A little while ago I wondered if there was such a thing as bad Geek-karma and given certain experiences, I truly believe that it exists. Shortly after writing that bit, Kasia noted that her servers know when she’s on vacation; they wait until she’s gone before they end a long run of problem-free operation. Jeremy has noted that some of his servers only collapsed when he was at least 1000 miles away. It’s a proven fact: Bad Geek-karma exists and can hit without warning. My recent experiences with an iBook have been a first-hand reminder of how bad Geek-karma can screw up an otherwise perfectly good day.
I bought a user 500MHz iBook from eBay. It came without a power adapter but since I still had some extra parts from my 12″ PowerBook bonanza, I was OK. I could use the PB 12″ adapter, case and some other stuff with the iBook – the 12″ PB is more iBook than PowerBook, after all. I would still need to get a copy of Jaguar, some more RAM (I wanted to max it out) and an AirPort card, but I was starting out fine.
When I got the iBook in my hands I checked it out – it ran fine – and then put it on a shelf until I got a copy of Jaguar. Because I get an Educational discount with Apple, I called the local retail store, to see if my discount was applicable there. When they told me it was, I drove a bit (about 60 miles) to the Store where they told me that the discount was only applicable to hardware; software had to come from Apple directly because of the problems with licensing. Um, OK. Fine. I went home and placed the order with Apple and got 2 day shipping… ironically, when the Jaguar CD’s got there they are 100% retail. Not sure what happened there, but whatever. This shoulda told me what was coming.
I got the iBook on Monday; I got the CD’s on Wednesday. Sometime between installing Jaguar and applying the 10.2.6 OS patch, my speakers shit the bed. The sound card is OK, given that the headphone port works, but the speakers are for shit. They give a rat-tat-tat-tat when ever a sound is supposed to be played. Very loud. The sound commands have no effect – mute is ignored. Reset the PMU, reset permissions, hard rebooted: nothing fixed it.
Hardware issue, right? I take a look at the Apple support site and discover that it’s about $385 to fix an iBook. Given the combo of the price of the iBook itself and the repair estimate, I could have had a brand new 800MHz model… but since I want sound to work, what could I do, right?
Back to eBay. I find a parts specialist that has the top bezel of an iBook with speakers included. Yay! I take the BuyItNow route and finish the order. I then get an email that the seller doesn’t like my address because it’s not “confirmed”. So even though I placed the order, and gave a different address, I’m not sure if the part will be shipped or not. Gack!
Some time between all this ordering, I decided to get some other stuff for the iBook. Rather than dishing out $99 for an AirPort card, I opted to go with the D-Link DWL-122 which is a USB adapter for 802.11b with Windows and Mac drivers for only $50. I also picked up the D-Link USB Bluetooth adapter, which was also came with Windows and Mac drivers. The Bluetooth device had no problems. Plugged it into both my PC and iBook and it was fine. Yes! I was making progress! Then I tried to use the WiFi adapter.
What a fuckin debacle. I didn’t need this for my PC’s – that was just a bonus – so I installed the D-Link software and plugged in the adapter. It found my network without an issue. I typed in my long ass key value and clicked Apply. Didn’t work. I tried a few other things, checked the key, and that’s when I noticed the first problem. I have a 0 in my key and the software converted it to a space. Alright, that rules out WEP – annoying but not that bad. I turned off WEP on my access point and tried again. Still didn’t work. I rebooted the iBook and that’s when the fun began.
After I rebooted, every single time I plugged in the DWL-122 it crashed OS X. And I mean crashed. Got the “you have to restart your computer” screen in 5 languages with a FF:FF:FF:FF:FF at the bottom. An unhandled exception if I’ve ever seen one and I’ve seen’m all over the world. I figure I gotta get an updated driver, right? Wrong. This is the only driver that’s available. There’s no newer version available for download. Just to be sure, I plugged it into my PC and it worked fine, so I’m pretty sure it was a driver issue.
I call D-Link customer support. Took five minute for the guy to get my model number, OS, and name. Five minutes. I explain the problem. I’m put on hold. He comes back and asks me how long ago I bought it; I say 2 days. “Oh, return it!” Um, hello? I bought it online and it works in the PC without a problem. I get off the phone with this yutz because I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. I fired off an email to support and go to bed.
