Axim X3, wireless access and 'radio disabled' messages

kdgweb · 06-14-04, 08:22 AM

This is my first post and I'm an absolute newbie with PDAs, so I'd be grateful for your grace and a step by step guide to getting myself out of the situation I'm in!

I am trying to hook up my X3 with my Dell Inspiron 500m laptop which has Centrino mobile technology. I have a colleague who knows his networking and seems to have set everything in place but one thing is mystifying us.

In the bottom right corner of the Today screen, you have the little icons for Bluetooth and wireless. Fine. If I press the shortcut button to the far right, the wireless devices say they are enabling. Bluetooth comes on, the WLAN utility seems to come on. Two blue lights at the top. All fine. However, the WLAN won't connect.

If I tap the WLAN icon, the client says "Radio disabled". Now I'm pretty sure that it needs to be enabled for this to work but we can't seem to get it going. If I click tools, it says "Disable radio" and its greyed out.

Here's the really dense bit. I am pretty sure that it was working when I first got it and that, somehow, I disabled it. We just can't figure out how we are supposed to enable it again.

Can anyone walk this particular idiot through?

bigds63 · 06-14-04, 08:29 AM

welcome to the forums, press the far right hardward button, right next to the home button to enable wireless....did that do it?

bigds63 · 06-14-04, 08:35 AM

Im sorry I misread your post, you did press the shortcut button have you tried a soft reset?

kdgweb · 06-14-04, 10:36 AM

BigDs

Thanks for posting. Yes, you read it right (second time). I did use that button. It says that it is enabling wireless and does both bluetooth and the wireless (blue lights etc) but the radio still says that it is disabled.

Yep, tried a soft reset as well.

One other daft thing that may be really obviously stupid on my part or may be nothing... I have an extra memory card thingy (SD Card?) for the Axim that I have slotted in the top. To slot it in, I had to take something out which I assumed was just a piece of plastic as a placeholder. That wasn't the wireless aerial or something was it?

Thanks

bigds63 · 06-14-04, 05:35 PM

No that plastic insert is just a protective thing for if you do not have a SD card for that slot. If you dont have a blue and green light come on in the antenna (on top) and you can not enable wifi (stays graded out), Im sorry to say but you might just have a bum unit. I would be calling Dell for a replacement if it were me. Sorry

GWing_02 · 06-14-04, 06:37 PM

Is your bluetooth working?

kdgweb · 06-15-04, 04:56 AM

Bluetooth is working, yes. Sadly the laptop doesn't have it or I would use that.

I am getting the lights on the LED come up as if it is working.

Ghouse · 08-19-04, 02:19 PM

I am facing the same problem. Did you get a solution to this problem?

kdgweb · 08-19-04, 03:12 PM

Hi Ghouse

Sadly, I still haven't sorted it out. I am still using the USB connection at present, which is frustrating because I am short of USB ports... but I can't get it sussed at all.

FallN · 08-19-04, 03:50 PM

I'll assume from your post and the fact that you have WiFi and Bluetooth in an X3 that you're from England.

The X3's here in the States are bereft of Bluetooth-- Damn you Dell! *shakes fists with rage*

So we are working with slightly different hardware but the same OS- minus the Bluetooth Tweaks, so maybe I can help out... not sure how much help, but I'll try.

First, turn off WiFi and Bluetooth by clicking the far right WiFi button- we'll call it the WiFi button from here on out- near the "Home" button. There should be no lights blinking at the top of your Axim, no blue light, no green light.

Reset all your Access Point's configuration. There should be no customizations present! It should be like it was "out of the box". Default SSID, NO WEP ENCRYPTION, SSID broadcast, etc.

TURN OFF ANY AND ALL FIREWALLS ON YOUR COMPUTER(S)

On your Axim, go into the Start Menu > Connections Tab > Connections

Select "My Work Network" and then select the "Advanced" Tab at the bottom of the screen. It will bring you to a page that has 3 grey boxes on the right hand side.

Choose the top one entitled "Select Network". From the drop down box choose "My Work Network", then under it click the "Edit" button. Click "Proxy Settings" and make sure you've selected the box that reads "This network connect to the Internet". Make sure the box to for Proxy Settings is unchecked and greyed out. Click "ok". This will bring you back to the Network Management page again.

Underneath the settings we just configured there is "Programs that automatically connect to a private network should connect to", choose "My Work Network" from the drop down list then click the "Edit" button underneath that. Click the "Proxy Settings" tab and make sure that you've choose "The network connects to the Internet" and that Proxy settings is greyed out. Click "Ok".

Clear out of all the windows until you get back to the Today Screen. Again go to Start Menu > Settings > Connections Tab >(but this time go to) Wireless Ethernet

This takes you to a screen called "Configure Network Adapters". In the drop down box underneath "My Network Card Connects to:" choose Work, then below that you'll see a list of adapters to choose from.

