Solved! Windows Vista and Vodafone 3G
October 13, 2006 at 9:38 am 26 comments
Final, final update:
Here are the final Vodafone 3G Vista release drivers!
Thanks Vodafone…
FINAL, HAPPY, ECSTATIC, WONDERFUL,AMAZING UPDATE :
http://www.business.vodafone.com/site/bus/public/enuk/p_vista.jsp
Dan is the THE MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!!! I’M STUNNED AND AMAZED COS – IT WORKS!!! ;-))))) After MONTHS of frustration, my wonderful Vista has 3G!!! See Dan’s comments below for the link to connectivity! Vodafone’s 3G on the final release of Windows Vista is really solved – installs like a dream, including the driver’s. Thanks for posting this – life can now go on again.
BTW – I’ve been scouring the net, and I daresay Dan is the first person on the planet to solve this!
Thanks again!
UPDATE: This worked for RC1, and as many of you have pointed out, not for RC2 or anything after, including the released version. Looks like Vodafone has not got it’s act together yet, and it’s still not possible to use 3G on Vista from them. Pity… We’ll leave the post up for another week, and then remove it as it’s no longer useful…
This post is off-topic, but some things you just HAVE to share!!!
After months (?) of frustration, the mystery of Vodafone 3G on Vista has been solved.
Enjoy!
Step 1: Install Vista RC2
Step 2: open Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Look for the following key : Installer
If it does not exist, create the key by right-clicking on ‘Installer’, select New, select key.
Type ‘Installer’
In the installer key (right-hand pane), right click. Select ‘New’, select DWORD Value.
Create New DWORD with the following Name ‘ DisableRollback’.
Right-click on your new key (DisableRollback). Click ‘Modify’
Select ‘Decimal’
Add value ‘1’
Close Registry editor
This disables the rollback feature of Vista for the WLAn driver which is causing the conflict.
Step 3: Extract your Vodaphone 3G software to your harddrive
Step 4: Go to the extract directory and look for ‘RUN.EXE’
Right click and set compatibility mode to Windows XP SP2
Apply and click OK
Step 5: Install the 3g software
Step 6: Reboot
Step 7: make sure that you have an internet connection and restart.
Step 8: Once the boot is complete, insert the 3G card.
Step 9: Run Windows Update
Step 10: The new 3G Globetrotter driver will be installed
Step 11: Reboot
Step 12: Run your 3G software.
Step 13: Setup profile
Step 14: Ignore the error that pops up (OPCO…corrupt…)
Step 15: Enter your Pin
Step 16: Connect!!! Voila!!!
Step 17: Go to Regedit and Set ‘DisableRollback’ value to 0
Thanks to Alastorr Frost (EvE addict) for this workaround – sometimes an all-nighter is worth it!!!
technorati tags:3g, vodaphone, vodacom, vista, rc1, rc2, exertrack, eve, solved, issue, problem, error
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Entry filed under: 3g, beginner, beta software, beta test, download, error, exercise, exercise instruction, fitness, health, ipod, log, mp3 exercise, new software, podcast, rc1, rc2, software, vista, vodafone, workout.
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1.
Mart | November 1, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Hi, I tried this method, and had ‘issues’:
— Not all the drivers have loaded correctly
— Windows update doesnt offer any updated ones
— when you insert the 3g card into the machine it blue screens with stripes down the screen (amusing the first time!)
— The VF application loops on the ‘opco’ corrupt message to the point where it’s impossible to create/update/select a network or a profile etc.
— Interestingly you can boot the machine with the card inserted, but sometimes the driver doesnt start..
Any ideas anyone… This is a Option/Qualcomm 3G Quad card – the non HSDPA version.
Frankly,. the idea of a cheap 3G phone handset and a bluetooth connection is looking more and more appealing, as actually these cards have *horrible* hardware interfaces behind them – imagine having 2 virtual COM ports allocated to a device… pleeeeeaase! – if only it had ‘really’ been a modem, and you could set the network/profile with some AT commands, we’d all be surfing and smiling !!
And (obviously) none of the 3 networks in the UK who brand this card are forthcoming with any drivers for it – and you’d *assume* that Option have already penned them wanting to stay ahead of the game… what a sad state of affairs, and no-one has learned anything from the last fiasco with Win2k – XP drivers 8-(
Cheers,
Mart.
2.
Mark | November 23, 2006 at 8:14 am
Any chance of posting the drivers some place? I can get the software installed but my problems start when inserting the card.
Cheers
3.
Chris | November 27, 2006 at 10:31 am
Doesn’t work for me unfortunately, i have the 3G Option one which is HSDPA as well – again, Windows Update doesn’t have available drivers 😦
Speaking to Vodafone, there is no support yet for VMC under Vista, and no dates for when it will be !
cheers
4.
Colin | November 29, 2006 at 5:35 am
Doesn’t Work Folks. Tried on Vista Business edition RTM and can not get the ^%$#$^ vodafone Australia 3G data card (Huawei E618) to work, using either this, and a number of other hacks and tricks I found, including downloading the drivers from Huawei in China.
