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Monday, February 19, 2007, 06:00 pm
Apple update offers third party WWAN support
A software updated released by Apple on Monday delivers support for third party wireless wide area network (WWAN) products, bolstering support for Macs looking to connect to WWAN networks from the three largest U.S. wireless carriers.In particular, the software update, labeled WWAN Support Update 1.0, delivers compatibility for Novatel's Merlin XU870 ExpressCard (HSDPA) available to Cingular Wireless subscribers.
For Sprint, the update provides compatibility with both the Novatel Wireless Merlin EX720 Express Card (EVDO Rev. A) and the Novatel Wireless Ovation U720 USB Modem (USB Adapter, EVDO Rev. A)
The Apple update also delivers support for three cards compatibile with the Verizon network, namely the Novatel XV620 ExpressCard (EVDO Rev. 0), Novatel V740 ExpressCard (EVDO Rev. A), and Novatel Wireless Ovation U720 (USB Adapter, EVDO Rev. A).
The 350KB updated is available only for Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X 10.4.8. Intel Mac owners can access the update via the Mac OS X Software Update mechanism or download it from Apple's support site.
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Previous Comments View All
Watch out with this one if you use the Merlin XU870 card on a different network (e.g. in Europe).
The card stops working. When inserted the menubar icons start flashing.
SystemUIServer[520] failed to load Menu Extra: NSBundle </System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/WWAN.menu> (loaded)
A warning from Apple would have been nice....
Reinstall of the 'original' driver doesn't help. What now...
I was intrigued by this service so I went to Cingular's site, and could barely find any information on it, and no pricing. How does one actually get WWAN?
Installation of the 10.4.8 combo update didn't help to get it working again. I'm affraid a complete system reinstall is necessery. Bad thing... :-(
I was wonder what that Express slot could have been used for
Part of it is "not much" because they only chose to offer the narrow slot, the wide slot offers a larger array of devices, and the standard is still fairly new.
There are some devices out there now, wireless "n" cards & Firewire 800 that would upgrade an original Macbook pro, though I can't tell if OS X supports them. There are also esata cards too.
There are also esata cards too.
Yup. I have an Addonics eSATA card plugged into my MBP right now which I use for an external drive. It's much faster than USB or Firewire in my experience -- though it took a while to find Mac OS X drivers for the card since it isn't officially supported.
Watch out with this one if you use the Merlin XU870 card on a different network (e.g. in Europe).
SystemUIServer[520] failed to load Menu Extra: NSBundle </System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/WWAN.menu> (loaded)
That's bizarre. The driver for the card shouldn't have anything to do with what network you're on. Drivers are just responsible for making sure data gets from the card to main memory and vice versa. They don't really care what's in the data.
That error only seems to indicate that it's having trouble loading the little menu item. Maybe WWAN.menu got corrupted somehow? Either that or it's not localized properly for your computer. If it's not set that way already, try setting the locale for your computer to be US English in the International settings and see if that fixes the problem.
If you are in Australia (or Europe it seems) and use the Novatel UX870 card, DON'T install this WWAN 1.0 update - it will stop your card from working.
To get it working again, remove the following files from your system:
/Library/Modem Scripts/WWAN Support
/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/WWAN.menu
/System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleWWANSupport.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleWWANVerizon.kext
The last two can only be accessed by choosing "Show Package Contents" on the IOSerialFamily.kext file.
You will need to be logged in as admin (or enter admin password) to be able to do this.
Once done, reinstall the drivers from the Novatel website here:
http://www.novatelwireless.com/suppo...870-apple.html
Regards,
Shane.
I allowed Softtware Update to install the WWAN Support Update 1.0 even though I knew I'd probably not need it, and now I cannot log in at all. I either get the log in screen which keeps coming back after I sign in, or if I can sign in I get a blank desktop screen and cursor, but no HD or desktop files, no system menu, etc. I ran Disk Utilities from the OSX installation disc and repaired the permissions, and repaired the hard drive (there was one minor problem it said), restarted, but got the same log-in problem, repaired the permissions again, but still the same problem. It looks like I'll have to do a clean install of OSX unless someone has any tips I can try. I reset the password and that didn't help. I have Windows XP installed on a separate partition so hopefully a clean install won't affect that. What a pain.
If you are in Australia (or Europe it seems) and use the Novatel UX870 card, DON'T install this WWAN 1.0 update - it will stop your card from working.
To get it working again, remove the following files from your system:
/Library/Modem Scripts/WWAN Support
/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/WWAN.menu
/System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleWWANSupport.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleWWANVerizon.kext
The last two can only be accessed by choosing "Show Package Contents" on the IOSerialFamily.kext file.
You will need to be logged in as admin (or enter admin password) to be able to do this.
Once done, reinstall the drivers from the Novatel website here:
http://www.novatelwireless.com/suppo...870-apple.html
Regards,
Shane.
Thank you Shane.
I did that and I guess it works. Unfortunately I deleted the Info.plist in the IOSerialFamily.kext as well which I need.
Do you have any clue how to reinstall that part?
Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I was wonder what that Express slot could have been used for