Choose your WiFi/802.11b adapter-- on my Axim it's "Dell TM1200 WLAN Module" but it could be slightly different for you because you have the "European" verison of the X3i and some of the hardware is different. It's normally the top choice, but again, I'm not sure because our's is slightly different.

Once you've selected the WLAN/WiFi/802.11b adapter you will be brought to a screen that has two choices. Choose "Use server-assigned IP address". Click "Ok" and a screen will pop up telling you that "The next time the adapeter is used it will have the new settings..." Click "Ok"

Now, at this point your router is at "zero configuration"-- it's defualt settings, all firewalls have been disabled, right? If not, DO IT NOW!

Click the WiFi button on your Axim and you'll see the lights flash. Click on the bar icon for WiFi all the way down at the bottom of the Today Screen to the far right. It opens up the WLAN Utility. Click "Site Survey" and you should see your default Access Point/Router listed. If your Axim doesn't automatically connect by itself at this point, click on "Profiles" at the top right corner of the page, then hold your stylus on your network's name and a screen will pop up, choose "Connect".

At this point, you should be connected. Consult www.wifi.aximsite.com to further configure your network, set up WEP Encryption, SSID, etc.

I hope this helped. Let me know how it goes! Cheerios! :)

Ghouse · 08-20-04, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by kdgweb

Hi Ghouse

Sadly, I still haven't sorted it out. I am still using the USB connection at present, which is frustrating because I am short of USB ports... but I can't get it sussed at all.

My problem was solved by a soft reset. Have you tried this?

paulwishard · 04-28-07, 09:05 PM

Your friend may not have done anything wrong. Here is what I have been able to come up with. I had the same problem. The problem is ..

When you press the Wireless Button on the bottom right-hand side of the Dell Axim, WLAN does not come on. The Bluetooth does come on, however.

Without WLAN, you won't be able to connect to the Internet. If you run the Dell WLAN Utility (Click on Settings --> Connections), and then click on TOOLS, you will see an option called ENABLE RADIO. The only problem with this menu feature is that it is a worthless piece of sh!t. It does not enable the radio. What is the radio you ask? The "radio" = WLAN. Gee, I'm glad the software guys made that real clear to all us idiots who don't know an FM radio from a 802.11b wireless transmitter. A similar analogy would be to refer to a computer as a calculator. I digress though ... gotta stay on track here.

There's a little software program out there called Dell Self-Diagnostic Utility. It can be downloaded from the Dell Support website. However, please do yourself a favor. !!! DO NOT RUN THIS PROGRAM !!! Why? Because it will cause the "radio" to permanently be disabled. The only way to recover from this is to do a hard reset, which means you have to press the little button on the back of the Axim, and press the power button on the front of the Axim at the same time, for about 10 seconds. After you do a hard reset, you will be able to turn the radio on using the button on the lower right-hand corner of the Axim, but all your RAM memory contents are erased. Don't bother trying to enable the radio using the Dell WLAN Utility program; it just doesn't work.

Here is what causes the radio to be disabled. When you run the Dell Self-Diagnostic Utility program, there is a tab near the bottom of the screen that says "WLAN Test". If you attempt to use this feature, it will disable the radio, and then you will be forced to do a hard reset to recover. This is very repeatable, so feel free to experiment with it if you have the time.

Too bad I couldn't figure this out 2 years ago, it would have saved a few people out there from alot of head banging and cursing. And Dell, I gotta give you guys a big thumbs up for your excellent support of the Axim (NOT).

Dude, you're getting a Dell = Dude, you're gonna regret this someday.

Originally Posted by kdgweb

This is my first post and I'm an absolute newbie with PDAs, so I'd be grateful for your grace and a step by step guide to getting myself out of the situation I'm in!

I am trying to hook up my X3 with my Dell Inspiron 500m laptop which has Centrino mobile technology. I have a colleague who knows his networking and seems to have set everything in place but one thing is mystifying us.

In the bottom right corner of the Today screen, you have the little icons for Bluetooth and wireless. Fine. If I press the shortcut button to the far right, the wireless devices say they are enabling. Bluetooth comes on, the WLAN utility seems to come on. Two blue lights at the top. All fine. However, the WLAN won't connect.

If I tap the WLAN icon, the client says "Radio disabled". Now I'm pretty sure that it needs to be enabled for this to work but we can't seem to get it going. If I click tools, it says "Disable radio" and its greyed out.

Here's the really dense bit. I am pretty sure that it was working when I first got it and that, somehow, I disabled it. We just can't figure out how we are supposed to enable it again.

Can anyone walk this particular idiot through?