Making the WMB54G work with Vista (Service Pack 1) - it does work.

Question

I posted this in response to a thread, thought it could use its own topic. 
There is hope and potential success for Vista users!   I got the WMB54G 2 days ago.  I spent 6 hours with it and nearly threw the product AND my computer out the window the first night.  I scoured this forum for the past two days,  and by putting pieces together from various threads,  I'm now using the Music Bridge successfully with my 1 month old Dell XPS M1530 with Vista Home Ultimate with Service pack 1.  Once I had my gameplan,  it worked perfectly the first time I tried the new approach.  I will try to write a step by step process of what I did in the next few days but for now.....
1.  Throw out the installation CD that comes with the music bridge (its useless for Vista).... I'm kidding, but you get the point.
2.  You HAVE to dowload the Vista compatible installation utility and Firmware upgrade from the Linksys forum - I don't have the link right now, but its here in this forum. 
3.  Run the Vista driver setup to install the Musicbridge utility - the "Install utility" link at the bottom of the setup screen, but DO NOT try to configure the router since you'll just have to do it again later. 
4.  Run the firmware upgrade for the router (it behaves exactly like the setup utility, but instead of configuring the hardware for use, it upgrades the fimware)
5.  Run the Vista driver setup to configure the router (only after the firmware upgrade).   I didn't have to do anything outside of the auto setup.  i'm using a Linksys wireless G router as well, and it connected with 64 Bit WEP encryption no problem once i entered my encryption passphrase. 
6.  Open up MSCONFIG and disable the CMFLYWAVE Application on Startup
7.  In your Program Files directory,  find \Linksys\wmb54g\wmb54g.exe,  \Linksys\wmb54g\driver\cmas2ds.exe, and \Linksys\wmb54g\driver\cmflywav.exe - For all three files,  right click and go to Properties\compatability.   Check the "Run this program in compatability mode for:"   pick XP with SP 2.   
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE PEOPLE WHO POSTED THAT LAST BIT!!!!
8.  I'd suggest restarting the computer now. 
9.  You might get a "WMB54G.exe has stopped running error" on restart... that's ok
10.  Start the following files in this order:
cmas2ds.exe
cmflywav.exe
wmb54g.exe
11.  The utility should start, and then you can connect to the bridge via the system tray icon.  - you might have to also set the default audio device to the Music Bridge by right clicking your system tray speaker icon
12.  Uncheck the "Start the Music Bridge when I start Windows" option in the utility screen - and execute the three files in step 10 each time you restart. 
I hope this works for you. 
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Answer 1

I finally got my WMB54G to work with Vista SR1.    It took me 4 hours of struggling to figure it out though.
What I did was:
1. Download the latest utility and firmware from the linksys support site.
2. To set up the device, preferably use http://192.168.1.210.  There are http setup instructions on the linksys customer service site.  Alternately, you can use the setup wizard on the CD but I would recommend avoiding it if you can.  If you do use the setup CD and it installs the WMB54G utility, promptly uninstall the utility afterwords and restart the computer.
3. Update the firmware to v.2.18 by using http://192.168.1.210 and going to the HELP tab
4. Install the latest utility from the support site but do not run the main setup.  Simply run setup.exe in the utility folder AND GIVE IT PLENTY OF TIME.  Walk Away and let the installer finish and close.  Then do the thing people discovered -- edit the properties of C:\Program Files\Linksys\WMB54G.exe and make sure it is set for running in XP compatability mode.
5. Restart the computer
Mine started working fine after I did all of this -- the WMB54G came up automatically and found the device.  Keep in mind I do not have WEP or anything -- just unsecured wireless.
Good luck.
Mike
Message Edited by jmfife on 01-17-2009 10:51 AM
Message Edited by jmfife on 01-17-2009 10:54 AM
(Mod Note: Edited due to non-compliance of forum guidelines.)
Message Edited by giantherockstar on 01-17-2009 11:05 AM