If you’re thinking to move to Vista you better thrown out your vodafone 3G Data Card. For our company, thats gonna be a lot of paperweights.
5.
Tom | December 15, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Maybe all of us should start mailing Vodafone, to make them realize that there ARE alot of perople out there with this issue? 🙂
6.
Dhesigan | December 21, 2006 at 8:36 am
what is vodafone’s no????
7.
Dhesigan | December 21, 2006 at 8:37 am
sorry what is there email
8. Merlin VMC Card and Virtual PC « Stefania and Windows Vista | December 29, 2006 at 12:41 pm
[…] Thanks to Exertrack workarounds posted on ”Solved! Windows Vista and Vodafone 3G“ and to the marvelous MWConn app, that works to me better and lighter than Vodafone Mobile Connect software, the problem to connect a Vista Notebook to the most reliable UMTS service (at least in Italy) seems, for the moment, resolved. […]
9.
Ender | January 25, 2007 at 10:24 am
Thanks for this post, i’ve working my HSDPA connection working perfectly. Just two things that can help someone:
1) When you try to get drivers from Windows Update, the system responds that there is no driver there, so push the button “Search drivers locally” and specify the folder where the Vodaphone Installation is (check ‘search in subfolders’). The system detects at least 5 devices, so repeat the task for each one.
2) To avoid the corrupt/not found messages from the WLAN device, in VMConnect menu Tools>Options>Preferences, on WiFi tab, uncheck all the boxes (you need to ‘be water’ to do this, because the messages appears 1 or 2 per second). After do this, the messages disappears, but you cannot use the WiFi properties of the card (it doesn’t matter for me because I’ve WiFi integrated card on my laptop).
I hope this can help, and thanks a lot.
10.
exertrack | January 25, 2007 at 7:07 pm
THIS IS PISSING ME OFF!!! I can’t get the damn thing to work! I searched the Internet from east to west , north to south and inside out 😉
The tip above works to the point of geting the drivers installed, then when I start VMC it prompts to create a profile. When I get to the ‘Choose Service’ dropdown, it’s blank and won’t let me continue. C’moooon Vodafone – another 2 months 3G contract wasted- what are you guys doing? Ignoring Vista and hoping it’ll go away???? aaaalmost going back to XP….
11.
Dan | January 31, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Just been give the latest software on vodafones website its not advertised yet got this from a tech support friend, untested but may solve some of your issues
http://www.business.vodafone.com/site/bus/public/enuk/p_vista.jsp
12.
exertrack | January 31, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Dan,
YOU ARE THE MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!!! I’M STUNNED AND AMAZED COS – IT WORKS!!! ;-))))) After MONTHS of frustration, my wonderful Vista has 3G!!!
Thanks for posting this – life can now go on again.
BTW – I’ve been scouring the net, and I daresay you are the first person on the planet to solve this!
Thanks again!
13.
fatcat | February 21, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Hi, there’s more info on the Vista software here:
http://www.mobileconnected.co.uk/2007/02/12/windows-vista/
14.
Geoff | February 27, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I am in South Africa and having problems with my Vodafone (Vodacom) card. It is an Option card. The version of the 3G software is the same as per Dan’s link. The software installs, the card is recognised and a few seconds later I get a C++ error. I have been advised the problem could be the Windows Updates. It installs new drivers and that is what causes the problem. Any comment.
15.
rabelani | March 6, 2007 at 8:29 am
ics is corrupt dellete it and restart mechane it should be okay
16.
rabelani | March 6, 2007 at 8:47 am
C++ Runtime error, it occurs because the profiles.ezd file is corrupt.
>
> This probably occurs when clients uninstall and reinstall and the system
> does not remove this file.
>
> the file is located C:\Documents and Settings\(user
> profile)\application data\ICS\profiles.ezd
>
> You will need to delete this file and when the dashboard is started up
> again it will tell you that there are no profiles
>
> and then you just need to recreate the profile by following the prompts.
>
17.
Michael Lock | April 25, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hi,
I am having a similar problem to those above, but with a few twists.
I have an HPnx9420 with Vista Ultimate 32-bit. I regularly use three different NIC’s: all of both the on-board cable LAN (Broadcom netXtreme Gigabit); the on-board WLAN (Intel PRO/100 3945 ABG) and a LinkSys WPC300N PCMCIA card. Not all at the same time, obviously. Everything installed fine and was working well.
Then I puchased and installed a Vodem (Huawei E220) using the VMC software v9.1.0.4345 – as advised by Vodafone TechSupport.
Once I installed the VMC software, all my other NIC’s stop working. The symptoms are:
* all of the network connections (wired and wireless) are reported by the Network and Sharing centre as “Local Access Only”;
* I can’t get internet access through any of the regular network connections;
* none of the network connections are accepting DHCP IP addresses any longer (they all have a 169.254 subnet Microsoft default address); and
* if I set a static address on a network connection through Properties/IPv4, then I can ping local devices (eg, router, printer, other computers), but I can’t ping the internet side of the router or any of the public web-sites.
