Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

WLAN adapter and miniPCI-express slot
andrewgho
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:12 pm

Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by andrewgho »

I just reinstalled Windows XP Professional SP2 on a Fit-PC2, with a fresh out of box Windows installation CD on a USB CD-ROM. I installed all drivers from http://www.fit-pc2.com/download/xp-drivers/ (except the IEGD and wakeup drivers; I couldn't figure out how to install the former, and am not interested in the latter), and used Windows Update to update to SP3, continuing Windows Update until it reported no additional updates were available.

Everything appears to be working except for wireless networking. I have a wireless N network which several other wireless devices are using, and which the Fit-PC2 was able to access from its original Ubuntu installation.

Windows XP is able to detect the network (as well as my neighbors' networks). However, after I enter my WPA2-PSK passphrase, wireless networking is permanently stuck on the "acquiring network address" step, and never exits it.

Has anybody else encountered this problem? Any known workarounds? Thanks in advance for your help!

yogev_ezra
Posts: 539
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:49 pm

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by yogev_ezra »

I experienced exactly the same behavior when I added my FIT-PC2's Wireless MAC-address in router's black-list, and then tried to connect to the router from that MAC-address. Did you do the same by any chance? (Even by mistake)

If it's not the case, try to use RaLink native wireless configuration tool instead of Microsoft Zero tool.

andrewgho
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:12 pm

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by andrewgho »

Thanks for the reply and the suggestions!

I checked the router's blacklist and it seems that the access control feature isn't even enabled, so it seems like that is not the case.

I have also tried (1) configuring my router to hand out a particular IP for this MAC address, and (2) configuring Windows XP to use a static IP outside of the normal DHCP range from the wireless router. Neither of these improved the situation; in the case of (1), the symptoms do not change, and in the case of (2), Windows XP reports that it is connected, but, networking doesn't actually function.

I'll try the Ralink software suggestion next. I think I skipped the part where it installs the RAlink software, so I guess I will re-run the driver installation .exe and see if that installs the configuration software.

andrewgho
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:12 pm

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by andrewgho »

This problem is now solved for me.

Here's how I fixed it. I did not do proper science, so I am not sure which step fixed the problem, but, after this sequence of events, my wireless networking is now working.

First, I uninstalled the existing Ralink driver by running the installer from http://www.fit-pc2.com/download/xp-drivers/ and selecting the "remove" option. Next, I downloaded a new RT2860 driver from http://www.ralinktech.com/support.php. The version I downloaded is 1.4.12.0 (the version from http://www.fit-pc2.com/download/xp-drivers/ is 1.4.7.0). This time, when installing, I selected that Ralink's configuration utility should be used, and not Windows'.

In the very ugly Ralink configuration tool, I was able to connect to my wireless network.

Finally, because the Ralink configuration tool is very ugly (did I mention it is ugly?), I right-clicked on the tray icon, and selected the option that said Windows Zero Configuration should manage the network card, and now, Windows can connect to the wireless network as expected.

Thanks yogev_ezra for the encouragement and suggestion!

staffanb
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:30 am

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by staffanb »

I´m also stuck in this mode.

I got the unit about a week ago and started it up and connected to my WLAN. Everything worked like a charm.

Then the automatic update function in windows updated XP with a long list of updates and the system was rebooted.
After this reboot, the unit is locked in this continuous "acquiring network address" mode.
I´ve tried to use the XP config to connect to the system as well but the problem remains.

Any ideas?

staffanb
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:30 am

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by staffanb »

Upgraded the driver as suggested by andrewgho but still stuck in this this limbo. More ideas?

BTW, I´ve changed the network settings so I manually define the IP-address, subnet mask and default gateway.
Then I´m out of this aquiring network address state.
However I can still not access the internet.

I´ve disabled the fixed IP connector also.
And when I do a loop back test by ping 127.0.0.1 it responds correct.

Ipconfig -all looks ok with the manually settings I´ve provided (identical to my laptops besides IP address)

In addition, I get no response when I ping my WLAN router (default gateway) either.

I´m beginning to loose my initial enthusiasm for this little beast now.

andrewgho
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:12 pm

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by andrewgho »

Hi staffanb,

Sorry to hear about your network troubles. Are you using Windows XP's wireless network management, or are you using the RALink wireless network management? If the former, I highly recommend trying the latter.

staffanb
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:30 am

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by staffanb »

Actually I´ve tested both tools to connect to the WLAN.

andrewgho
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:12 pm

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by andrewgho »

Oh, sorry, I missed the first sentence from your previous post!

Do you have any other wireless access points you can try connecting with? Are you using WPA-2 or similar security that you can try disabling, to see if that works? It's possible making your WAP open (or downgrading to WEP) may help (not great solutions, but if it works, may also be a clue). But I'm afraid that in my case, it was a driver issue, and using the RALink driver/wireless configuration tool solved it.

staffanb
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:30 am

Re: Stuck on "acquiring network address" on fresh Win XP install

Post by staffanb »

Little more test made.

I tested to connect a wired cable to the ports of my WLAN router and then it worked fine. Network address was aquired without any fuss.

Then I took the beast to my work and started it up in our lab.
Then the log in and aquiring of a network address with wireless connection also worked perfect.
In my lab at work we have a cisco AP and my home WLAN router is a Linksys WRT54GL. Both use WPA-PSK and TKIP encryption.
So there seems to be some kind of inter-op issue with my Linksys router.

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