Does WirelessMon work on Vista

[bertle]

I have a network in which I have some of the computers running Vista and eventually I will have all of them running Vista the network is wireless but the wireless management of Vista is not what I expected.
Thanks,
Bertle

[TimR]

Some initial testing with Vista shows WirelessMon will work in a limited capacity in the current build and we could connect to an open network without any trouble.

You will need to be running with Administrator privileges or you will get security warnings. You will also need to manually disable the "WLAN Autoconfig" service or you will receive a warning about not being able to disable the WZC service.

It is also likely you will get the "Cannot find corresponding network counters" message so some statistics will be unavailable.

We are planning to do some more testing and release a Vista version in a few months.


http://www.passmark.com/ftp/Wimon_in_vista_resized.jpg

[bertle]

I did as you wrote and disabled the wlan service manually everything worked fine until I restarted the computer after that wirelessmon could not see my wireless card. On the machine I used for the test the wireless card is a intel 2200bg mini pci. Can you tell me what I need to do.
Thanks,
bertle

[TimR]

This is most likely because the service was restarted when windows restarted. If you don't want the service to start automatically you will need to double click on it and change the startup type to manual. This will stop Vista from restarting the service when it reboots, of course it will also mean you won't be able to manage your wireless connections with vista while it is off.We are hoping to turn this service off when WirelessMon is started and restart it when WirelessMon exists in much the same way that it is done in the current version of WirelessMon for the WZC.

[ondrovic]

Has anyone been able to make it work under Vista Fianl ( RTM 6000 ) ? I installed it this morning and everytime I try to launch it I get an application crash.

[BurningSensation]

I am running Vista Ultimate RTM (build 6000) on a Dell D620 with an Intel Pro/Wireless 3945 ABG and I can't get WirelessMon to work. Anyone else have any luck.

[TimR]

Could you please post some details as to how it isn't working, eg error messages, crash addresses if they are present, what sort of user account you were using when you installed and ran it etc.

[BurningSensation]

After disabling the WLAN Auto Config service I start WirelessMon, I get the expected error about performance counters, then WirelessMon opens adn Nothing. Attached is the debug log details:

0.015s - DEBUG: Starting...
0.015s - DEBUG: WirelessMon V2 Build: 1008
0.015s - Debug: OS 6.0.6000.2 (0.0)
0.015s - DEBUG: New Instance of WLAN802_11 class initialized successfully
0.015s - DEBUG: Service control manager opened
0.015s - DEBUG: Network Driver Interface service opened
0.015s - DEBUG: Network Driver Interface started
0.015s - DEBUG: Network Card Service has been started successfully
0.031s - DEBUG: WZCSVC Service could not be stopped
0.031s - DEBUG: InitDialog start
0.031s - UpdateHexConst - numHexs: 1 - imgwidth: 0 - imgHeight: 0
0.452s - DEBUG: Tab Control has been created successfully
0.452s - DEBUG PERF: Found perf functions in DLL
0.452s - DEBUG: Graphic has been Initialized successfully
0.468s - InitCounter start
0.499s - pfPdhEnumObjectItems returned PDH_CSTATUS_NO_OBJECT, call GetLocalCounterString
0.499s - GetLocalCounterString start
0.530s - GetLocalCounterString end
0.530s - Network Interface0.530s -
0.546s - DEBUG: pfPdhEnumObjectItems call failed - status: -1073738824 interface name: Network Interface comp name: .
0.546s - DEBUG: SetWindowPos
0.546s - DEBUG: ListView_GetColumn
0.561s - DEBUG: ListView_SetColumn
0.561s - DEBUG: loop ListView_SetColumn
0.561s - DEBUG: InitDialog finish
0.561s - DEBUG: check mini mode
0.873s - DEBUG: get user details
0.889s - DEBUG: check edition
0.951s - DEBUG: WelcomeDlg WM_INITDIALOG
0.951s - DEBUG: WelcomeDlg WM_INITDIALOG end
2.293s - DEBUG: WelcomeDlg IDCONTINUEON
2.309s - em != NULL && ky != NULL
2.324s - DEBUG: SetupStart start
2.340s - DEBUG: WLAN802_11->InitInstance
2.340s - DEBUG: WLAN802_11->EnumerateDevices
2.340s - Debug: Network card 1: Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller - Deterministic Network Enhancer Miniport \DEVICE\{D9F8496A-0CCB-4157-A422-F1AC54CBAC95}
2.355s - Debug: Network card 2: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection \DEVICE\{238DC4B3-3A77-4310-8B83-1D3CC0C91661}
2.355s - DEBUG: Network card 2 has been selected by string parse
2.371s - Debug: successfully opened this device: \DEVICE\{238DC4B3-3A77-4310-8B83-1D3CC0C91661}
2.371s - DEBUG: WLAN802_11App::GetAssociatedAP start
2.371s - DEBUG: WLAN802_11App::GetAssociatedAP end
2.387s - DEBUG: Begin to find access point nearby
2.387s - DEBUG: SetAccessPoint entry
2.387s - DEBUG: Get AP list information
2.402s - GetAPList: GetAPList entry
2.402s - GetAPList: m_dwIOCTL_NDISUIO_SET_OID_VALUE failed - 31
2.418s - GetAPList: sent m_dwIOCTL_NDISUIO_SET_OID_VALUE
2.418s - 31 A device attached to the system is not functioning.

