Solved Vista crashes during media center extender setup

Hello all,

I've just installed Windows Vista Ultimate x64 and I'm trying to connect my XBOX 360 as a Media Center Extender. I get most of the way through the setup to this page:



But I only get through the first 2 check boxes, Configuring computer settings and Setting power saver features and then immediately after that point, Vista completely freezes. The only thing I can do is power off my computer and let it fail again. I had McFee security center installed, but removed it to try that. Still the same results. Right after it freezes I look at my TV screen and it shows a "downloading" icon and then after a few minutes, it says "An error occured connecting to the computer running Windows Media Center, please restart the computer. If the problem persists, reinstall the software on the computer from Xbox.com | Xbox 360 Media Download Center." Are there any other suggestions you have for me to try? I'm connecting wireless to a netopia 3347 modem with my computer and the 360 is using an ethernet connection to the same modem.

please help

I asked this in yahoo answers and someone replied with:

that's because Xbox is a 32 bit system and in compatible with a 64 bit system

Is this possible?

Anyone?

I'm having exactly the same problem, and have yet to find a solution. What wireless NIC are you using? I may try switching mine out and seeing what happens. Isolating this problem has become quite frustrating.

Success! It was definitely my NIC, or at least the driver. I put in an old Atheros 802.11g card I had, and I was able to set up and use my 360 as an extender without a problem.

The Wireless-N card I have is an Encore Electronics, model # ENLWI-N. I've been using the latest Ralink 2860 drivers for it, and I think the driver is the issue; I know I used media center with the card in the past, but after a long period of no usage, it suddenly didn't work.

My next task is to find an older driver for the card and test that. Hope any of this helps you!

I'm glad that you were able to find a resolution to your issue. It gives me hope. I'm pretty sure that the cause is either my wireless card or the driver as I've looked into it further, I've found that quite a few people have had issuse with vista 64 and wireless. My next step is a long ethernet cord. I just have to find the time to do it. I'll post back here when I know.

I finally got my manly ethernet cord running. No lockups and I'm currently watching a movie on my tv through my xbox.

so... hope someone finds this useful. The wireless card, ralink something or other was the culprit.

Glad you got it running, bleenky. To clarify matters, it's specifically the Ralink 2860 2.1.0.0 driver that causes the issue. I used this in both x64 and x86 Vista and got the same freezing issue during setup.

I downloaded the previous version of the driver (2.0.2.0) and it all works fine. So to anyone who finds this thread, try getting the older driver (Ralink RT2860/RT2890 Wireless Driver 2.0.2.0 Windows 2000/XP(x32/x64)/Vista(x32/x64)). You should be good to go then.

YEEEESSSS!!!! THis Works!!! I rolled back my driver to 2.0.3 and it worked beautifully. Man, what would I do without forums? Thanks dudes.