network usb adapter will not install in Windows Developer Preview

Question

I have a relatively new Linsys AE2500 Dual-Band Wireless-N USB Adapter.  If I try to install it in the Developer Preview it tells me I need "Microsoft Windows XP (32-bit) Service Pack 3 or later".  I am guessing the actual driver would work fine but the install program doesn't recognize the OS and fails.  Does anyone know any tricks that would allow this installer to think it is Windows 7 which I know works?

Answer 1

On Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:53:48 +0000, Frank W wrote:

Does anyone know any tricks that would allow this installer to think it is Windows 7 which I know works?

Try right-clicking the setup file, then set the compat mode to Windows 7.

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Paul Adare
MVP - Identity Lifecycle Manager
http://www.identit.ca
10.0 times 0.1 is hardly ever 1.0.

Answer 2

Thanks alot.  That got the install going.  After all these years of using vista and windows 7 I never noticed the compatibility dropdown in the file properties.

 

Unfortunately I have now advanced to a different problem.  This install program wants to run before plugging in the adapter.  Once it advances to the stage where it ask to plug in the adapter I plug in the adapter and it tries to detect it.  I plugged it in but it would not detect it.  I tried different usb ports.  I tried rebooting.  I even tried the new clean feature to restart with a clean OS but it will not detect the card.  I also tried it in a different machine just to make sure I didn't break it somehow and it works fine.  The same card worked fine in the same machine in Windows 7.  There must be an issue with the adapter detect logic specific to Windows 8.

Do you have any ideas on this new issue?

Answer 3

Hi Frank,

When you say that it's not being detected, do you mean that it's not being seen by the install application, or that Windows doesn't know that the device is attached?

Try powering off the machine, connect the device, power the machine on and then launch device manager to see if it appears.  If not, unplug the device and see if device manager updates after you disconnect.

What's the make/model of your PC?


Thanks,

Mark

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Want to know if your current hardware & software will work with Windows 7? Check out these links: **Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor ** **Windows 7 Compatibility Center**

Answer 4

I mean the install application doesn't see it.  During the installation the install program says something to the effect of plug in your usb adapter and then it says "detecting" and there is a cirlce animation that spins while it is looking for the adapter.  It never finds it and then says unplug it and plug it back in which I do and then it times out again trying to find it.  In device manager it shows up under "Other Devices" as Linksys AE2500.  From there if I hit properties it says the drivers for the device are not installed.  It seems that the installation program will not actually install the driver unless it first detects the device.

 

As far as powering off the machine and connecting before running setup that is what I did the first time through and it didn't work.  The instructions say install the driver before inserting the device so I wiped the OS and started over just to make sure I did everything by the book.  Either way the installation program can't find the device.

 

My machine is a lenovo IdeaCentre K330B (Machine Type 7747).  It was running 64 bit Windows 7 and now is running 64 bit Windows 8.

 

 

Answer 5

Thanks for the great details here Frank.  I've passed this issue on to someone to investigate further.  I can't think of anything that would've changed in the way that installer packages locate devices, but it is pre-beta still :)  I haven't seen reports like this yet for any other devices.

What install application are you using?  Is it the Cisco Connect Setup Software or something else?

Thanks,

Mark

Answer 6

I believe it is due to an error message I saw.  Below are the details.

The dvd is titled "Linsys Adapter Setup".  There is a setup.exe and a documentation folder.

The first screen is a wizard with a cisco logo with the title "Linsys Wireless-N USB Adapter".  It says

Connect your USB adapter to your computer

Take out your USB adapter and insert it into a free USB port on your computer.

 

Once it fails it tells me to retry.  The last sentence says "If this error appears again, disconnect the adapter and restart Cisco Connect.

Another tidbit to mention is that this adapter has a little blue light that comes on when it is working.  It never comes on.

Answer 7

Thanks Frank, that info will help us.

For now, you might be able to get things working by trying this:

1) Download the latest Windows 7 driver package - http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/support/adapters/AE2500

2) Expand that ZIP file into a directory on your machine (like c:\linksys)

3) In device manager, right click on the device and select "update driver software"

4) Click "browse my computer for driver software"

5) Click on the browse button and point it at the directory you created in step 2, then click next

At this point, it should find the driver for your device and install it.  And then you should see the device appear under the network adapters node in device manager, not other devices.  If that's not what you see, please report back.

After you get the drivers loaded, you can try running the setup program from the DVD again.  I imagine the only other thing it does is help you get the net adapter working with your access point.  You don't NEED to use that software (there are other ways to do it, like via the network settings in the control panel), but it generally makes it easier.

Thanks,

Mark

Answer 8

Thanks.  I followed the above steps and advanced to a new error.  After navigating to the driver files and hitting next I got the following error.

title "Update Driver Software - Linksys AE2500"
Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device
Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it.
Linksys AE2500
There is no driver selected for the device information set or element.
If you know the manufacturer of your device, you can visit its website and check the support section for driver software.