2.418s - GetAPList: GetAPList exit
2.418s - DEBUG: SetAccessPoint exit
2.433s - DEBUG: DSConfig read OK
2.433s - DEBUG: SetWLIP start
2.433s - DEBUG: GetIPInformation entry
2.433s - DEBUG: Starting iteration of adapters
2.449s - Debug: Network card 9: {238DC4B3-3A77-4310-8B83-1D3CC0C91661} has been found by GetAdaptersInfo
2.449s - DEBUG: Device driver and IP information matched by string match
2.449s - DEBUG: Begin lease time process
2.449s - DEBUG: End lease time process
2.465s - DEBUG: GetIPInformation exit
2.465s - GetBytesCounter start
2.465s - InstanceMatchesDesc start - matching Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection - card index 1
8.736s - DEBUG: SetWLIP end
8.736s - DEBUG: begin of set statistics
8.751s - DEBUG: end of set statistics
8.751s - DEBUG: SetupStart end
8.767s - DEBUG: enter message loop

[TimR]

There is a new build of WirelessMon available from http://www.passmark.com/ftp/wirelessmon2.0.1009-c.exe that should automatically stop/start the WLAN Autoconfig service as well as prompting WirelessMon to run in the elevated administrator mode that it is required to run correctly. It should also fix the "Cannot find corresponding network counters" problem occuring in Vista.

Please try this version and let me know how it goes.

[PaulC]

Running Vista RTM and ver 2.0.1009.
The program starts fine with no error messages, however no APs or any info is listed.
Debug screen below. 0.873 secs seems to be the error?