Oi. D-Link tells me “We’re testing it now but we don’t know when a new version will be available”. What the hell is that! This is sold as a Mac product! I had a completely clean install of 10.2.6 and it didn’t work. Oh, they also say that while some other people have crashed the majority of their users don’t. Yeah. I believe that. Meanwhile, after trading emails back and forth, they tell me that I can call the tech support line. Yeah. That’s what got me to this point in the first place. Consequently, the AirPort card looks a lot more attractive by now.
As that whole mess was going on, I decided to take apart the iBook just to see if I would have a problem replacing the top part. That is, if I get the part shipped to me from my worried seller. I’m not sure what Apple was thinking when they designed these iBooks… I’ve gotten into a virgin’s pants easier than I did this case. Thankfully I didn’t break anything, on this first trip in… in fact, I actually noticed that one of the speaker wires was crimped and out of shape… I shmoozed that a bit and put it back together… it’s happily charging and has sound again! Nothing fried (well yet anyway) and the sound is back to where it was when I first got it.
While my troubles with D-Link will continue until they get a new driver (translation: many months) I can safely say that my bad Geek-karma lasted exactly 24 hours. The Apple store snafu was just me, being me – the speaker, install, WiFi problem… that’s bad Geek-karma.
Nice to know the gunk has a short life cycle.
Thanks for sharing – I also bought a DWL-122 last week, same deal. Plug it into a hub, it lights up, Profiler says something is there, but the PrefPane denies it’s existence. Plug it directly into the mac – SUPERCRASH. Mas panic o’ kernel. Did in both my ibook 500 and old gumdrop imac 350. Guess calling them will be useless.
Well, I’m sending mine back for an RMA today or tomorrow. They keep telling me that it’s a defective device even though we all know it’s a driver problem. Having since bought an AirPort card at CompUSA this past saturday, I don’t care anymore. I’m going to send it in for “repair”, get the “new” one to sell on eBay – after all it works fine on the PC. I’ll also try it a second time; if it tanks again then I’ll post a review on every online site that reviews the thing explaining how bad it is. Hell hath no fury as a Geek screwed.
iMac 450 / half gig of ram… same stinking issue with ver 1.0.0 of their software. Plugging the dwl-122 into either the onboard usb slot or ext. hub produces a kernal panic. time for the money back.
This is what D-link presales told me after I emailed about this problem, because I also just ordered a DWL-122:
We will have a firmware update for that unit by the end of August that will take care of the problem you indicated.
Ah, cool – much better than the “there’s no problem” response that they gave me for days… thanks for the update!
Same problem here with the DWL-122. Brand new iMac, updated, and clean. Wanted an inexpensive and temporary WiFi solution so I just got the DWL-122. Plugged that damn thing in and crashed it everytime. Got similar response from Dlink – it must be defective, send it back. Dlink needs some pressure put on them to update.
CW – if you talk to someone else at DLink, please feel free to give them the URL to this site. I warned them that there would be some bad press… I mean I’m no MacMinute, but this site does get a few hundres thousand hits every couple of weeks… :)
Aarg … wish I had found these “reviews” before I got my 122 … sees, even “connects” but refuses valid WEP and have had more panic(s) that were clearly due to a “Mac compatible” product in a single morning than in 9months use. OS 10.2.6 iBook 600 / 384MB. For now, will use it in a PC in a friends office. Will also contact d-link in protest of their advertised compatibility. _Possibly_ they will get it right.
Yep, heheh same problem…tech support told me to upgrade to 10.2.6, so I did…the adaptor now connects to the network for about 5 minutes (only when there is no WEP), and then locks up the computer. For some reason, it doesn’t panic now in the same way, just locks up and freezes.
I will put some words here so people searching for info about the dwl-122 on Google will find this site:
dwl-122 trouble
dwl-122 problem
dwl-122 review
dwl-122 reviews
dwl-122 compatible with Mac OS X
See, the fact that it won’t take a valid WEP (it inserted a space for me, so I changed the key but it still wouldn’t work) and that it causes a panic crash means, to me anyway, that it’s a driver problem. Granted firmware is software too, so it might be in that layer, but the WEP stuff is definately at the driver level.
