Upon trying to install a D-Link DWL-650+ 802.11b card into
my laptop, I receive the error "The NDIS.VXD, NTKERN.VXD device
loader(s) for this device could not load the device driver. (Code 2)"
when clicking properties for this device in the Device Manager.  I
have tried with two different cards and two different laptops, so I'm
fairly sure it's not a question of bad hardware.  The installation
proceeds as the documentation suggests it should.  This is a Cardbus
device, which both laptops support (and I have used Cardbus ethernet
cards).  The link light on the card is faintly lit, but the power
light (which I presume comes on when the card is initialized) does not
light.  The card is properly recognized as a DWL-650+ during
installation.

My system is a Fujitsu Lifebook L440B (PII 266MHz, 96MB RAM) running
Win98SE.  I have verified that NDIS.VXD and NTKERN.VXD are both
present in C:\Windows\System (NTKERN.VXD wasn't there, I extracted it
from the Win98SE .CAB file upon D-Link's suggestion).  I have checked
to ensure there aren't multiple copies of the driver loaded.  I am
using the latest driver download from D-Link's website.

Ideas?

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Request for Question Clarification by voyager-ga on 22 Aug 2002 02:32 PDT

Hallo cyclone,

did you maybe install your windows 98 system on top of an old win95 installation?

voyager-ga

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Clarification of Question by cyclone-ga on 22 Aug 2002 08:28 PDT

No, this laptop came with Win98SE installed (the VXD's are dated 5/98).

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Request for Question Clarification by calebu2-ga on 23 Aug 2002 07:35 PDT

You've tried 2 different cards in 2 different laptops - what were they
and what combinations worked?

I'm assuming that the tech people told you to uninstall the card and
delete the cw10.sys and other driver files (assuming that the 650+ is
somewhat similar to my DWL650 - might be different file names) from
the system directory before reattempting to install.

Just looking at dlink's ftp site, they only have one driver listed,
otherwise I'd suggest installing an older version. And there isn't
really anything on the FAQ section of dlink's site unless you have a
Dell or Toshiba laptop or you are using Win98FE instead of Win98SE

Anyway, if you want to clarify the steps you took (you've done a good
job already), one of the researchers (probably not me because I'll be
out of town for a few days) can try and work logically through the
steps to see where the problem is.

Regards

Calebu2

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Request for Question Clarification by voyager-ga on 23 Aug 2002 08:35 PDT

Is this the first netwok card you're installing on that notebook? If
not, did you try to uninstall all network components in Win98SE and
then installing the driver again?

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Clarification of Question by cyclone-ga on 26 Aug 2002 12:56 PDT

calebu2-ga asked:

> You've tried 2 different cards in 2 different laptops - what were
they
> and what combinations worked?

The primary one is a Fujitsu Lifebook L440B, 266MHz PII, 96MB RAM. 
The other is a Dell Inspiron 3000, 233MHz Pentium, 96MB RAM.  Both
support Cardbus.  I did note that somewhere in the DWL-650+
documentation it recommended a 300MHz processor, but I don't believe
the failure I'm seeing would be related to processor, especially since
I'm very close to the recommended speed.

> I'm assuming that the tech people told you to uninstall the card and
> delete the cw10.sys and other driver files (assuming that the 650+
is
> somewhat similar to my DWL650 - might be different file names) from
> the system directory before reattempting to install.

I have been uninstalling via add/remove programs and deleting the
device in the device manager.

> Just looking at dlink's ftp site, they only have one driver listed,
> otherwise I'd suggest installing an older version. And there isn't
> really anything on the FAQ section of dlink's site unless you have a
> Dell or Toshiba laptop or you are using Win98FE instead of Win98SE.

I've been trying both the installation code shipped on the CD-ROM, and
the one which can be downloaded from their website (which appears to
be slightly newer).  Both achieve the same results.

voyager-ga wrote:

> Is this the first netwok card you're installing on that notebook? If
> not, did you try to uninstall all network components in Win98SE and
> then installing the driver again? 

I use a Cardbus 10/100MB ethernet card daily, and another card from
home weekly.  I'd rather not uninstall all the network components,
especially since all the other cards I've used have worked normally,
so I don't think there's a fundamental underlying problem.

hi, 

URL http://support.dlink.com/downloads/

this is the D-Link support site with downloads for drivers and
firmware. Please check if you have the updated drivers for the card.
Also, please check the firmware version. This should not generally
cause the problem you are facing. Of course, the re-instalaltion of
networking components may be useful, but as you mentioned, since
networking works with other cards, it seems like paying a large price
for getting this card working. However, if you can note down settings
for the networking components and then re-install them, it should not
take too long or pose to be a difficult process.

Please excercise caution if you are trying to upgrade firmware! The
site explains this clearly...

warm regards
vinod-ga

although im fairly sure you dont want to upgrade operating systems
(and you shouldnt be expected to) you might want to try installing the
cards on a system that uses windows 2000 (my favorite windows os) or
windows xp (slow, but pretty good as well). they both have much better
wireless card and networking support.

I did some searching and found several people with similar problems
with a multitude of different vendor's cards. The solution seems to be
to follw these steps...

1) Go into the network properties dialog and remove any protocols
attached to the D-Link card. (don't worry this shouldn't effect any of
your network adapters or settings.)

2) Remove the D-Link adapter entry from the Device manager.

3) Reboot and re-install.

I know you've tried #2 and #3 many times, but the first step seems to
be the key to getting it to work.

Good luck,
Dan