Issue Alfa AWUS036H Works in Linux + XP BUT NOT Win7 / Vista

Discussion in 'Xiaopan Support' started by rioboy, 16 Oct 2013.

  1. rioboy

    rioboy Well-Known Member

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    did you test under linux if injection and packet collection is at a fast rate with same antenna setup?

    We can have a strong signal but a low quality connection.

    Again today Alfa running under xp in win 7 , no connection issues or dropouts with 92% signal (stable) and link quality
    63% - 74%

    thats driver 5.1313.613.2008

    I wonder if there will be a power benefit or better sensitivity for weaker signals ect with the newer drivers, like win 7 compared to the xp drivers that were as I see better built.

    Perhaps trying for win 7 drivers may be fruitless but never the less we like to test to get better results than we have :)
     
  2. kevsamiga

    kevsamiga Well-Known Member
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    Trouble is I can't install or use the Windows XP driver on Windows 7 64-bit. You are on 32-bit Win 7 where it maybe works but I have 4Gb ram and a gfx card that would eat half of the virtual address space under 32-bit so i'm not keen on changing OS to x86.

    Signal strength and Signal Q using 036H for me is high at the same time but still get random drops. Adapter works fine in linux and injects quickly. I tried with and without powered hub (raspberry pi certified one that doesn't back feed power to the USB ports.).

    My Alfa is a brand new couple of weeks old V5 1000mw version. But reading around the net, I am not the only one suffering from "random disconnections" using this adapter.

    I think it's a possibility that it might matter what OS you are on, or matters whether you are 32 or 64-bit as to whether you get a "working" driver or not for this adapter all else being equal.

    There are plenty of Vista x64 drivers to test going way back in time, but most do not work on Win7 x64 without .inf modifications, or you get "service name is already in use" error when trying to install them.

    If I find anything useful, or a "modified to install under 7" Vista X64 driver that does work, I'll be the first to share the results...

    My last overnight drop test failed, so i'm going back further in the driver history for x64. Like I said, I also have an 036NH that doesn't drop with the same setup/signal or scenario. And network has been switched to exclusive Wireless G mode for max compatibility with 036H.

    There's just no way the connection should be dropping with an 80/80 signal. And also the NH does not drop on same setup. This is why I'm investigating it...because newer drivers doesn't mean "better". I'm trying to get to find what went wrong where in the driver release notes.

    I want to know why 5.1207 on XP works without any disconnection trouble, yet on Vista/7 the drivers (i've tested so far) don't work without "trouble". It's a difficult bug to find because you could stay connected for hours until it happens. But it doesn't happen at all on 5.1207 under XP that's for sure.

    Anyway, looks like my Kasens G9000 is on it's way with same 8187L chip, so that should be interesting for testing the hardware side of elimination at least.
     
    #42 kevsamiga, 1 Nov 2013
    Last edited: 1 Nov 2013
  3. Mr. Penguin

    Mr. Penguin Administrator
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    Another alternative is to pair an ALFA R36 with it to make it work. Bit costly, but good workaround.
     
  4. kevsamiga

    kevsamiga Well-Known Member
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    Yes, but too costly just to fix a driver "problem". The 5.1207 and 5.1221 drivers work great under XP without no issues and no drops.

    I think reliable x64 drivers are going to be a dead end for this great piece of hardware, I tested all the Vista x64 versions back to 6.1262 on Windows 7 x64 (using Win7 .inf overwritten) with same results of random disconnections so there doesn't appear to be any usable driver for x64 that's going to stay connected for too long a time.

    Think I will install Win7 x86 after all, and have a play around with drivers for that instead, because otherwise it's a glorified doorstop on x64.
    --- Double Post Merged, 2 Nov 2013 ---
    ----

    Well I just completed the Windows 7 x86 install for comparison, and guess what.... ?

    After weeks of constantly toiling with 64-bit drivers for this ALFA 036H card on Windows 7 Ultimate x64, thinking it was somehow defective or broken, it is not after all.

    It turns out the RTL8187L 64-bit drivers are (all of them will disconnect) which is a bold statement to make true as it is however now I can finally see how much more reliable the 32-bit versions of the drivers are.

