7Book & WiFi Card

[york2]

Hi,
I just installed a Netbook module in my S7. Should the wifi card be active as soon as it is put in? I have an Avaya Orinoco Gold card that was on the list of cards that have the right chipset, but it doesn't seem to recognize it. Any idea?

Thanks

[MartinG]

Should the wifi card be active as soon as it is put in? I have an Avaya Orinoco Gold card that was on the list of cards that have the right chipset, but it doesn't seem to recognize it.

Don't worry; no, the card shouldn't be active as soon as you put it in. It only activates when you ask it to connect (which saves a lot of power!). It's a Lucent chipset card so should be no problem to use. See here (http://www.epocfaq.co.uk/faqNetworks.htm#wireless) and here (http://www.pscience5.net/WiFi-1.htm) for some tips...

Martin

[york2]

Martin,
Thanks for the tips. I still can't seem to get the 7Book to see the card. I set it up according to the information on the sites. When I try to ping the card, I get a socketserver kernexec 0 error. Any ideas?

York

[wanman]

Have you tried it in a laptop to ensure the card is working? Can you confirm all your 7book settings (don't give out any pw's or network SSID/wep codes). What happens when you try and connect? Does the card light up? Are you sure you have a 16bit pcmcia and not the 32bit cardbus variety?

Final check - have you tried other type of card in the pcmcia slot to ensure this is working?

[york2]

Hi,
I have you tried it in a laptop and it is working. The settings in the 7book settings are:

Based on the 802_11-Lucent settings
Configuration: DHCP
Device: LucentWaveLan/Orinoco
Peer to peer: Unticked
Encryption: entered my information

The other setting are left to their default.

When I try to connect, nothing happens on the card (no lights), then I receive the error mesage.
The card matches the FCC ID on the epocfaq site and was selected based on the information on that site.

I have tried a compact flash adapter in the slot and it reads just fine. I don't have a working modem that I can try the slot out with.

Thanks for the help

York

[MartinG]

Hi York,

Everything sounds fine and your settings seem okay (or at least enough to get the card to do something. I'd probably repeat Wanman's last question: "Are you sure you have a 16bit pcmcia and not the 32bit cardbus variety?". Does the card have a gold-coloured strip on it next to the connector end?

Martin

[york2]

Hi Martin,
No gold strip on the card.

When I tried another utility to ping, an error cam up about a TCP/IP socket error. Is this the same as the kern-exec 0 error message?

York

[MartinG]

No gold strip on the card.
This is good news! :)

<"ker-lunk" - a penny drops in the dim and distant recesses of Martin's brain...>
Ahh... One question: did you change any files on your 7 when you upgraded it to a 7book? Or did you just restore all the old files?

If the latter then I'll quote verbatim a previous old post from Wanman:
"These files you restored from your old 7, did they include any System\Data files? If so then you have probably reinstalled some incorrect files. Copy down your personal internet and modem settings as you will need to set these up again manually a bit later. Now rename C:\system\data\commsdb.dat to something else and then head over to the control panel and select Ethernet.

The system should issue a message confirming default settings restored and you should now be able to set up your ethernet settings. Please note that you now have to re-add your internet and modem custom settings.

If this all works then you can delete the original commsdb.dat file that you renamed above."

Does this get rid of your error perhaps?

Martin

[wanman]

I did think this myself, but could not remember if the old commsdb.dat file would even let you set up ethernet settings. Anyway I hope this is the cause as Martin confirmed it is a fairly simple fix.

[york2]

Well, I renamed the commsdb.dat file, opened the ethernet control panel and it created a new commsdb.dat file. Added all of my settings, and I get the same error message.

It was interesting the first time I tried to change the settings for ethernet. It would not allow me to make any additions or edits. I checked on the net and soemwhere it said that I needed to access all of the control panel items to enable it. I tried that and it worked, but I still can't get the machine to start up the card.

When I loaded my files, from the S7, the only file I copied over was the agenda file. All of the other apps were reinstalled. I'm sure I've done something stupid that is preventing the card to start up.

York

[cshandley]

Back-up your Psion, remove any CF cards, perform a HARD reset (to erase everything on the C disk), and then configure the card as before.

If it still gives an error message, then it isn't a compatibility problem with your old Series 7 files. So it must be either a configuration problem, or it is simply broken; I'd still hope it's a config problem.

[york2]

Ok. I've done a hard reset, but no joy. The problem with editing the Ethernet setup has popped up again and my last fix is not working. I acquired a second wifi card (Orinoco Silver) that was on the list of cards that work and it works fine on my laptop. But, I still cannot get the card to work. The lights do not flash when I access Opera. I do get a Network error message. I did get a PC Modem card to dial out via the PC Card slot.

Does anyone have any other ideas ?

Thanks

York

[wanman]

This is really strange. I cannot think what is wrong but it is increasingly sounding like a sick 7book. Mmmm hang on a sec. How do you connect? Do you have multiple accounts set up? ie, a dial up, mobile, ethernet...etc. Can you check your internet settings and ethernet settings. There is a checkbox which says Show Connection dialog box. Make sure this is ticked for both.

Insert your card, launch Opera and attempt to connect. A connection pop-up should appear enabling you to select a connection method (i.e. ethernet). Apologies is if this is teaching you to suck eggs, but my thought was that you have this disabled and as such it was trying to connect with a default account and that this was not your ethernet (fingers very firmly crossed here).

Are you getting the lights flash now? Remember they will only flash when you attempt to connect in this manner.

Let me know if I am way out here.

Cheers
Si

[york2]

Hi,
Thanks for the help. Unfortunately, I cannot edit my ethernet settings. The error I receive whether I try to edit, or create a new setting is that the information "Already Exists". I do have the connection dialog options ticked for my broadband and ISP settings. When I tried to connect to a free ISP, it dials, tries to connect, then gives me a network error message.

The lights on my wifi cards have not blinked yet.

York

[wanman]

Sorry about this but I recommend you go for a complete hard reset and reinstall. This means removing all batteries and will result in anything currently stored on your C Drive being lost. Make sure you have backed up before doing this although do NOT restore using the Psiwin functionality.

When you have reinstalled your batteries, install the OS and before you copy in any existing files, attempt to set up your internet and ethernet settings. Try your cards and hopefully they will work. If you get them working then install your applications one by one and copy across application specific settings.

Do not copy back anything stored in C:/system/data.

Let us know how you get on.

[york2]

Thanks for the tips. I will get back to the forum on my progress when I return from my holiday. I believe that I have reset the device before as suggested, but I'll give it another try. I'm also using the latest OS for the US v1.05 (453) that I downloaded from the Pscience5.net site.

York

[cshandley]

After loading the OS from the CF card, please make sure that you remove it, and then perform a soft reset before trying to configure anything. That should ensure that any files on the CF card do not interfere with the Psion.

[york2]

Thank you for the tips. After performing a hard reset, reloading the OS and removing the CF card, I opened the Ethernet control panel, made my changes, and the card lit up when I accessed Opera. I have not yet connected to the Internet with the machine, but will give it a try tonight.

I will need to clean out the CF card and reinstall my apps since I receive a KERN-EXEC Reason 0 error every time I try to connect with the CF card installed.

[cshandley]

Try renaming the System folder on the CF card - that should at least allow you to keep any data on the card. (Of course, perform a soft reset after the folder is renamed.)

[york2]

I spent some time yesterday cleaning out and reinstalling my applications and everthing is working fine so far. I was able to connect to the Internet last night on the 7Book and look forward to spending more time working with it.