# Linksys WPC54G Wireless Adapter 'Inactive'



## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

Have a Linksys Wireless Notebook Adapter, WPC54g V3, that will not show up as 'Active' in the wireless adapter Monitor....[i.e. is dead]. Over the past week I have tried many times to remove the software, boot it, download new software, boot it; all with no success! Have removed the card, reinstalled the card, many times again with no success. The software is directly from Linksys, is Linksys WPC54g_driver_utility_V3 (1) (1) .1 and is driver version 3.100.64.0. Am using a Compaq Armada 1700 Laptop with Windows 'ME'.

An ironic twist to my problem is the fact that the Adapter Card worked fine from last Aug. up until Feb. 4,2007; in Feb. and March I was away and had to setup using a Dial-Up Network link, at that time I had to remove the Linksys Wireless Adapter driver/software as it created a conflict with the dial-up link, when the Linksys Driver was removed it then was possible to use the dial-up for the 2 months.

After eliminating the dial-up link is when the problem attempting to restore the Linksys Software began; I have used the same driver file that was used initially last summer with no success; have also downloaded directly from Linksys the identical software/driver as the original and also tried a later driver 4 (1).100.15.5; again no luck getting the adapter to go 'Active'. .......Any assistance out there is appreciated: Doug.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

have you looked in device manager and uninstalled from there

this is for XP - I think ME will have device manager as a tab 
start>
control panel>
system>
hardware tab>
device manager button>

network adapters
click on the + sign

post backs whats there

also any ! X or ?

--------
then you should be able to highlight the adapter and remove/uninstall


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## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

Yes have tried updating the Driver via. the 'Device Manager'....under Network Adapters it shows "Wireless G Notebook Adapter WPC54G V3", double click on it and Device Status is "This device is working properly"......no 'X's or '?'....driver info. shown is as thought, 'The Linksys Group Inc.' dated 2/14/2005 which jives with the driver notes in the driver package.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

try this software see what it finds

Free software to check signal strength of wireless is netstumbler 0.4.0 available for download from http://www.stumbler.net/


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## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

etaf: Thanks for the possible solutions; when I re-read my 1st. para. I may have been somewhat misleading. I am successful in uninstalling the software in all my attempts and successful in installing new drivers/software. The Device Manager says the adapter is functioning 'OK' and the software shows as Linksys! However when the adapter is "Inactive" [always] I cannot get any kind of signal or attempt to do a refresh, or go into the adapter "Monitor" and perform any functional checks, etc. Everything is dead !!


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

hence the reason to see what netstumbler sees when installed and if it detects the adapter and sees any SSID's broadcasting


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## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

etaf: When I went to download Stumbler earlier today it advised me that it only worked for Windows '2000' or 'XP'.......I'm running "ME" [which doesn't help the situation]: ...Thanks


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

sorry misssed that - cant find a version for winME
not sure what else to suggest


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## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

etaf: Ignored the '2000'/'XP' recipe and ran Network Stumbler anyway........scan results say: "no wireless adapter found".....and...."GPS Disabled" !! [Think I need to get a newer/other laptop !]---Doug.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

the adapter is a PCMCIA card


> Have a Linksys Wireless Notebook Adapter, WPC54g V3


it has lights - green / yellow maybe - are they on at all


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## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

etaf: "power" {green} light has always been on thru these frustrating moments !! The "Link" light [used to be green] has never been activated; always dead !..Thanks: Doug.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

maybe a dead adapter - anyway you can try it on another laptop or borrow someones adapter ?


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## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

Thanks again for your interest 'etaf' ! ...Haven't had much more luck over the past few days; was successful however to get the Linksys Adapter Icon in the tray to 'Activate' [light up, signifying a connection] but it didn't stay on very long, was booting up trying V2.0 software instead of the V3.1 [which is what the adapter is] when the bootup was complete the Icon light vanished and adapter remained 'Inactive'/Dead ! In all cases however the adapter is still being recognised as "working properly" in the Driver Tab under Device Manager.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

anyway yoiu can try it in another laptop ??

or remove it /uninstall from device manager and re-instal hardware + software


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## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

Etaf: Well 2 months have gone by and I'm still without a working WPC54G Wireless Adapter although I did find a source for a freebie download of Boingo software [TuCows]and that is my next move. However to bring anyone interested up to speed as what I've been up to in the 'Inactive Adapter Quest' as it appears from reading in other forums/sites there are a lot of adapter problems out there ! 
Started E-Mail discussions with Linksys Support and went thru all the logical/textbook attempted fixes we are all aware of during a 4 week period, nothing worked, at Linksys request I returned the Adapter to them and received a 'new' adapter ! New Adapter is no different than my original one; proceeded to try all the driver downloads, fixes, reboots, etc., with the new adapter as I had done during April with the old adapter; nothing worked ! Once a week I'll read something I think is new, try it, no workee !! 
Laptop is sitting idle except for a cable connection that I fire it up with occasionally but I'm still unable to take my machine on the road in wireless fashion except the Boingo software is my next venture. We'll see..Doug.


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## BGK (Jul 15, 2007)

Searching the net I found that you had the same problem that I had created on my father-in-laws laptop. After 8 hours of try the linksys instructions I discovered the the PC own network adaptor appeared to be stopping the WPC54G installing correctly. I solved it using the following steps.

1. Uninstall the Linksys Wireless Adapter software/driver from using Program>Wireless-G Notebook Adaptor> Uninstall Wireless-G Notebook Adaptor.
2. Turn off PC and remove the network adaptor.
3. Reboot the PC.
4. Right click My computer on the desktop and click Properties.
5. From the System Properties Select the Hardware Tab. Click Device Manager.
6. In the Device Manager tree expand Network adaptors. Right click the Ethernet adaptor and Click Uninstall. (Don't close window as we will use it later)
7. Install the WPC54G as per Linksys installation instructions. (After this my wireless worked)
8. Back in Device Manager window right click on Network Adaptors and select Scan for new hardware.
9. The PC finds the original Ethernet Adaptor and installs the driver. 
10. Reboot the PC both adaptors should now be working. Well it worked for me.

It appears in my Device Manger both the adaptors are using a proxy "Odyssey Network Agent". 

I hope this solves your problem.

Brian

I hope this help - it worked for me


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## McDoogie (Aug 13, 2004)

BGK: Thanks for the suggestion !! My Laptop is a real old dog...the ethernet card is not an integral one, is a 10/100 Ethernet card that inserts the same as the Linksys Wireless card. When I remove the 10/100 card to insert the Wireless card it automatically removes the Ethernet card and it's associated presence in the Device Manager and Network Adapter tree. Same holds true when I remove the Wireless Card, it no longer shows up in the Device Manager--Network Adapter. Hence there shouldn't be any conflict with the 2 network circuits. Thanks again: Doug.


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## MacMamma (Apr 10, 2008)

I have been struggling with this same problem for weeks. I know this post is old, but I tried it and lo and behold it worked. Yay! Thank you!


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