Reverting back to an older driver version?

cwa107


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Quick question for the group - is it possible to revert to a previous driver version for the AirCard?

Just a few days ago, Software Update prompted me to download and install a newer AirCard driver to ensure compatibility with the new AirPort Express. I OK'ed the installation and everything seemed to be OK for an hour or two.

Now, whenever I move out of range of my wireless router, the AirCard refuses to reconnect to my router when I get back in range. This wasn't a problem at all prior to this driver version. Sometimes my wireless connection would drop and then I would have to manually reconnect it when I moved back in range. For some reason, when I attempt to do this now, I get "Error joining network 'cwa107'". I can disable the wireless card and re-enable it, but it will still spit out the same message - even if I move within inches of the router. If I reboot the machine, everything is great - but it will refused to reconnect until that time.

I don't really care to try to troubleshoot my range issue at this point - I just want to know what I can do to rejoin the wireless network without having to reboot my machine. I am using a Linksys WRT54GL router with hi-gain antennas. It's running the latest firmware version (which hasn't changed in some time).

I'm thinking this is some sort of bug in the newer driver version, but I don't see any way to remove or revert from the Software Update. Am I missing something?

TIA for any insight you might have.
 
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cwa107

cwa107


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Bump

Anyone have any ideas on this? Are there any tweaks or tricks I can use to troubleshoot intermittent wireless connectivity issues? It doesn't seem to be getting any better no matter what I try. What's worse is that when the connection drops, I just can't seem to get it to pick back up without a reboot.

TIA for any ideas you might have. I'm willing to try just about anything.
 
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cwa107

cwa107


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Apparently I'm not the only one. I was looking on Apple's own support forum and there's quite a few people having similar issues.

This is really aggravating. I guess they don't beta test these driver updates with 3rd party routers. No one with AirPort routers seems to be having any trouble. I'd love to buy an Airport Express, but they're WAY too pricey and I know the problem is not my Linksys router, but a poorly coded driver.

I don't want to have to reinstall OS X just to rid myself of this driver. There has to be some way to revert back.
 
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cwa107

cwa107


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Found the answer to my question - just in case anyone else is wondering and/or having the same problems (it seems to be a very widespread issue, I'm surprised we haven't seen more threads pop up).
 
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cwa107

cwa107


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That link leads to Macfixit and i have no membership

Wow! That wasn't protected content when I looked at it. I don't have membership either - didn't realize it was necessary. Fortunately, the process is very straightforward.

1. Download the Mac OS X 10.4.8 update from Apple's support site.
2. Download Pacifist (used for extracting files from the package).
3. Mount the OS X 10.4.8 update DMG file.
4. Open Pacifist
5. Drag the .pkg file from the DMG file and drop it onto the Pacifist window.
6. Click the triangle next to System, go to Library, go to Extensions and then drag and drop IO80211Family.kext to your desktop
7. Open Macintosh HD and browse to System -> Library -> Extensions.
8. Drag and drop the IO80211Family.kext file from your desktop into the Extensions folder.
9. You will get an error message, be sure to click on 'Authenticate'. You'll be prompted for your password and then the file will replace the existing.

Reboot your Mac and you'll find that you're now back on the old driver. To confirm this, run Software Updates and you'll notice that it wants to install the 2007-001 update (don't do it!).
 

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