    My persistent disconnection issues are now solved using 6.1313 driver on Windows 7 x86 (the Vistax86 one) haven't tried any others except for 5.1221 (Windows XP) which also works.

    I have a nice boost in throughput speeds too, whereas the 64-bit version was like travelling on a sloth.

    So my conclusion is that 64-bit and 036H is a bad, bad, bad combination and does not mix. Stay away.

    Finally I can use the ALFA 036H as intended. :)
     
    #44 kevsamiga, 2 Nov 2013
    Last edited: 2 Nov 2013
  5. rioboy

    rioboy Well-Known Member

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    This disconnection symptom I experience in win 7 x32 is that network sharing centre shows

    "connected but limited connectivity"

    Viewing network connection status there ar TX packets but no RX packets at all.

    All was well until last night it disconnected, my internal ip was correct 192.168 x x then after some time my alarm sounded a reconection, I didnt time it but it was maybe 15 min ofline.

    Other times when 1st boot win 7 PC wont connect with AP at all

    Either AP is not giving IP to PC or its win 7 as the IP (internal) shows as 169.254 x x (as I remember) and rebooting several times its not changing the IP.

    When its connected and disconnection comes its not ISP changing the AP IP as I have a monitor alarm that alerts IP changes.

    I think win 7 has connectivity bugs as googling this disconnect subject it appears a wide spread issue that I dont see any resolution. I do try rebuilding/resetting winsock and TCP/PS stack and some times that allegedly resolves the no connection but the random disconnects are still haunting.

    Im dual booting UBUNTU 13.04 with XP on another Laptop and when Im more experienced with Linux I will move over 100% but there are some software I rely on that dont emulate well with wine and are not written for Linux but for XP.

    If I think back I had less issues in the days of XP than I have now with MS upgrading to Vista, Win 7.

    Alfa solution I see best so far is run under XP compatibility SP3 for win 7 and Im not even thinking of migration to win 8 even if they pay me!

    But we like to test and stretch the limits of what we have to behave better :)
    --- Double Post Merged, 2 Nov 2013 ---
    did you find any difference between 5.1313.613.2008 compared to the 5.1207 and 5.1221?

    If so I might change to slightly older versions if any better in terms of holding weaker signals and power output than the disconect issue as I dont have that issue in XP with 5.1313.

    I dont have all drivers on this PC to search righ now but where are they?

    In the file share link you kindly provided earlier
     
    #45 rioboy, 2 Nov 2013
    Last edited: 2 Nov 2013
  6. kevsamiga

    kevsamiga Well-Known Member
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    5.1207 comes from the old ALFA 036h CD (500mw adapter) which I found an .iso on net for.

    5.1221 is recommended by data alliance site articles to not go higher than on XP or the drivers become flaky, which I also hunted down and found.

    I have both these old XP drivers aquired and burned to DVD...

    They seem reliable enough and stable as suggested, and may be slightly more sensitive as indicated in the article ( and before they started to make Vista drivers ) from 2005-2006 period.

    5.1221 works ok forced on Win7 x86, but 5.1207 will not and freeze your machine requiring removal from safe mode (so don't try to use 5.1207 on Win7 x86).

    They both work fine on XP as intended. And the "old" control panels along with them seem less bug ridden.

    I stopped trying them however, because having power control is important to me, but they seem to work just as well as the newer ones. You might have more luck. I may return to trying them later.

    Regarding Windows 7 i've noticed the following suggestions combing the net :

    Disable USB selective suspend in Win7 if not already disabled (Selective suspend was default disabled on Vista, enabled on Win7) and untick power manangemnt in usb root hubs and ALFA adapter in device manager (far right tab). Selective suspend can wreak havoc with wireless network adapters.

    (For XP you need MicrosoftFixit50052 to do the same under XP)

    Disable and remove IPv6 from network connections if you are not using it.

    Try a Y cable or a powered usb hub. Try a shorter usb micro cable to 036H (voltage drop over distance etc.)

    Heatsink the RTL8187L chip.

