K3760: Consistent Crashing Switching From Gprs To 3g...

[Grunkhead]

I'm using a Vodaphone mobile broadband (black stick) K3760 on a MacBook 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/4 GB RAM/250 GB HDD/Mac OS 10.6.2 (though the problem also occurred under 10.5.8).

The modem or VMB service regularly (almost always, but not quite) crashes my laptop. The problem happens at the same point on the train trip from Reading to Oxford (but strangely, not the reverse). First, the LED on the modem stick goes solid green and Vodaphone Mobile Broadband registers GPRS instead of 3G (or similar), as expected. However, around Didcot, it switches back to solid blue but the software doesn't recognise the change back to 3G. After that, the connections don't work, programs don't quit and a forced shutdown and restart is required. I don't get a kernel panic nor do I get anything showing up in the console that looks suspicious. (I pasted the common errors from the console below.) This occurs on 3.04.11.00 (12343) and also occurred under 3.04.08. My firmware version is 1.5.0.0Hd.

Can you fix this or can I get a different modem stick? This journey is the main reason I have this memory stick and these problems make the service effectively unusable.

Typical and frequent console log entries:

14/12/2009 08:34:55 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd NMIfNet: Device not configured
14/12/2009 08:34:57 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd NMIfNet: Operation not supported on socket
14/12/2009 08:34:57 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd NMIfNet: Invalid argument
14/12/2009 08:34:57 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd NMIfNet: Device not configured

[Retired-Reidar]

Hello Grunkhead

Welcome to the eForum

A rather bizarre issue indeed however it does make sense to some extent, I suspect that there is a transition from one signal site to another and this process provides/creates/is within an area of reduced coverage. It could be a temporary bad patch along the rail route where the device loses 3G coverage, is forced to 2G, then immediately has its connection interrupted.

This could be down to the simple positioning of the towers and the nature of switching from a specific one to another, hence explaining why the problem does not replicate on the way back.

As the issue may concern a specific tower I doubt it is associated with your local software (VMC) or the USB stick itself, a replacement may not improve the situation.

Inconvenient as it may be the current workaround may be to switch off your connection (right click on red VMC taskbar icon, disconnect), then reconnecting at the safe point.

Additionally you could supply the post code of the affected area and we can try to pin point the sites.

Thanks

Reidar

eForum Team

[Grunkhead]

Hi Reidar

Thanks for your response.

The cutouts almost always show themselves as the train goes near Tesco Didcot, which has a postcode of OX11 9BZ. The actual problem may occur a bit further south along the Reading-Oxford line.

Is there a way I can forego using the VMB software and treat the dongle as a USB modem that I can dial up through the normal system software? The dongle seemed to perform better in that mode (in terms of reduced system crashes and better handover between GPRS & 3G), even though it would cut off when the signal was fully lost.

[Retired-Adam_V]

Hi Grunkhead,

I've checked the post code you added and it appears that everything is running smoothly although you are between two 3G transceivers so there is a chance it is changing between either one as conditions change.

As far as I'm aware you can connect via the dongle without needing to run the VMC. This has been tested in Leopard though I haven't had a chance to try it in Snow Leopard:

From the Dock Menu click on System Preferences
Click Network
Tick the Show Connectivity Status
This will put a telephone icon in you menu bar at the top of the screen
Click the icon, and you should see an option to connect via your K3760.

You will have to keep the VMC Software installed as this provides the drivers for your dongle.

Let me know if this brings any joy.

Thanks,

Adam
eForum Team.

[Grunkhead]

Hmm... No modem option still exists on my system. It was there with the original (pre-3.x) software, but no longer present with the lastest version of VMC software. Could you suggest where I can get the driver without creating further system conflicts?

Regarding the other problem of VMC packing up around Didcot, is there a log file I can access from the software that could give some indication of why the software stops responding then brings down the rest of the system? This sounds like something that could be fixed with better coding, both to catch these errors and to not mess with something so low-level that the whole OS is brought down?

[Retired-Daz_V]

Hey grunkhead,

This is odd indeed - if you can't find the driver options in your Network > internet devices pane, then the driver will indeed be missing

... but then it shouldn't even dial

Can you double check that it's not there under 'Vodafone', 'K3760' or something similar?

I am a Mac-Man myself, and use an E220 on 10.6.2 to no problem, but run it direct through VMC since the latest Snow Leopard build. I don't have a way to test on ym system now as I'm in the office, but I would always recommend connecting this way, and actually really like our VMC (my personal choice for older versions would be to bypass VMC and connect as Adam described above).

In tying this back to a signal blackout spot, I can only say that there will always be blackspot drops in 3G when travelling, and our software is designed to maintain connection across 2G automatically (if available) - if this is throwing up errors, it will either be a fault with your modem, or your MacBook stalling. If you can perhaps try the modem on another Mac (or even PC), can you try to recreate this error? I'm always the first to defend the robust network handling of OSX as superior far and beyond Windows, but there may be a fault with your machine, especially if it did the same thing under 10.5.8. I would recommend following our Repair thread to get your modem looked at by us (it says for phones, but the procedure is the same) if you're sure it's not your machine - if it is the modem (and I'll never say never), then we can get this fixed for you.

As for the signal, there's not much we can do I'm afraid, but we are constantly improving our 3G coverage every six months.

Keep me updated!



Daz

eForum Team

[Grunkhead]

Thanks Daz

I've attached PNGs of what appears in my Network pane and on the top bar. It appears the modem is attaching under en6. Let me know if there's a way to recover the dialup option.

I'll have to have a look at the repair thread at some point. It does appear to be something dongle dependent: VMC wants to quit with recurring frequency when it's in use, even when I'm static. I'll have to do the tests of it with and without SD memory on board, on a different computer, etc. A bit of a PITA, though.

The 3G coverage isn't really an issue for me. It's fine for what I'm doing.

[Retired-George]

Hi Grunkhead,

Looking at those screenshots, I can see this definitely isn't behaving correctly. I suspect there's a problem with the modem itself or the Mac, let me know if this works in another computer at all. If it doesn't then we'll be able to repair the device.

George
eForum Team

[Grunkhead]

I've finally got a new modem stick. Could you tell me a way to install the driver so I can dial up without having the VMC software automatically appear? I tried installing the old software that comes on the stick, but after that's in place it causes a kernel panic when the stick is inserted into a USB port.

MacOS 10.6.2, MacBook 3,1/2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

[Retired-BenJ]

Hi Grunkhead

Kernel panics always conjure up some amusing images in my mind and they can be a right nightmare to resolve.

If your running Snow leopard then all previous versions of Vodafone Mobile Connect wont work and will result in a Kernel panic.

It's not recommended to install VMC as you cannot install the driver with out the software.

All the best
BenJ_Vodafone