These problems persist, even if I uninstall the VMC software. The only way to fix the problem is to perform a System Restore to the restore point immediately before the VMC was installed. If I do this, then everything all my regular NICs and network connections start working again just fine – which kind of rules out the router/ADSL modem and cabling as being the cause(s) of the problem.
I have been dealing with Vodafone 3rd line tech support over the last few days, and re-installed the VMC so we could try a few things. As expected, as soon as the VMC was installed all the other network connections stopped working. But then I found that if I re-booted my router the cable connection would start working again, at least until I re-booted the laptop. Ugly, but at least I could work and could still debug it with Vodafone tech support.
Unfortunatley, yesterday the cable connection stopped responding to the router-reboot trick. Worse still, the VMC stopped supporting an internet browser session. I can ping anything in the world from the Vodem connection, but only if I use an IP address. That is, ping fails if I use a web address as the target (eg, “Ping http://www.yahoo.com“).
I have removed or disabled all the anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software on the laptop, including Windows Defender and Firewall, but no change.
I have three other computers in my house, all connected to the internet via the same router (2 wireless and 1 wired). All of these are working fine (I am typing this from the wired connection). All of the desktops are running Windows XPSP2. I have installed the VMC on the desktop that uses the wired connection to the router (Marvell Yukon Gigabit). I can use the VMC to access the internet just fine, and it has not affected the wired connection at all (I am STILL typing this from the wired connection!).
To my mind, all that says that the problem is:
1) related to Vista; and
2) related to the VMC.
Can anyone PLEASE help!! Vodafone are stumped and it is driving me crazy.
Cheers
MDL
PS
I must drop in a vote of extreme satisfaction with the Vodafone tech support guys. They have gone well above and beyond the levels of service and commitment that I have come to expect from hardware product call-centre tech support guys. One guy (there are two) called Haithim, in partucular has been fantastic, is himself frustrated beyond belief and would love to see the answer pop-out of a forum like this.
18.
PreobrajenskySuka2 | May 7, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Sorry, but topic starter, you are sure?
prof.Preobrajensky.
Good luck!
19.
andi | May 12, 2007 at 4:33 pm
hi Michael Lock ,
i’m having the same troubles. I don’t get any DHCP assigned addresses after installing VMC.
Do you have any idea yet?
as a workaround i thought about connecting to UMTS directly via Windows Connection, but i am lacking the information of AT commands required for my modem. I was able to tell it the PIN using AT+CPIN=xxxx but even after that i was not able to connect, it seams it needs more AT commands to set up the connection
.andi
20.
Shaam | May 26, 2007 at 7:59 pm
I had same issue, the following worked for me:
Start the VMC installer again by using VMC_R9.1.0.4345.exe,
Choose the Modify option.
For the ‘Optimisation Software’ choose
‘This feature will not be available’.
and click Next.
After installation finishes – reboot machine.
After reboot DHCP should be workin again.
21.
simplebob | June 8, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Hi all
Have come across another fix for connections failing after installing VMC9.1:
First with VMC 9.1 installed go to Manage Devices, highlight the device and select edit. From here take a note of the APN and IP/DNS settings
Next uninstall the VMC software from Add/remove programs or Programs and features (for you Vista users out there)
Then reinstall VMC9.1 but select the TDC Mobile Network when prompted for operator, and next through the installation.
Once done and software installed and running go to manage devices, highlight the device in use and select edit and change the APN and IP/DNS details back to those taken above.
This should then clear the issue.
Hope this helps
Bob
22.
michael | June 11, 2007 at 10:39 am
Shaam’s solution — simple and elegant — worked a charm. After weeks of frustration I now have a VISTA laptop that runs both my wireless connections and VMC when required. Fantastic! Thanks a heap!
23.
hinkelstone | July 11, 2007 at 12:30 pm
simplebob – thank you very much!
I’ve had the same problem with Vodafone’s MC: no DHCP loockup possible after installation under Windows Vista, even reproducible on Vista running inside VMware.
Here again the steps necessary:
– Install VMC 9.1
– Start VMC and go to Manage Devices
– Highlight the device and select edit
– Take a note of the APN and IP/DNS settings
– Uninstall VMC
– Reinstall VMC, select the TDC Mobile Network when prompted for operator
– Start VMC and go to Manage Devices
– Highlight the device in use and select edit
– Change the APN and IP/DNS details back to those taken above.
DONE!
Michael
24. markwilson.it [formerly known as Mark's (we)Blog] » Getting Vodafone Mobile Connect and Windows Vista to play nicely together | November 27, 2007 at 10:51 pm
[…] and was just about to try Vodafone Mobile Connect Lite v3.0.3.112 instead when I stumbled across a comment on a blog post that suggested installing VMC without the optimisation software and that seemed to do the trick allowing me to maintain a WLAN connection with the VMC software […]
25.
Mark Wilson | November 27, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Shaam – thank you so much for posting your comment. It helped me to get Vodafone Mobile Connect 9.2.1.6545 working with Windows Vista and a Vodafone PC Express Card.
Mark
26. SOG knives | July 18, 2008 at 3:37 am
SOG knives…
Interesting ideas… I wonder how the Hollywood media would portray this?…