Sprint PC-5740 EVDO Card in Windows Vista Desktop

[stovebolts]

Sprint PC-5740 EVDO Card in Windows Vista

So, I wanted to put a pcmcia Sprint card into a desktop, which sounded simple enough, so off to the computer store I go to purchase a PCI to PCMCIA card for $35.

The PCI card went in easily enough and Windows Vista didn’t have any problem installing the hardware. Things were looking pretty good.

So, I put in my Sprint CD and begin to install the Connection Manager software when instantly, I run into problems since an MSI won’t run by directly clicking on it. To make a long story short, here is what I did.

I downloaded the Vista Compatible Novatel Connection manager from the Sprint site and installed the software. (which didn’t work). In the Program files folder for the Novatel card is a subdirectory called “Setup Filesâ€Â. Inside the setup folder, is a file called Sprint_CM.exe. This executable calls the SprintMSI.msi install routine.

I copied the Sprint_CM.exe to a folder on my flash drive. I then copied the “Sprint PCS Connection Manager.msi†file from my 5740 Install CD (or you can download it from the Sprint site under the XP OS drop down list.

Once I copied the “Sprint PCS Connection Manager.msi†file to where the Sprint_CM.exe file was on my flashdrive and then simply renamed the file to “SprintMSI.msiâ€Â

To clarify, you will end up with two files in one folder.
1. Sprint_CM.exe
2. SprintMSI.msi (This file came from the original 5740 XP download and had the name “Sprint PCS Connection Manager.msiâ€Â

Run the Sprint_CM.exe to install the Connection Manager section (Which includes the drivers fro the Sprint PC-5740 pcmcia card)

Once the Connection Manager is installed, insert your PCMCIA card and the drivers will automatically load.

Note: The connection manager will not allow the card to connect regardless of what you do. The main purpose of installing the software was to register the ini’s and dll’s to install the hardware. (I tried other ways and the didn’t work without other errors and bugs, this was the cleanest way to do it in Vista that I could find, btw, I rebuilt this box three times today)

To establish a connection with your correctly installed PCMCIA PC-5740 card, simply create a dial up connection, choosing the PC5740 “Modemâ€Â. For the dial up number, use #777. Leave the user name and password blank and check, â€ÅRemember user name and passwordâ€Â.

Wa la!

Note: The PCMCIA Sprint card must have already been registerd and activated.

 

[Vic C.]

Ah, Vista! (pulls out hair) I worked with Vista loaded on a friend's laptop. I had to turn off all of it's security features just to get a few programs loaded. Also, it allowed us to load Norton, but didn't allow for real time file protection and griped about uninstalling it. I had to resort to using Norton's removal tool. Wound up using AVG and Zone Alarm, which was actually a good thing, IMO. :-?

 

[Dunamite]

A friend of mine bought a new computer with Vista. She asked me to network it and set up her printer. She and I were both surprised to find that her HP Laserjet printer would not work with Vista and HP claimed that there would never be Vista drivers for that model. So she had to turn around and buy a second laser printer even though the first one was in good working order.

Microsoft spent five years and lots of money to make a product that has been universally panned and was chosen by many tech magazines as being the disappointment of the year. Just shows what lots of money buys.

I have little sympathy with Windows users. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. MS got into its monopoly position because people were lemmings and now they are getting their just desserts. There are alternatives, but people prefer to follow the leader and jump off cliffs.

 

[stovebolts]

Hey Vic,
Yeah, Vista can be a pain... I got ahold of the first release (OEM) before it was put out for general use and found out that it wasn't everything that I thought it was going to be. Since that time, I purchased a laptop for the wife and it came with Vista, so it looks like I'm stuck (not to mention one of our accounts want to go to Vista next year, so I've got to hurry and get certified :o in Vista...

After purchasing a few new software programs, such as Norton and some video editing software for the wife, I think that I'm doing ok with Vista. I was a bit disapointed that I couldn't get my older software to work with Vista, and that's why I was so proud to get my PCMCIA Sprint card to work :D Heck, Sprint wanted to sell me another EVDO card! :x (BTW, the wife has the Novatel U720 card and it made the trip from XP to vista without a hitch.)

I'm actually kind of glad that Vista came out. In my opinion, it's not as support friendly as XP which means job security for me :crazyeyes: (no, I'm not moving to India :-D )

Hey Duamite, what kind of HP LaserJet printer was it? Unless it's one of those all in one (3600 series??) laserjets, I can't imagine why it wouldn't work in Vista.

