Damn Dongle Don't Do Diddly.....

[SOD'EM]

A friend used her dongle this afternoon and everything was fine. When she came back from the school, she turned her computer back on but it won't connect to the internet. When troubleshooting, it says No device found. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the dongle software but get the same message. The light is flashing on the dongle which signifies that it has detected a network, but the dongle manager says "no device found".

 

Any ideas

 

Thanks muchly:D

[Big_Bother!]

Hi Usually under settings there is a network detect option- This should be set to auto detect- Dongle maybe getting confused by the number of similar networks in your area. You could try setting it manually to whoever is your providor. Also it depends where you use it. Downstairs in my place I get 1 bar but upstairs I have 3 bars and HSPA (full speed)

Hope this helps

[SOD'EM]

I don't think it is a network problem. The laptop is just not recognising the dongle. The blue light flashes so it looks like it's detected a network. It's just that the laptop is not recognising the dongle. It is saying "no device found".

[MrShed]

I would be inclined to perform a system restore to when it was working.

[SOD'EM]

Just done a system restore. As soon as it restarted and the desktop appeared, I got this message.

 

MobileConnect

 

 

Program error!

The type initializer for 'VMC.UI.CommonDialogs.DisplayMessages' threw an exception. System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'VMC.BaseServices.DataAccessor.DataStore' Threw an exception

OneParamException: MDB: File 'C:\Program Files\Vodafone\Vodafone Mobile Connect\Templates\VodafoneMobileConnectEmpty.mdb' Does not exist!; ID=DataAcessorCTOR;Msg=MDB

---End of inner exception stack trace---

at VMC.BaseServices.DataAccessor.Datastore.get_use larger font()

at VMC.UI.CommonDialogs.DisplayMessages..cctor()

 

 

 

 

I haven't got a clue what that's all about:confused:

[dx100uk]

reinstall the software.

 

look at the dongle

make sure nothing has gotten up in the slot.

the symptoms you describe are those of a USB device lossing the connection to one of the 4 'finger' connections.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

go into dev man

uninstall the device [without it plugged in]

remove the software [uninstall it]

 

run ccleaner and also tools reg tool thingy.

 

 

put the disc in the drive but cancel any install process.

 

plag the dongle in

wait for the 'detected 'bing dong' from the lappy

and it should fly.

 

if you dont get a sound from the speaker when you plug it in.

 

try a memory stick or a usb printer [in out]

 

if they work

 

then the device is fruked.

 

check those connection up in the slot of the dongle.

 

dx

[SOD'EM]

When I look at device manager, the device is not listed. As I said, on the vodafone management side of things, it says NO DEVICE. I have reinstalled the software and the same thing has happened. Even scanned laptop for virus' just in case but it's clean. Lights flash on the dongle so I think it is a problem with the USB ports. I have tried all 3. There isn't even an icon in the tray for the device. It's plugged in, but the laptop can't find it.

[SOD'EM]

Yes, it must be the dongle is Donald Ducked. Done as you said dx. My pen drive works fine. Plug the dongle in, and it doesn't make a ding dong sound. Just lights up.

[dx100uk]

try installing another new usb device

you sometimes get the usb installer 'hang' and it wont accept new devices

have you got anything usb that that lappy has never seen?

 

also got another pc you could try installing the dongle on?

that would confirm it one way or the other.

 

dx

[SOD'EM]

I can't believe I never tried it in another laptop. Anyway, it is goosed as when I plugged it in mine, all I got was the light flashing. No noise from laptop at all. It baffles me that the lights come on as I thought if it didn't work, then nothing would happen at all.

 

It's back to PC World with this dongle.

[dx100uk]

two of the 4 lines are power the other two are dat

so its prob screwed inside

 

dx

[SOD'EM]

The dongle was cream crackered. She took it to a Vodafone shop who confirmed it. They say they have to send it off for repair and she won't get it back until around the 24th. I wish I was there, I would have told them to shove it unless they gave me an imediate replacement. Surely, they are not that expensive.

 

I believe she will still be paying the monthly subscription fee as well. I told her what a fool I think she is and it just makes me more determined never to get mobile broadband.

[Blondmusic]

The dongle was cream crackered. She took it to a Vodafone shop who confirmed it. They say they have to send it off for repair and she won't get it back until around the 24th. I wish I was there, I would have told them to shove it unless they gave me an imediate replacement. Surely, they are not that expensive.

 

I believe she will still be paying the monthly subscription fee as well. I told her what a fool I think she is and it just makes me more determined never to get mobile broadband.

 

I had problems with my T-Mobile Dongle last year. I had shut the pc down to give it a cleaning and when i switched it back on the dongle just showed a Red light (instead of the blue flashing one) and the pc didnt recognise it either.

 

I phoned T-Mobile who said they would fix it. They sent me a special package (which took several days to arrive) and i sent it back to them. A couple of weeks later i got a replacement dongle as they said mine was broken. The new dongle got plugged into my sisters laptop and i got the Red light on that one too.

 

I took it to the T-Mobile store in town and they couldnt get it working so i had to phone them again, send it back again and i didnt hear anything for several weeks.

 

When i phoned them to ask where it was they told me they had sent it back to me, they even gave me a date and time when Royal Mail had tried deliver it to my house but they had taken it back to the sorting office. After checking my diary i realised that i was at home that day. T-Mobile were not budging and told me i had to collect it from Royal Mail. I phoned Royal Mail and gave them the tracking number i had got off T-Mobile. Royal Mail told me that the package was in a sorting office in London!! I dont live anywhere near London I live in the north-east!!

 

I got back on the phone to T-Mobile and i gave them hell. The guy on the phone was great. He said they have sent it to the wrong address and he arranged to get a brand new dongle couriered to me within a day. Sure enough the new dongle arrived the following day and it has worked fine ever since.

 

I did get a refund for the time i was without the dongle. They had charged me for 3 months when i had no dongle at all but i made them refund every penny of it.

[actionoman]

Best bet with any dongle that stops working is to uninstall all the software and basically start again as if you just got it out of the box. That removes any legacy rubbish that's stopping it working.

 

Good guide to solving mobile broadband / dongle problems here:

 

Top 10 Broadband » Top 10's Guide TO Mobile Broadband Problems

[SOD'EM]

They sent it off for repair and returned it 2 weeks later. It lasted a day and then broke again. They have now replaced it with a brand new one and it is fine. I had already reinstalled the software to no avail. Thanks all for your help.