    I'm still investigating some combinations of these suggestions with various driver versions. No conclusions reached as yet. TTFN.

    5.1207 & 5.1221 full drivers with CP's zipped.

    Old ALFA 036H WinXP
     
    #46 kevsamiga, 2 Nov 2013
    Last edited: 2 Nov 2013
  7. rioboy

    rioboy Well-Known Member

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    --- Double Post Merged, 3 Nov 2013 ---
    always had usb selective disabled and always no power management :)

    Funny enough I had started to look for a suitable heat sink for RTL187L

    I have a big stick of Artic silver for the bonding so that will be handy, perhaps even a thermal pad with a nice piece of pure copper might do the trick. I have pure copper shims 15mmx15mm x 1.5mm thick leftover from a GPU rework/thermal temp lowering mod they just might fit ontop of RTL8187L, will check it out .

    IPv6 always not enabled.

    Got a powered hub on order so that will give a reliable 1amp when running full TX power.

    I tried your mod drivers for vista but no luck and trying to run XP forced I get error same service name in use or words to that effect, I had a look through registry but no entrys to delete.

    Will try these old XP drivers now and report back.

    Thinking about the disconnections its feasible that some or all drivers may well reduce power output when RTL8187L gets overheated so Im still hopeful a nice heatsink or a small fan on an exposed case as a test? :) sudden reduced power output equals a drooped connection

    Thx!
     
    #47 rioboy, 3 Nov 2013
    Last edited: 3 Nov 2013
  8. kevsamiga

    kevsamiga Well-Known Member
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    A powered hub with a 2A (500ma x4 ports) adapter will supply a full 2A to a single port if nothing else is plugged in.

    I now strongly believe/suspect the 6.1316 Windows 7 driver of both x86 and x64 variants is seriously broken and behaves sporadically and inconsistent. Slow throughput and dropped connections, with sometimes not even being able to even make a connection half the time.

    It is listed as a beta driver at the realtek site, with the last decent ones being x.1313 from 2010.

    This means also *do not use* the ALFA drivers as shipped on the CD for Windows 7. They are broken and don't work 100%.

    Stick with x.1314 and below even for Windows 7. You need at least x.1314 for TX power control anyway.

    There are these drivers that work fine for Windows 7 doing a google search (install in Vista compatiblity mode) :

    RTL8187L_WindowsDriver_6.1313.0613.2008_UI_1.00.0115
    RTL8187L_WindowsDriver_6.1313.0613.2008_UI_1.00.0116
    RTL8187L_WindowsDriver_6.1313.0613.2008_UI_1.00.0125

    Above drivers really include 6.1314 driver for TX power control not 6.1313 as suggested.

    And of course there is 6.1313 itself which is also fine, but then no TX power control anymore.

    The Win7 TX power control 6.1316 ones on either 32-bit or 64-bit are seriously busted, and you will have nothing but grief trying to use them like I did and think your ALFA 036H is defective/broken when it's just a bad driver causing it.

    Or just stick with x.1313 and forget about tinkering with the power levels except under linux.
     
    #48 kevsamiga, 3 Nov 2013
    Last edited: 3 Nov 2013
  9. rioboy

    rioboy Well-Known Member

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    got 5.1221 working in vista x32, tried your other download with no joy even tried running forced XP.

    My Vista compatibility only showed upto XP SP2 and not SP3 like I have in win 7, perhaps if I had SP3 option it may work? Who knows? Strange that I had no SP3 option there to try.

    So 5.1221 running forced XP SP2 on Vista x32 so far.

    Will look at a heat sink mod tomorrow on all my Adapters

    I need to try out a Y cable for AWUS036H although it never had one supplied it might help.

    I think NHR has a Y cable supplied I will see when its delivered.

    But subject to future testing I do believe that driver issues can be attributed to that Chip gets to a particular temperature and drivers cut back on power output hence a dropped connection or a cycling connection like a changed ISP IP just occurred.

    Any thoughts?
     