In some ways I’m glad it’s not just me but in others I’m infuriated that this shitty product made it to the light of day AND that D-Link originally tried to tell us that there wasn’t a problem. That type of stuff irks me to no end… admit ya had a problem, tell me you’ll make a new driver for it, but don’t try to make me feel so stupid that I can’t plug in a USB cable – odds are that I’ve spent more time on the crapper with a wireless notebook than these CSR’s have spent online in their entire lives.
Blah.
Yes, it is bad that they market and target it towards Mac users. Also, I have a question: is is necessarily possible for them to make a driver fix for it?
@Cook – Do they have to? Yes, I believe they do, given that they have “Designed for Mac” on the package and Apple will probably grill them on it if they don’t. Will they? I hope so. Will a new driver fix the problems? Hard to say; I think so because of some of the issues I’ve seen with the driver, like WEP support. If the problem with it is something else, then we’re screwed.
Just adding my name to the list. Thought it would be a cheap alternative. HAH. 12 inch G4 Powerbook. Nothing in the preference pane. This sucks a**. And when you call dlink tech support. You get the old fast busy signal, 2 days running. I contacted Apple and told them to spank those boys at DLink.
OUT
I’ve tried this little gem (dwl122) in 3 macs. Oddly enough, in my revA iMac 233, it works like a charm. Plug it into the flat panel Imac or the iBook…..disaster strikes. All 3 are running 10.2.6. Actually, it did work for an hour in the iBook, but the next time (and every time since) that it’s touched the iBook, the kernel panic has ensued. Depressing, cause it could be such a good product.
Damn – I wish I had read about these issues before buying a 122. I don’t experience crashes and I can even connect to wifi networks – it is a pain. 122 never automatically connects, nor does it obtain an ip from a DHCP server – I have to hassle with the network prefs a lot before it works. AND it always stalls the connection and I can’t get it back up – my connection is excellent, i’m sitting next to the base station and *boom* – “no connection”. I always have to reboot. Surprisingly – there’s no way to tell what causes this – sometimes I stay online for hours, sometimes only minutes and the only solution is to reboot. C’mon D-Link, hurry up with the new drivers. Oh, I’m running a 550mhz G4 Titanium PB.
Oh there’s a way to tell why it happens: D-Link sucks :( I give ya kudos for getting it work at all though! You’ve come much further than the rest of us!
Same experience with the DWL-122 on my iMac Rev. B running 10.2.6 on a Sonnet 600MHZ G3. Driver seems to get corrupted at the drop of a hat. System will sometimes not complete Open Firmware boot (grey apple screen with rotating “flower”), crashes with bands of “static” across the screen if DWL-122 is plugged in prior to boot. System halt (screen greys out with message to restart) if you plug the DWL-122 in after boot time (not behaving like a good USB device which ought to load drivers dynamically and not require reboot). When it works, it works well enough, but most often the DWL-122 is a PITA. Often have to reinstall driver to get it to work, and even then it’s a struggle, requiring multiple reboots.
Well, I bought one of these puppies a couple of weeks ago as my ethernet was fried by lightning and I have an iMac 333, which means no AirPort slot. I too was getting the gray screen with static bars. I made three calls to tech support, the first time I got disconnected and the tech never called me back. What the freak did you want my phone number for then? Second call was late at night as I figured that the wait time would be less. The tech couldn’t give me any helpful suggestions and said that the device just may not work with my system. I said that was an unacceptable response and that this was a documented problem, let me talk to your supervisor. The super said that all the senior level techs were gone, but if I called back the next day, I would be bumped up to “Level 3” support immediately. Oooooo, I felt special then and I knew things were looking up. Called back the next day and told the tech that I was supposed to talk to somebody on “Level 3.” This didn’t quite get the response that I was expecting, and I had to recite my problem all over to this guy. He asked me a few questions and even gave me some specifics about my problem which I hadn’t filled him in on. He said that he had a knowledgebase article that described my problem and had a solution, which he would e-mail to me. Well, let me tell you, I must’ve gotten a “Level 3” tech right off the bat, he had our solution! When I received the e-mail, I realized this guy was really a “Level 0” posing as a “Level 3” tech, the e-mail was the installation instructions off of the freakin’ web site! ! !