The only button available on this dialog is close.  I closed the error.  Nothing was installed.

Any new ideas?

Answer 9

I'm having this same problem. It'd be awesome if someone knew of a solution cause this release is really awesome but lacking since I cant access the internet.

Answer 10

I am experiencing the same issues put forth above. Linksys AE2500 wireless adapter is recognized by Windows (Device manager [Code 28]) but otherwise the driver will not install from the Connect install media or Windows Update.

I have run the program as administrator under several compatibility modes (Windows 7, XP SP2, XP SP3, etc.) and still no joy.

Frank W wrote:

"The first screen is a wizard with a cisco logo with the title "Linksys Wireless-N USB Adapter". It says Connect your USB adapter to your computer. Take out your USB adapter and insert it into a free USB port on your computer.

Once it fails it tells me to retry. The last sentence says "If this error appears again, disconnect the adapter and restart Cisco Connect.

Another tidbit to mention is that this adapter has a little blue light that comes on when it is working. It never comes on."

And:

"Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device
Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it.
Linksys AE2500
There is no driver selected for the device information set or element.
If you know the manufacturer of your device, you can visit its website and check the support section for driver software."

Windows Developer Preview x86 is installed on a Gateway M675PRR @3.4GHz, 1MB RAM with 15GBs free on HDD. Everything else runs great (after the 8 updates it took on), but will not install the Linksys Adapter. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Jody

Edit: I signed in with WL ID and I am "bigboppa"? What is this? This is someone else's tag. 

Answer 11

I have the same hardware (Linksys AE2500) and am having the same issues the software installer is Cisco Connect Setup Software (labeled network adapter setup on dvd) motherboard is intel dx38bt with intel E-8400 core 2 duo 4GB ram and xfx radeon 5770 running windows 7 64 bit Ultimate and Windows developer preview (dual boot configuration os's on separate drives), so far this is the only device that I have encountered a problem with.

The setup inf file has specific exclusions, for instance if 7.1 etc, I believe the problem is that there is no listing for version 6.2 (windows developer preview 8m3) and the software will not point to win7 64 bit driver as it should. so if someone knows about writing setup inf files could you have them write one that doesnt exclude version 6.2 please? this is the file that I am referring to: bcmwlhigh6
it is included with driver package for win7 downloaded from linksys support site for AE2500

Thanks,

Howard

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HSmith58

Answer 12

i'm not sure if anyone will find this to be helpful, but i'm having the same issue with a gateway desktop.

the desktop has a Vista (64-bit) OS and did not originally come with a wireless network card.  all the ports are usb 2.0.  i began the install procedure on the ae2500 device (pretty simple) and the installer originally would not recognize the device.  However, I noticed that the windows device manager recognized it.

i went to services.msc ([windows-button + R], type-in "services.msc" and press enter) and restarted a service called WLAN Autoconfig.  I restarted this service after there was an error shown by the Cisco installer.  Although i did perform reboots of the box, I may or may not have restarted the box after i restarted this service; i can't remember the exact order.  The service name is the same in Win7, but the service is called 'wireless zero configuration' in WinXP.

After performing those steps the device was recognized by the Cisco installer, but now the device will not recognize the wireless network.  The network is originating from a verizon wireless 4G LTE device.  Other devices (win7 laptop with built-in wireless NIC and an android phone) picked up the WiFi (MiFi?) signal and were able to connect.  i tried typing in the SSID/pwd manually, but that did not work and the network is not hidden.  I also changed a few settings for the wireless adapter in the device manager to accept all bands of 802.11 protocol (b/g/n), but the network still does not show up as available.

i've compared the driver versions that were installed to the latest driver version that is available; they are the same, but with different dates.

Online:  06/10/2011 -- Ver.5.100.243.
Installed:  03/10/2011 -- Ver.5.100.243

Any ideas?  I'll keep searching online for an answer.

Answer 13

Here's a possible solution:

Check your antivirus software since there was an issue with Kaspersky with another user.

http://www.justanswer.com/computer-networking/5knri-netgear-router-ae2500-adapter-second.html

Answer 14

I have Win XP SP3 and I was not able to get the setup program to detect the AE2500.

Here's what I did:

1. Went into the services applet and noticed that "Wireless Zero Configuration" service was disabled.
2. Set the startup type for that service to Manual.
3. Exited the setup program and removed the AE2500 from the USB port.
4. Exited the services applet.
5. Restarted the setup program, followed the prompt to insert the AE2500 and it detected it perfectly.
6. Going back into the services applet I saw that the service was started.

That just had to be it.

I hope this helps someone.

Answer 15

I tried following BigSteve57's instructions.  However the "Wireless Zero Configuration" service does not exist in Windows 7 and up.  I saw another post that it is called Wireless Auto Configuration or WLAN AutoConfig.  I do have a WLAN AutoConfig service in my Windows 8 Developer Preview but it was not disabled.  It was manual and not running.  I started it.  It didn't help.