What follows is a sad tale of stupidity, but told in the hopes of saving 
others grief...

boy, do i feel stupid... it appears i've ended up with a 
mini-paperweight after an attempt to 'upgrade' a new Proxim rangelan-ds 
pcmcia wireless net card...

i couldn't get the card to work with NetBSD or Linux... however, upon 
browsing, i ran across a web page with a link to a firmware updater app 
that *supposedly* would enable access point features of the card and help 
compatibility issues...

i should have known better, but in a fit of exuberant hopefulness i 
followed the posted and included directions, which said to get the card 
working under [shudder] Win98se, and then to run the flash utility...

inserted the card, configured and used it - it worked perfectly...

ran the firmware update, which reported the card, its MAC address and 
firmware version... 

clicked the Update button...

the update started and ...

promptly hung and locked the system... upon reboot, the card was reported 
as "not working correctly," and of course, the firmware update program 
couldn't find the card...

it felt like the quickest $40+(US) i've ever spent... the funny thing is, 
i remember thinking, "Am i really sure i want to do this?".... 

and now i know... 

:-(

i guess if there were a point to this it would be "look before you leap" 
and "research before you press buttons"... i should have verified with 
other users on the upgrade and model, and not have used a upgrade utility 
unless it was from the manufacturer...

or perhaps stick with known, working hardware?

oh well...

billy 'the idiot' ball

On Mon, 14 Jan 2002, billy ball wrote:

> - i wish i could have reported SUCCESS with this card, as it is relatively 
> inexpensive...
>