 

[tim-from-pa]

IMO Vista is another XP in its infancy. More hardware changes, having to buy new stuff, etc. In PC magazine John Dvorak hates the OS, claims it never delivered all the features they said it was supposed to, and so forth. Instead, he believes that XP could have done just as well with a new service pack. There were even stories where some people had so much trouble with Vista that the tech support actually told them to reinstall XP. XP will be supported until 2014, so I'm staying with that for awhile, and maybe even consider one of my computers to run on an Open Source OS.

 

[Dunamite]

IMO Vista is another XP in its infancy. More hardware changes, having to buy new stuff, etc. In PC magazine John Dvorak hates the OS, claims it never delivered all the features they said it was supposed to, and so forth. Instead, he believes that XP could have done just as well with a new service pack. There were even stories where some people had so much trouble with Vista that the tech support actually told them to reinstall XP. XP will be supported until 2014, so I'm staying with that for awhile, and maybe even consider one of my computers to run on an Open Source OS.

My local Staples dealer tells me that people are asking to buy computers with XP. They say that people do not want Vista, but they have no alternative but to sell something that the customers do not want. Their solution? They no longer list Vista in their advertising as the OS that comes with new computers.

Unfortunately for all Vista haters, Microsoft's profits are way up, in a great part due to Vista's strong sales. The message seems to be if you have a monopoly you no longer need to cater to the end user and you will still get rich by force feeding the consumer something that many do not want and that some find not to their liking.

On another front, Google's, another message is being sent. You do not need Windows or any specific OS anymore. Cell phones and many other devices link to the internet without the benefit of Windows. All you need is a device that has internet access. From there you will be able to word process, IM, email, collect music and photos to your heart's desire. To this end Wal-mart has begun selling cheap Linux boxes with a modified Ubuntu Os called gOS. The G is for google which delievers software via the internet. It has been a hot seller at under $200. So what if the computer is old technology and slow, if it you can do what you want to on it.

I remember going to a computer seminar years ago where Bill Gates and the head of Oracle, Larry Ellison, were giving their visions of the future. Gates' vision is basically what we have experienced in the past ten years. Software on computer hard drives. Ellison's was where Google is now headed. Perhaps they were listening. It is based on social networking with the internet supplying the software.

I wonder if Vista is not the last of a dying breed. Bloated and slow software that keeps us on a cycle that empties our pocketbooks and keeps us addicted to endless upgrades, software chasing hardware and vice versa. Of course, we have been saying that for a long time, but perhaps the consumer is tiring of the game. Do we really need terabyte hard drives when most of our data will fit on a flash drive or an a DVD disk? They have long predicted a convergence of technologies. Maybe it isn't so far away. Computers, movie/music players, cell phones and PDAs now do many of the same things.

Blessings,
Dunamite

 

[Vic C.]

On another front, Google's, another message is being sent. You do not need Windows or any specific OS anymore. Cell phones and many other devices link to the internet without the benefit of Windows. All you need is a device that has internet access. From there you will be able to word process, IM, email, collect music and photos to your heart's desire. To this end Wal-mart has begun selling cheap Linux boxes with a modified Ubuntu Os called gOS. The G is for google which delievers software via the internet. It has been a hot seller at under $200. So what if the computer is old technology and slow, if it you can do what you want to on it.

Oh, this is going to have the ISPs in an uproar! They're already wanting to surcharge Google for the enormous bandwidth they provide for the much downloadable content Google provides.

FYI: countries like Japan offer 100/100 bandwidth to consumers for like $40.00 US dollars. We are fast becoming a 3rd. world provider. :-?

 

[stovebolts]

I wonder if Vista is not the last of a dying breed. Bloated and slow software that keeps us on a cycle that empties our pocketbooks and keeps us addicted to endless upgrades, software chasing hardware and vice versa

Good question... I remember Dos 6.22 with windows 3:11 running Word Perfect for Windows on a pc with a whopping 4 meg of ram faster than my current pc can run Word 2007 with 1.5 gig of DDR... Of course Word 2007 does more.

I went to school for Client Server Programming and we had to write a small program in C. Once compiled, it easily fit on a floppy and when you ran the program, it was very quick. I wrote the same program in VB, and it barely fit on the floppy and was noticeably slower. Later on when I was in the IT field, I wrote a small web based application and an Oracle Database for data input and reporting. I ended up using Cold Fusion (Should have used C++) after playing with ASP pages that really looked nice, but took up twice the storage and ran terribly slow when doing a standard query.

As a side note, I've got a 4 gig flash drive that boots Ubuntu 8-) Can you believe that an 8 gig flash drive is down to 30 bucks! Just wait until they replace hard drives all together!

 

[stovebolts]

Well, Sprint has released a driver for Vista that covers the 5740! Yahoo!

(And to think they wanted me to upgrade my sprint card!)