Well, now I’m really pissed. One last hope. I sent an e-mail through the D-Link site, in hopes that somebody with an I.Q. over 25 would read. The response that I got was to try the new driver. “What new driver?” I thought. Last I checked, there was only one driver for Mac on the site. So I clicked the link in the e-mail and what do you know? there is a new driver! It’s a beta, but nevertheless, it’s new.
Well, I just installed it and the thing linked up just like it was supposed to. It even linked up to my 2Wire HomePortal, which I’ve read some people have had problems with. The only glitch is that if I restart my Mac, the thing stops working. I have to unplug it and plug it back in. This really isn’t much of a problem as my Mac stays running 24/7. So, considering that I really don’t have much alternative for ethernet in my Mac, this little puppy is going to have to stay, and I hope that the final release fixes my one little bug.
Ah, so they finally got off their asses and posted a new (and for the first time) working driver??? Score one for the consumer!
Here’s a direct download url, the driver version is 1.31
http://tsd.dlink.com.tw/info.nsf/2eca71a2a969a08e48256adf002b4b61/3058eeac883f997948256d8d0036e39a?OpenDocument
It’s amazing how badly the driver download section is done on d-link.com … I tried to search for this when I ran into trouble the first time, but couldn’t find it.
Bah – sorry about the last post, feel free to delete it. Turns out that I’m already running 1.3.1 drivers and it’s giving loads of problems.
salda – would you care to share the link they sent you? Or at least the version number of the driver?
Naw, it’s cool to leave it – I’ve since sold off my D-Link USB stuff, but it will help people that land here from Google. Thanks for the link!
Ah – the d-link site was down today, but I finally found the 1.3.2 beta drivers and… it works!
http://www.dlink.com/products/support.asp?pid=175#drivers
I’m still holding my breath, but it’s a major improvement at least.
Well here is an update to my situation. The BETA driver worked for about a week, then the same problems started creeping up again. So I was poking around the Mac section at CompUSA and noticed that Belkin produces a wireless USB adapter (Model #F5d6050-APL) and it just has the “Mac” symbol on the front (even though the system requirements say it works with Windows). The packaging looked encouraging so I picked one up. I had alreadly sent the D-Link adapter back for a refund. Well I’m happy to say that the documentation was very thorough, there were two drivers, one for 10.1 and one for 10.2. It installed like a dream and setup as easily as possible. So far it looks like this is the solution to our problems. If I have any problems with it, I’ll be sure to post.
Can I use the Belkin adapter if I don’t have Jaguar? I’m running 9.
Not a clue, actually – the Belkin adapter was picked up by the built in bluetooth software of Jaguar. I don’t know if OS9 had any built in support for Bluetooth so unless Belkin has an OS9 driver, I wouldn’t think so.
Hi, thanx for all the info, im glad im not alone with the dwl-122 problems!! doing my nut in, thinkin about takin it back to cancom and getting a refund.
Those airport cards for the ibooks? will they just connect to my wireless network or do i have to have an airport basestation??
thanx
chris
I was able to use an AirPort card with my LinkSys and SMC 802.11b Access Points without a problem, so they interop fine. I also believe that the AirPort Extreme card (for the G4 iBook and G4 PowerBooks) interop with 802.11g AP’s (which also means they will work with 802.11b AP’s as well) but I haven’t tried that in a long while.
I just thought I would add to the long list. I too have had problems with the DWL-122. I have made it work, but intermittently my iBook locks up, I mean no error message, nothing. I have to hold power button and reboot. then, to reconnect to DHCP server, I have to unplug DWL-122 from USB port and reconnect it.
It does have decent range, but I will return it and shell out the extra bucks for an airport card. sucks.
also, Randy is correct, airport card should work with any 802.11b compatible wireless router, you don’t need to buy the airport basestation. I have a Dlink router, thinking about switching back to my Linksys. I have read people rave about D-Link, how good it is. My first experience with Dlink has been bad.
