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

[Grunkhead]

Sorry, Ben. Did you mean that it is recommended to install the latest VMC? If not, then what can I install? Thanks.

[Grunkhead]

OK. So, VMC installed (version 3.04.11.00) (with no response to the previous post, I guessed it was a misplaced 'not'). New (replacement) modem stick. The new stick works well, better, in fact, on the PC. Previously, its presence wouldn't be detected by Vista and it would take many rounds of trying to add a new device. Works fine on the Mac ... when stationary.

On the train today, again in between Reading and Didcot, the same fault occurred. The modem would switch between solid blue and solid green with no problem. Then, at a point at which it would normally go back to solid blue, everything on the operating system seizes up in turn, VMC, Mail, Finder. And as before, it required a restart. Force quitting has no good effect, removing the stick has no effect. It's impossible to launch new programs. What next? I'm months in and having the same problem with a modem stick I bought specifically for this journey.

I can't work out how to uninstall just the VMC interface and kernel extension. Is this a solution? How would I configure the modem to bypass the VMC interface?

[Grunkhead]

As a followup, the Console is full of messages whether moving or not. For example, the last four lines of this sequence were repeated to fill nearly 300 lines in one second.
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Operation not supported on socket
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] ace stf0 doesn't support SIOC{G,S}IFMEDIA.
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Interface vnic0 doesn't support SIOC{G,S}IFMEDIA.
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Interface vnic1 doesn't support SIOC{G,S}IFMEDIA.
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Interface gif0 doesn't support SIOC{G,S}IFMEDIA.
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Interface stf0 doesn't support SIOC{G,S}IFMEDIA.
ending with
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Interface gif0 doesn't su
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] pport SIOC{G,S}IFMEDIA.
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Interface NMIfNet: Invalid argument
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Device not configured
08/03/2010 07:54:17 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Device not configured

when it's not filling up the log with that, it's the info below. The last four lines are repeated every two seconds or so.
09/03/2010 08:25:26 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Operation not supported on socket
09/03/2010 08:25:26 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Invalid argument
09/03/2010 08:25:26 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Device not configured
09/03/2010 08:25:26 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Device not configured
09/03/2010 08:25:28 [0x0-0x132132].de.novamedia.Vodafone Mobile Broadband[4298] WirelessAttach: IOServiceOpen error: e00002c7
09/03/2010 08:25:29 [0x0-0x132132].de.novamedia.Vodafone Mobile Broadband[4298] WirelessAttach: IOServiceOpen error: e00002c7
09/03/2010 08:25:29 [0x0-0x132132].de.novamedia.Vodafone Mobile Broadband[4298] WirelessAttach: IOServiceOpen error: e00002c7
09/03/2010 08:25:42 com.apple.backupd-attach[4323] Not starting scheduled Time Machine backup - computer is on battery power.
09/03/2010 08:25:42 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Operation not supported on socket
09/03/2010 08:25:42 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Invalid argument
09/03/2010 08:25:42 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Device not configured
09/03/2010 08:25:42 de.novamedia.nmnetmgrd[27] NMIfNet: Device not configured

Any ideas in tracking down the (possible) conflict? Any other Mac/Snow Leopard users see this filling their Console report?

[Retired-BenJ]

Hi Grunkhead.

I mean it’s not recommended to install the modem without the VMC software as you need the VMC software to install the drivers under Snow Leopard.

I'm glad you're a little further forward.

I'm currently speaking to one of our specialists regarding this issue and will post back when I have some more information around this.

Thanks
BenJ_Vodafone
eForum Team

[Retired-BenJ]

Hi Grunkhead.

I'm back again as promised.

I've spoken to our device specialist who is a little confused.

He asks that you try the straight through cable to see if it’s an interference issue.

Also he asks are you able to test this using GPRS/EDGE only.


All the best
BenJ_Vodafone
eForum Team