at about 50KB per minute. I've seen it get into the
> 60MB range, but usually my system locks up or gives me a "low
> resources" warning before that point. Typically, I get less than a day
> of up time before the machine dies.
>
> I've got the same adapter installed on a Windows XP Professional SP1
> machine without this problem. Presumably this is because the
> installation is different on the two machines. The XP machine does not
> require the WUSB54G.EXE app.
>
> Not that it matters, but the adapters are connecting to a Linksys
> WRT54G broadband router. The only purpose of the wireless network is
> to allow the machines to communicate with each other (client/server
> application development). No external connections are made. (Yes, I
> know that technically I don't need a router in this configuration, but
> if I can clear up these problems I will likely bring more client
> machines into the fray.)
>
> I've contacted Linksys via email with no response. Their on-line live
> help didn't. The CD that came with the adapter seems to contain the
> exact same software that I grabbed from the Linksys download site.
> Even if this were possibly a hardware issue, there aren't any firmware
> upgrades for this product.
>
> If anyone has suggestions (am I doing something wrong?) or workarounds
> (other than rebooting the machine twice a day), I would love to hear
> them.
>
> I would also appreciate input from anyone who has seen similar
> behavior. If this is really a problem I would like to get Linksys to
> pay attention...

James wrote:
> Fred,
>
> At my home I have a Linksys WRT54G wireless router and a Linksys WUSB54G
> wireless network adapter. The WUSB54G is used with a laptop running Windows
> 2000 Professional with SP4 or with a desktop running Windows XP Professional
> with SP1. I have similar problems with this WUSB54G:
>
> 1. When the WUSB54G adapter is used with the laptop running Windows 2000
> Professional with SP4:
>
> * I keep the laptop on/running all the time, I also keep getting this
> "Resource low" warning then the WUSB54G wireless monitor icon on the
> Windows' lower-right-hand-corner would just disappear.
> * Frequently I lose the wireless connection (a few times a day sometimes,
> but other times the connection is fine for a few days without any break).

I am new to wireless, so what I found out is not due to my expertise in
this department. Take it with a grain of salt.

Is the wireless monitor leaking memory? In task manager, watch the size of
WUSB54G.EXE (the wireless monitor utility application). Is it incrementing
at the rate of about 2Kps in 4K increments?

>
> 2. When the WUSB54G adapter is used with the desktop running Windows XP
> Professional with SP1:
>
> * No "Resource low" warning.
> * But everytime I plug in the WUSB54G adapter (remember sometime I use the
> adapter with the laptop, other times with this desktop), Windows XP would
> say "Found new hardware" and install driver.

This happens to me too in WinXP home. I'm up to connection 10. I don't know
where the connection numbers and increment codes are stored. It doen't seem
to affect anything though.

> * The Linksys wireless monitor application can NOT be installed. Everytime I
> start the installation off the CD that came with the adapter or downloaded
> from the Linksys website, the installation screen flashes for a fraction of
> a second and then just quit! Anyone has this setup/installation problem
> under WIndows XP?

The monitor install is 'Setup.exe' in the Utility folder of the CD.
Clicking on the Setup.exe in the root folder on the CD does the same for
me. Just a flash of the 'Setup Wizard' install app.

This is probably why I keep getting "Found new hardware"
> each time I plug in the WUSB54G

If you just move the USB cable from one USB port to another on the same
machine, or back to the original USB port afterwards, you will still get
the Found New hardware message and have to reinstall, thereby incrementing
the connection number.

The 'Setup.exe' in the Utility folder of the CD activates the system monitor.

Because my monitor app leaked memory, I always stopped its monitoring by
right-clicking on the monitor icon and selecting "Stop".
Now, since I decided that I don't really need it, I have disabled it in the
'C:\Program Files\WUSB54G Wireless-G Adapter' folder by renaming
'WUSB54G.exe' to 'xxxWUSB54G.exe', so it can't be found at startup.
Since doing that, I have not had any reboots or system lockups, as I did
before.

I keep checking the Linksys site to see if they have updated software, or
firmware, for the WUSB54G. They have driver version 0.6.0.0, dated 9/30/03.
I have v 0.6.0.0, dated 9/9/03. I don't know if the download is an update,
since the version numbers are the same, but the download version date is
later. There is no firmware update.

>
> James
>
> "Fred J. Muggs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
>
>>Has anyone with a Linksys WUSB54G wireless adapter installed on a
>>Windows 2000 Professional SP4 machine noticed the WUSB54G.EXE app
>>leaking memory?
>>
>>I've got an older machine with 128MB of RAM (and 192MB of VM,
>>standard). On startup, Task Manager shows a Commit Charge of about
>>75MB out of my total of 320MB.
>>
>>I watch the Processes and WUSB54G.EXE's memory usage starts at about
>>15MB and creeps up at about 50KB per minute. I've seen it get into the
>>60MB range, but usually my system locks up or gives me a "low
>>resources" warning before that point. Typically, I get less than a day
>>of up time before the machine dies.
>>
>>I've got the same adapter installed on a Windows XP Professional SP1
>>machine without this problem. Presumably this is because the
>>installation is different on the two machines. The XP machine does not
>>require the WUSB54G.EXE app.
>>
>>Not that it matters, but the adapters are connecting to a Linksys
>>WRT54G broadband router. The only purpose of the wireless network is
>>to allow the machines to communicate with each other (client/server
>>application development). No external connections are made. (Yes, I
>>know that technically I don't need a router in this configuration, but
>>if I can clear up these problems I will likely bring more client
>>machines into the fray.)
>>
>>I've contacted Linksys via email with no response. Their on-line live
>>help didn't. The CD that came with the adapter seems to contain the
>>exact same software that I grabbed from the Linksys download site.
>>Even if this were possibly a hardware issue, there aren't any firmware
>>upgrades for this product.
>>
>>If anyone has suggestions (am I doing something wrong?) or workarounds
>>(other than rebooting the machine twice a day), I would love to hear
>>them.
>>
>>I would also appreciate input from anyone who has seen similar
>>behavior. If this is really a problem I would like to get Linksys to
>>pay attention...
>
>
>


--
Bill