Ok, my last post on this. I returned the dwl-122, and got a airport card for my iBook. It installed fine, and found the signal from my dlink router o.k. But, eventhough it logged in fine, I could not get on the internet. hours of searching on apples sight and dlinks resulted in many suggestions but no solution. I finally found by trial and error. I had to change default settings on Dlink router. from higher bandwidth (11mps) to lower setting 1 -2 mps. also, I had to change preamble from short to long. if you have similar trouble with dlink router, email me, I will email screen capture of setup and config file.
Same problems here with the DWL-122 and MAcOSX 10.2.6 with a dual 450 MHz G4 and 768 Mb of RAM :
– hangs on network initialization on OS startup
– does not connect to wi-fi network on startup
– sometimes states “incorrect wep key” and would connect fine next time
– many many many connection drops and system crashes making the device absolutely unusable
I have contacted the D-LINK support by email, providing an extended report of my problems and the system configuration in use. I have also provided in my email various links to web pages included this one, stating this was a common problem with MacOSX many users were facing. They found nothing else to answer than : please install the latest drivers (1.3.2).
So either they just havent’t bothered reading my email stating I was already using 1.3.2 drivers or they just don’t give a shit about users and it is so much easier for them to answer a bullshit rather than to contact the product manager and ask him to fix his drivers.
I was so upset I answered insulting them. I’m going to return this device and never buy any D-link product again.
Has anyone actually got the dlink system preference to state that it is using the 1.3.2 drivers.
I downloaded the 1.3.2 package and uninstalled the installed the new drivers. However after restarting the dlink preference pane states that the 1.3.1 driver is installed! the readme .txt says that these are the 1.3.1 drivers. Will try and contact dlink after new year.
And, while I am running it under panther which isn’t officially supported, I still get the symptom of it completely freezing my computer necessitating a hard restart.
And I thought i was coing to be able to make my BW G3 last a little bit longer. Damn.
I’m very sorry to say that mine has the fucking same problems. If I start LimeWire on my 600Mhz iBook, the connection is lost. If I use it for more than 5 minutes, it hangs the computer. I’m from Brazil, bought it on a trip to the US for 50 bucks on CompUSA. So It’s impossible to return it… And it heats more than a coffee machine, making my 3 hour battery lasts only for 1 hour.
The Airport Card is the way to go… A little more expensive, but it works very well, and stays inside the computer.
Same problem here. DWL-122 purchased on about the 22 of January. I downloaded version 1.3.2 of the drivers and it crashed the crap out of my PB G3 (Lombard model).
BTW – I’m using Panther (officially unsupported…I know).
Its now about half a year i own this piece of sh*t and those SOAB at D-Link don’t even care about the problems.
For google:
Don’t buy D-Link DWL-122!
This USB-Device crashes your Mac and destroys your Filesystem.
What a piece of crap. The DWL-122 quite simply sucks. Whoever is writing their drivers ought to go buy a book on UNIX programming, either that or find some other vocation. Don’t buy this product if you use OSX.
Found this via Google – don’t know if it helps as I’ve been out of the Mac world for a while now:
http://julian.coccia.com/article-53.html
I thought dwl-122 might be a cheap solution for my next ibook, but according to this page d-link doesn’t like Macs.
I’m not going to buy, thank you all.
Sigh. What a drag…
Supposedly there’s a couple of 3rd-party driver for certain PCMCIA/cardbus adapters:
http://www.orangeware.com/endusers/wirelessformac.html
http://www.ioxperts.com/80211b_X.html (these guys even claim compatibility with Panther)
Hmmm… I’m starting to wonder if the problem was with Safari, b/c Safari is supposed to be “crashy” anyway (at least, some versions), and crashed numerous times on me when using dialup. It didn’t cause a system meltdown on dialup, but maybe there’s somthing with the USB that causes a freeze when Safari crashes.
I’ve been surfing with Netscape for a while with no crashes. But I also did just re-install (note the “re” part) the newest DWL-122 driver.
Don’t worry – US DLink support doesn’t answer our emails either.
Also, my crashes cam wihtout ANY application running, so it’s no Safari. At least not with the original and first updated drive on my iBook. Plug it in and it crashed.
Progress?
Here’s what support sent me after I sent them an angry email for telling me the router is the problem (anybody out there with a D-Link router? I can’t change the config on the one at the coffee shop :)
—
I would like you to..
