Marvell based wifi and 4GB is NO GO

[Patrick]

Hi all,

just a quicky, I got myself a Sweex LW056. It's based on a Marvell wifi
solution. Works like a charm in a PC with 2GB. The great thing is Vista
recocnises it out of the box.

However. When I tried it on my Vista x64 system, it didn't work. Why?
Because the Marvell driver/chip combo doesn't like 4GB RAM in your pc.

I tried everything to get the card working in my 4GB system. It just
doesn't. Sweex doesn't help. Marvell tells me they won't help.

I did some googling in found out this problem has been known for the better
part of a year now.
Marvell is yet to release an updated driver but I don't think they will so
be warned.

Grtz

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Is it because of 4GB or the fact that it is a 64-bit system?

 

[Patrick]

as I said, it's because of the 4GB.
after ripping out 2GB the adapter worked great with x64 and the google
references I found also refered to this problem being 4GB bound in a system
with a different mainboard, different videocard etc.

when there's 4GB in the machine, the driver won't start.

 

[Patrick]

btw. this is hell because I tried to find a Vista ready or certified or
whatever it's called wifi adapter and it seems they're real hard to find.
So I was very happy when Vista autodetected the card and had a driver ready.
My dissapointment coudn't have been greater when I found out it just doesn;t
work and even worse that Marvell seems to know about the problem and does
nothing.

Every reference to this chip only mentions it's supported in Vista out of
the box and that for that reason no drivers are available for download. No
updates either.

The Marvell support people brushed me of like a nasty fly for asking them
what to do. I guess I'll think twice before ever buying anything Marvell
based again.

 

[Tom Ferguson]

Check the MSI (PC60G) PCI 2.4GHz 54G Mbps Wireless Network Adapter.

Install it. Connect the box through your wired adapter to the
Microsoft/Windows update site and the driver will download and install
automatically if your update settings allow that.

Tom
MSMVP 1998-2007

 

[Patrick]

Hi Tom,

thanks for the tip. I found a Sitecom WLsomething and that works great too.
But it was luck because nowhere on the box of any pci wifi adapter I've
found does it say if Vista is supported.
BTW. The MSI could be great but it has the be available in my country as
well. We're not backward or anything (The Netherlands) but I haven't seen it
anywhere.

I've found Linksys, Belkin, D-Link and a crapload of others but the D-Link
for instance. I got that one too. It's a DWL-G510 revC. It's based on the
rt61g chipset. There is no Vista driver in the box and finding it on the
D-Link site is something else too. When I found it it turned out to be a bad
driver. BSODS all over during heavy network traffic and no update to be
found anywhere.
D-Link support asked the lot but offered no solution.

Sucks huh?

Anyway, thanks for the pointer.

Grtz,

Patrick

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

The manufacturer's websites do say in most cases. For example, Linksys has
links to the drivers for those adaptors which are supported in Vista. The
Linksys WUSB54G has Vista drivers for all three versions but the WUSB54GS
(with Speedbooser) does not (and is not natively Vista compatible).

 

[Tom Ferguson]

Great. Glad you found at least one available where you are that works well.

Tom
MSMVP 1998-2007