  10. kevsamiga

    kevsamiga Well-Known Member
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    The Y cable is only of use for USB 1.1 or old laptops from the 1990's that do not supply enough power to the USB ports. That's why the cable was dropped from the package to save costs. But it doesn't hurt to have a couple in your inventory for diagnosis. Startech do Y cables on amazon cheap.

    A powered hub is the way to go though, just to be sure the ports on that fries instead of a costly motherboard usb port, even a pci usb card would do the trick and protect your mb ports from disaster, and you know your getting the full power if you need to from a powered usb hub.

    The trouble with testing the dropouts, is there are so many variables involved with radio wave propagation and multipath effects to account for including weather, trees and destructive interference, that it is hard to establish any kind of blame for X or Y with drivers or control panel or chip itself. Except to say my 036NH doesn't suffer from the same disconnections/stunted throughput anomaly. I believe the card works well under XP, but Vista or 7 is hit and miss. For instance sometimes I can be working with a connection 100% fine in XP, and reboot into a dual boot Windows 7, and then I can't even establish a connection, or if it does I get lower link speeds and/or the connection grinds to a halt.

    I will probably recieve the Kasens 8187L next week I ordered, so I will be able to compare if things are any different with this adapter compared to 036H to elimate hardware problems at least.
    --- Double Post Merged, 4 Nov 2013 ---
    I might add you could always try running in 802.11b mode to see if that stabilizes anything...seems to make a difference for me.

    In this case, the power overheating theory is out the window because 11b uses more power (CCK vs OFDM modulation). It seems more reliable however, not less.
     
    #50 kevsamiga, 4 Nov 2013
    Last edited: 4 Nov 2013
  11. rioboy

    rioboy Well-Known Member

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    Im not sure if a need thread should be started as its a different Alfa but.............

    I got my hands on AWUS036HNR and guess what?

    I ran the Alfa CD on win 7 and vista never worked.

    I downloaded from Realtek and the open folder is

    (BV5)RTLWlanU_1021.3.0912.2012_UI_1.00.0199.SupportALL.L

    In win 7 x86 device manager I have just this driver

    RTWlanU.sys
    1021.3.912.2012
    12/09/2012
    Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

    I need a brain drain.....LOL
     
  12. kevsamiga

    kevsamiga Well-Known Member
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    Should of got an NH or NHA.

    Not as much driver niggles with Ralink or Atheros it appears. :)

    I hear plenty of stories about NHR dying on ppl prematurely, but I guess you will find this one out for yourself...maybe.
     
  13. Mr. Penguin

    Mr. Penguin Administrator
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  14. rioboy

    rioboy Well-Known Member

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  15. Mr. Penguin

    Mr. Penguin Administrator
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    @Crackerz Wave see if ALFA will send this device for testing and for promotion :)
     
  16. rioboy

    rioboy Well-Known Member

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    NH spec

    Sensitivity
    11b: -92dBm
    11g: -76dBm
    11n: -73dBm

    HNR spec

    Sensitivity
    11b: -96dBm
    11g: -92dBm
    11n: -91dBm

    NHR superior sensitivity if drivers never gave install headaches :)

    So update on NHR it runs again forced compat' XP mode in win 7 will see if Linux is OK later.
     
  17. kevsamiga

    kevsamiga Well-Known Member
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    This "ALFA rabbit" contraption looks the complete shiznits, even tho it's probably fake...tho the disk and the antenna's look semi "official" :)

    Buy ALFA USB 6000mW 802.11b/g/n 150Mbps Wi-Fi Wireless Network Adapter - Black

    Ralink 3070 drivers won't or don't give much "hassle". I'm going to find experimenting with these knockoffs kind of interesting, to see how they stack up to the real deal, because I too aint having much luck with ALFA cards since I got them, well the drivers at least anyway.
     
    #57 kevsamiga, 6 Nov 2013
    Last edited: 6 Nov 2013
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  18. Mr. Penguin

    Mr. Penguin Administrator
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  19. Crackerz Wave

    Crackerz Wave The Dictator

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    I dont know if they will send as we didnt contact them for so long, And Fantasma didnt have the time to make the product review video
     
  20. Mr. Penguin

    Mr. Penguin Administrator
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    That was disappointing :(
     

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