– Disable Super G mode on your D-Link router (DI-6XX) by going into the configuration (192.168.0.1). The option is under “Advanced” –> “Performance”
– Change “short preamble” to “long preamble” (vice versa)
– Run a virus scan in your computer and see if there is any problem with the computer
We are currently working on a new driver for MAC OS and i am not sure when exactly the release date is.
If you haven’t done all the above steps please do so and if you are still having problems please return the product to point of purchase if the return period is still active.
I’ve just fired off an email to our local D-Link support people but if I’d read all this first I wouldn’t have bothered.
The thing is on my slot-loading iMac 350 running 10.2.4 and there’s no pref pane for it even with driver 1.3.2.
Oddly, it works just fine with KisMAC (0.07b), so it *has* to be a driver problem.
Regds, Peter M.
You guys might find it interesting that i’m currently porting the linux wlan-ng driver to osx. Since i have the problem everybody else has and dlink guys are lazy bums i started this a few days ago. So i suppose you will see some results in a few weeks.
Just as a footnote i think the driver would work fine if they just recompiled it with the new sdk and a new firmware(This is just a guess so …). So if you want you could give it a try or wait for my work.
Regards,
RJ
I too have all and every problem described above with the dlink dwl-122 device. The funniest thing about my Tech support call was when the “tech” asked me how far I was from my wireless router.. and I said about 50 ft. The tech then said noway.. that’s lucky then.. the receivers on the dwl-122 shouldn’t go that far!!! WTF is he kidding!!!!!!!!! I restated , “ITS THE 802.11 adapter” NOT THE BLUETOOTH… the tech said yeah, right… then I just blanked out from there in disbelief as he started rambling about Oh no it’s not the drivers.. whatever.. fuck it. Class action Lawsuit anyone??
(Reposting) I also have all and every problem described above with the dlink dwl-122 device. The funniest thing about my Tech support call was when the “tech” asked me how far I was from my wireless router.. and I said about 50 ft. The tech then said noway.. that’s lucky then.. the receivers on the dwl-122 shouldn’t go that far!!! WTF is he kidding!!!!!!!!! I restated , “ITS THE 802.11 adapter” NOT THE BLUETOOTH… the tech said yeah, right… then I just blanked out from there in disbelief as he started rambling about Oh no it’s not the drivers.. whatever.. fuck it. Class action Lawsuit anyone??
Hello Reza, when will your wlan-ng-port be available?
And have you got a website?
thanks for your effort.
how about a class action suit? This is a piece of shit, as is the company.
hi again,
no i dont have any of the data on a website currently.
but im still working on it and hopefully will get the first “alpha” of the driver running soon.
regards
This web site is awesome. I only wish like others I had googled before I bought the DWL-122 for my iMAC. I was lured into the product to put some new life into my aging MAC at an affordable price. ADVICE: don’t buy the product. I would rather spend my time golfing than spending time making the DLINK product work. I called customer service several times and they denied any problem with the product. In fact, they sent me to my Broadband supplier (Roadrunner), and my router supplier (NETGEAR). I could get the DWL-122 to see my network, but I could never get to the internet. I spent all of the time I want to on this product. It is going back to COMPUSA today for a refund. I am going to try the Belkin (Model #F5d6050-APL) which I got advice from a previous poster. I’ll let you know how it goes. Run away from the DLink product.
Glad we could help :)
i too am running panther 10.3.3 on a g4 400mhz with the dlink dwl-122. on os X jaguar, had no problems after updating the driver. Moving to panther was a nightmare with this piece of crap. i get about 5 min of work time and then, like everyone else, major crash. called dlink today and talked to tech support and he acted like it was the first timt he head of it crashing a mac… since I bought the piece at best buy a month ago, I can not take it back. am going to go postal on the guys at dlink till I get me way…
I used this piece of crap for about 7-8 months. It corrupted my operating system eventually (10.2.8) causing freezes and crashes. I got it to work with panther but I had to unplug it and plug it in everytime which was a nuisance. Never very stable it disconnected intermittently the whole time I used it.
For owners of blue & white G3s looking for a device to connect their desktop to an airport station I would recommend Buffalo Tech’s wireless desktop adapter-g. It doesn’t install any annoying drivers, instead it uses apple’s airport utility. I just bought it from compusa for 70 bucks and it works like a charm!