0.000s - DEBUG: Starting...
0.000s - DEBUG: WirelessMon V2 Build: 1009
0.000s - Debug: OS 6.0.6000.2 (0.0)
0.000s - DEBUG: New Instance of WLAN802_11 class initialized successfully
0.000s - DEBUG: Service control manager opened
0.000s - DEBUG: Network Driver Interface service opened
0.000s - DEBUG: Network Driver Interface started
0.000s - DEBUG: Network Card Service has been started successfully
0.000s - DEBUG: Wlansvc Service has been requested to stop
0.499s - DEBUG: Wlansvc Service stopped
0.499s - DEBUG: InitDialog start
0.499s - UpdateHexConst - numHexs: 1 - imgwidth: 0 - imgHeight: 0
0.795s - DEBUG: Tab Control has been created successfully
0.795s - DEBUG PERF: Found perf functions in DLL
0.795s - DEBUG: Graphic has been Initialized successfully
0.811s - InitCounter start
0.858s - DEBUG: All strings Intel[R] PRO_1000 PL Network Connection
0.858s - DEBUG: Intel[R] PRO_1000 PL Network Connection
0.858s - DEBUG: Intel[R] PRO_Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
0.858s - InitCounter finish
0.858s - DEBUG: SetWindowPos
0.858s - DEBUG: ListView_GetColumn
0.858s - DEBUG: ListView_SetColumn
0.858s - DEBUG: loop ListView_SetColumn
0.858s - DEBUG: InitDialog finish
0.858s - DEBUG: check mini mode
0.873s - DEBUG: get user details
0.873s - DEBUG: check edition
0.873s - DEBUG: SetupStart start
0.873s - DEBUG: WLAN802_11->InitInstance
0.873s - DEBUG: WLAN802_11->EnumerateDevices
0.873s - Debug: Network card 1: Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) \DEVICE\{BE042644-3F5C-4456-8031-A3E9277CB963}
0.873s - Debug: Network card 2: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection \DEVICE\{8C5139CA-3914-4BBF-B79F-293452EA0482}
0.873s - Debug: Network card 3: Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network Connection \DEVICE\{B889C432-6378-4DB7-B462-A0ADBE456478}
0.873s - DEBUG: Network card 2 has been selected by string parse
0.873s - Debug: successfully opened this device: \DEVICE\{8C5139CA-3914-4BBF-B79F-293452EA0482}
0.873s - DEBUG: WLAN802_11App::GetAssociatedAP start
0.873s - DEBUG: WLAN802_11App::GetAssociatedAP end
0.873s - DEBUG: Begin to find access point nearby
0.873s - DEBUG: SetAccessPoint entry
0.873s - DEBUG: Get AP list information
0.873s - GetAPList: GetAPList entry
0.873s - GetAPList: m_dwIOCTL_NDISUIO_SET_OID_VALUE failed - 31
0.889s - GetAPList: sent m_dwIOCTL_NDISUIO_SET_OID_VALUE
0.889s - 31 A device attached to the system is not functioning.
0.889s - GetAPList: GetAPList exit
0.889s - DEBUG: SetAccessPoint exit
0.889s - DEBUG: DSConfig read OK
0.889s - DEBUG: SetWLIP start
0.889s - DEBUG: GetIPInformation entry
0.905s - DEBUG: Starting iteration of adapters
0.905s - Debug: Network card 12: {BE042644-3F5C-4456-8031-A3E9277CB963} has been found by GetAdaptersInfo
0.905s - Debug: Network card 9: {8C5139CA-3914-4BBF-B79F-293452EA0482} has been found by GetAdaptersInfo
0.905s - DEBUG: Device driver and IP information matched by string match
0.905s - DEBUG: Begin lease time process
0.905s - DEBUG: End lease time process
0.905s - DEBUG: GetIPInformation exit
0.905s - GetBytesCounter start
0.905s - InstanceMatchesDesc start - matching Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection - card index 1
0.905s - matching against Intel[R] PRO_1000 PL Network Connection
0.905s - matching against Intel[R] PRO_Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
0.905s - no match, trying symbol replacement match
0.905s - matching Intel(R) against Intel(R)
0.905s - matching Intel(R) against Intel(R)
0.905s - No match, trying alpahnumeric match0.920s - matching IntelRPROWireless3945ABGNetworkConnection against IntelRPRO1000PLNetworkConnection
0.920s - matching IntelRPROWireless3945ABGNetworkConnection against IntelRPROWireless3945ABGNetworkConnection
0.920s - InstanceMatchesDesc end 1
0.920s - DEBUG: end of getcounter function
0.920s - DEBUG: SetWLIP end
0.920s - DEBUG: begin of set statistics
0.920s - SetWLStat start
0.920s - SetWLStat end
0.920s - DEBUG: end of set statistics
0.920s - DEBUG: SetupStart end
0.920s - DEBUG: enter message loop

[TimR]

Is there any vendor specific software running in the background that controls your network card, or another program that accesses the network card like Netstumbler?

Could you also please check that the WLAN Autoconfig service has been correctly shut down.

[PaulC]

No vendor specific software running (pretty clean build at the moment) certainly nothing like NetStumbler. Been through all the services, WLAN is stopped and nothing else appears to be running that would interact with the wireless card.
Wirelessmon is running with admin priviledges and even tried running in various compatability modes all with the same affect. Program starts fine with no error messages and an empty screen (no APs displayed).
Manually start WLAN and all the APs come flooding back under the Vista wireless panel.

[TimR]

Is there any indication that your wireless card's radio is turned on/off? If you have Intel ProSet running in the system tray and right click on it there should be 2 options showing the state of the card (Enable Radio / Disable radio).

[PaulC]

The radio card is enabled. As soon as WirelessMon is exited the standard list of APs re-appear under the Vista GUI.
Have tried this program on another RTM Vista machine which has a clean build (different WiFi card though still Intel based) with exactly the same issue.
On the opening screen 0 access points detected (should be at least 4), do get some figures under the Statistics and IP connection tabs but nothing else. A have a professional license key which I've used in each case. The machines are both laptops Toshiba M200 and M5.

Cheers,
Paul.

[TimR]

We're currently installing another version of Vista on a laptop here, so we will have a business and ultimate install to test against. Which particular version of Vista are you using?

[PaulC]

One is Enterprise, the other is Ultimate. Both are 32bit versions.

[TimR]

After some investigation we believe the problem is related to the new NDIS version 6 in Vista and the fact that not all manufacturers have released compatible drivers yet.

