Iridium Ate Computer

[hpeer]

Took out all my Network connections!!! Need restore help.

Tale of woe.

Bought Iridium modem for a 9500.

Bought a USB to serial converter, tried to install but was bad hardware.

Bought another USB to serial converter, seemed to install OK.

Can't get satellites at home, too many buildings. Can't get internet at boat. Run back and forth for one hour for each of the following steps, sometimes twice. Frustrating.

Try to get data connection to work. Dead. Fart around for a couple of hours a couple of times with no joy. Remove and reinstall software. All seems OK, but no response from 9500.

Find an online trouble shooting guide, need to have SIM provider enable SIM card for data. Call and find out card is not enabled. OK, they enable card.

Back to boat. Software seems to get further in process but phone still never responds.

Remove and reinstall software, try different ports, swear at Gods, etc.


Computer starts acting funny, freezes up, etc. OK, time to remove all crap and call it a week. Connections disappear from Start menu.

Iridium software won't uninstall.

Remove directory. Can't - dll's in use.

Start in safe mode. Still can't remove Iridium dll's.

Computer decides to reboot, and while thinking about shutting down I manage to get Iridium dll's off.

Now.....network connections radio button gone from Start, can still get to it from Control Panel.

No network connections work, they seem to be there and connected but can't get IP address. Network is OK, I'm using it now.

Can't install a new network connection.

Can't find anything useful on internet.

Loath to take machine to a "professional."

Ready to scream.....:banghead :

Any help?

Sympathy?

Scotch?

[DeepFrz]

If this is a windows system try the system restore to a point before you installed the iridium.

[hpeer]

Great idea.

Went to do it and found out that the System Restore function was turned off.

AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[goboatingnow]

That's what you get from Redmond quality software.

[myosys]

goboating: normally system restore is enabled; someone must of turned it off, or hpeer didn't have ~200MB free after he installed windows.

anyway, hpeer, go to "start menu" -> "Run" and enter "msconfig.exe"

In the "services" and "startup" tabs, look around for iridium-related stuff and disable them. The next time you boot, hopefully the dll(s) will not be loaded.

this is probably the tip of the iceberg, as some software (checkpoint VPN and PCDuo come to mind) really dig in their claws into the networking stack.

you may need to enlist the aid of a pro; since you can really do some damage.

I would suggest enabling "system restore" before you go further

And... "start menu" -> "run" -> "winver" will pop up a window telling you your windows version and service pack level. That will help prepare whoever comes to your aid...

good luck!

[hpeer]

Yes, I'll probably try a 'pro' and pray.

I have turned on system restore, for the future.

I do have the dll's dead now.

I suspect you are correct that the software dug deep into the the networking.

Thanks

[myosys]

Originally Posted by hpeer

I suspect you are correct that the software dug deep into the the networking.

Thanks

No prob; don't forget to run "winver" so you have the windows version and service pack level when you talk to the tech.

If you have the original install CD somewhere (especially the CDs and files since this is a laptop; and laptops have custom drivers for their networking hardware in general...) what will probably happen is a re-installation of the network stack. In a nutshell, it involves removing the network hardware in "Device Manager" and re-installing it. "Device Manager" may ask for the driver files during that process.

Good luck - these problems are solvable unless you have a old version of windows (Windows 2000 and before are serious pains to fix.)