Bye-bye, d-link, I will never buy any of your products again!!
joe
OK, i was experimenting with de 1.3.2 Drivers:
When you use Mozilla or Firefox, there are no freezes.
When using it without extension cable, the adaptor gets really hot in my ibook (maybe because of the harddisk)
and eventually after 15 Minutes or so loses connection.
If you use it with the extension cable, it doesn’t lose the connection. I tried it and it worked for 2h.
So:
Safari could be the Problem!
Of course, the Driver is shitty, but there seems to be a Problem with Safari too.
I hope there will be a better driver soon.
Phil
Why didn’t i spot this site before shelling out the cash for the 122. It is never recognised at start-up and has to be plugged and un-plugged to get it running. Then my eMac totally freezes after a few minutes. I am also experiencing occasional total crashes when plugging the thing in. D-Link technical support want to replace the device as faulty, but i am sure the one i have is ok.
This may not improve most of the readers situations but I can help somewhat.
On 10.3 (and 10.2) OsxUsbDriver 1.3.2 is better (slightly) than the previous driver. If you unplug then replug the adapter it should reestablish the connection and obtain an IP but if an application or the OS initiates network activity when you reconnect you get a kernal panic. This includes network devices if internet sharing is on. Stop all internet related programs before you try resetting the dwl122. Not full proof but improves your odds.
Finally gave in and bought an Airport Extreme card for my eMac that works perfectly with my D-Link 614+ Router (not a single crash or freeze since installation). Well worth the extra 30ukp. I will be selling the 122 on eBay to a PC user.
I have an aging iMac G3 600Mhz running 10.3.4. I have the same problems: have to unplug/replug the adapter every time I log off or restart to get a connection AND occassional system freezes. Frank’s June 24th description of the product and drivers summarizes my experience.
When I had 10.2.8 installed, the previous drivers crashed my system AND hard drive. Had to replace HD myself.
I hope to use Reza’s drivers…if not, I’ll buy the Buffalo/Airport alternative.
10.3.4, B&W G3. Same problems — freeze, the driver loses coherency after a restart, etc. (WHich is to say, if I restart and go into the control panel, instead of the right values in the dropdowns, it’s got “Item 1”, “Item 2” etc.) 1.3.1, but it doesn’t sound like 2 is any better. I’ll be returning this and ordering something better, probably a SMC 2671W.
Another customer warned me about this when I was buying the 122, but it seemed wortht he gamble, since I couldn’t find anything else locally — I guess that’s what I get for wanting instant gratification.
A little deja vu,
Got a user ibook 500, 500mhz, Panther, OS X 10.3 from eBay and now looking to go wireless. Like Randy? Bit for the dwl-122 before arriving here. It’s in the mail. But after reading the bad press here, am afraid to plug it into my ibook when it arrives. Wouldn’t know what to do if it crashed everything. Suggestion?
Frugal newbie
This all now works a bit better if you get the v1.4.7 driver from D-LINK. I am using it on a Blue iMac Classic with OS 10.3.5 and it never crashes the Mac.
It sometimes can’t find the wireless network on wake from sleep or restart, but normally finds it after 30 seconds or so.
Works very well most of the time. v1.4.7 isn’t easy to find, do a Google search for it.
v1.4.7 worked well on my slot loading iMac with 10.2
However the driver seriously crashes 10.3 on my Blue and White.
I have spend hours trying to get this to work and will never buy a D-Link product again
that’s what you get for being cheap ass bitch! Buy good gear, have no problems. By cheap gear and suffer the consequences!
Um. No offence, dude, but it’s “Certified for Mac” – the problem is 1/2 that DLink sucks and 1/2 that Apple allows their customers to be mislead by giving a certification to a sucky product. So piss off.
What is needed for class action law suit? We have the support and the problems are repeatable. I would like someone to take the initiative or at least tell me how as I would gladly do this.
thought i would add in my two cents – i have TWO of these things and both would crash my 800mhz ibook after about 10-15 min. (using safari mostly) i also found them unreliable on a desktop PC. somebody should forward this page to d-link! :) well at least they are TRYING to support the mac…. ha!