We have a Dell laptop with an Intel 2200BG running Vista Business that displays the same symptoms, no list of APs in WirelessMon (and subsequently fails when querying the list of SSIDs with error 31: A device attached to the system is not functioning) but there is a list in the Windows connection manager. Querying Intel's support pages reveal their plans to release an NDIS 6 driver "anticipated availability Late Q4’06" however there doesn't seem to be any available just yet. Installing the latest available driver allows the card to be recognised work within Vista but not with any programs that use NDIS.

However, we also have a DLink SWL-502+ PCI wireless card, running in Vista Ultimate, that works fine though the latest driver does not mention Vista compatibility.

[markbyrn]

I have a similar issue to bertle's problem. In my case, I ran the wirelessmon2.0.1009-c.exe build and it automatically turns the WLAN Autoconfig service off and I can see my wireless card listed as one of the network cards (Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card) on the wirelessmon display. Unfortunately, everything shows as NA and no access points are detected. I try to connect anyway using my SSID and authentication, but no joy. I tried disabing WLAN Autoconfig just to make sure, but the same problem occurred. If it's not a Vista issue, perhaps it's a problem with the Dell card or maybe it doesn't like my old Linksys Wireless G.
Here's my sys info.

Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (OEM)
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Product Name MP061 (Inspiron E1705)

[TimR]

We have found a workaround that works for some cards, installing an older XP driver instead of using the Windows Vista supplied one enables somes cards to work with WirelessMon.

For a DLink and Linksys card reverting back to an older driver works, however lintel cards (2200BG) still seem to show no changes when reverting back to an older driver.

[TimR]

We have been doing some additional testing in Vista and believe we have a solution that should allow us to release a new version soon where cards that were not displaying the list of access points should now work as expected.

This new solution should allow at least equivalent functionality in Vista as in XP.

We would expect to have this solution available within the next 2 weeks or so (~ 20/Mar/07).

[TimR]

There is a beta build available for use with Vista, http://www.passmark.com/ftp/wirelessmon2.0.1011d-vista.exe. You should now be able to see available networks and connect to open access points, as yet we have been unable to connect to any access points using security.

[mluckhurst]

I too was having problems with WirelessMon and Vista Ultimate 64 bit. On launch wirelessmon would disable my intel a/b/g card, with no signals being shown.

Your 'beta' version works better - the card is not disabled and I'm showing signal strenghts. Under the IP connection tab not all info is displayed though, Im missing the left col. showing MAC address info etc. but it's a great start!

Thanks

[Pau_Zathrus]

Just wantet to let you know that this version: http://www.passmark.com/ftp/wireless...011d-vista.exe (http://www.passmark.com/ftp/wirelessmon2.0.1011d-vista.exe) works on:
Windows Vista Enterprice, on a
Dell M90 Precision
Intel Pro 3945ABG network adp.

And THX :)
:)

[ruicosta]

Same from me too, the version: 2.1011d-vista works on:
Windows Vista Business,
on my ASUS A8Js with Intel Pro 3945ABG network adp.:)

[TimR]

There is a new build at www.passmark.com/ftp/wirelessmon-vista-2.exe, now when connecting to a access point using security you will not need to enter a security passphrase / key in the connection dialog, you will be prompted to enter the key (via a prompt from Vista originating from the system tray) when connecting. You will still need to select the authentication and encryption methods used in the connection dialog.

[mluckhurst]

I installed the version above. i do now see all the features, but it seems a little 'slugish' (comared to prev beta veraion) when moving from tab to tab and closing. But - could be just me and my config. Bottom line: seems to work.

OS: vista ultimate 64 bit
HW: HP dv900t
Wireless; intel a/b/g

[elfchief]

I have the same "sluggish" problem as the above, to the point of unusability. Basically it seems like while the information is refreshing, there's no response from the app at all -- nothing will happen for 5 or 6 seconds, then things will update and my mouse clicks go through, then nothing for 5 or 6 more seconds. Makes things very difficult to actually work with.

Using Vista Business w/ an on-board Altheon card on my ST5112 tablet.

-jay

[TimR]

It seems the Vista drivers are taking longer to respond than they did in XP, so the sample rate can't be as fast as well as preventing the user interface from updating. We are looking into making some changes so the slower responses from the network card no longer impact the UI.

[elfchief]

I'll be happy to help test it when it's ready!

-jay

[TimR]

There is a new beta build of WirelessMon available from http://www.passmark.com/ftp/wirelessmon2.0.1013a.exe. The user interface should not appear as sluggish in vista when information is read from the network card during the sample period.

[elfchief]

Oh God yes, that works *much* better!

I love you.

-jay