- Brain LOGs

In response to my earlier blog post on Installing and Configuring BSNL EVDO Data Card (Capitel Model), I have received couple of comments asking for help setting up the same on Windows 8 Operating System.

Good News: I am already using the same BSNL EVDO Data Card on Windows 8 system.  I have tested it with both Desktop PC and Laptop in Bangalore. It works perfectly on Windows 8 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

Bad News: This is a bit tricky process, which I could figure out with my personal troubleshooting experiments.  You need to be bit technical and *dumb* user to make this work. Refer the last section of this post to see a dumbest trick.

Let me run through the steps on setting up BSNL EVDO Capital USB Data Card on Windows 8 now.  Let us assume that you have inserted the USB Data Card for the first time on your Windows 8 and undergone the default steps to install the software.  At the end of the setup wizard, you will be prompted to reboot your system.

It may happen somethings that the USB Device itself my have problem.  Please make sure that the Device is working fine.  Verifying the device once on Windows XP or Windows 7 will give you confidence to go ahead with below procedure.

Once you have rebooted your system, as shown below, you will get the Capitel Connect icon on your desktop:

Double click on the Capitel Connect (CC) icon.  The CC program will show up on your screen with “No Device” message, as seen below:

The program starts now! Launch the Device Manager (Press Windows Key + R, type “devmgmt.msc” without double quotes, hit Enter key). The Device Manager will show you some devices with yellow exclamation symbol, as shown below:

The problem is reported for the device names – Qualcomm CDMA Technologies MSM. To fix this problem, right click on one of these icons and select Update Driver Software:

You will get the below screen, which will ask you to select the preferred way to search for driver software:

Select the “Browse my computer for driver software” option. The next screen will ask you the location of software:

As I am using Windows 8 64-bit, I have selected this path – C:\Program Files (x86)\Capitel Connect\Driver\VISTA64.  In case of Windows 8 32-bit, please select the path – C:\Program Files (x86)\Capitel Connect\Driver\VISTA.  I may sound stupid, but I already tried using the Windows 7 path (C:\Program Files (x86)\Capitel Connect\Driver\Win7_64), which did not work for me.

This step will install the appropriate driver and your count of exclamation marks will go down, as seen below:

Repeat the above steps to Update the Driver Software for each Qualcomm entries one by one.  At the end, your Device Manager will look like below:

Once all the drivers are installed correctly, try launching the Capitel Connect program from your desktop shortcut.  You will get the “Registered” message, instead of the earlier “No Device” message. If you are still getting “No Device” message, then refer the Dumbest trick at the end of this blog post, which works most of the time for me.

Click on the last Settings icon, to configure the Connection Profile.  Refer my earlier post for step by step instructions. Once you are done with Connection Profile, you can click the 3G Toolbar icon to hook up to Internet.  Make a note that the About screen, shows me the Capitel Connection software as Version 2.2.5.1.2.85. Hope you are also using the same product.

And, here is the View Connection Status, which indicates that it supports upto 3.1Mbps of speed.  Please note that the actual speed will vary based on the CDMA Tower availability near your area.

I hope this detailed blog post will help some of the Windows 8 users who are using the BSNL EVDO Capitel Connect device.

Update: Being a 3rd Party product, it is hard to get support.  Sometimes (actually Always for me) even calling Customer Care does not help.  BSNL should provide the updated drivers which are compatible with new operating systems on their website. I checked the Capitel Website, which has this product listed.  There is no link for Driver Download. Casually today, I called up the number that I found in their Contact Us page, and ended up speaking with the Technical team.  They informed me that Windows 8 supported driver is not available at present, and they are working on providing the same by Jan/Feb 2013 time-frame.

Dumbest Trick: It is weird that, even after installing the Device Driver successfully, the BSNL EVDO shows No Device message.  If you are facing this problem, then just close the Capitel Connect program from your tray and try launching it again.  Believe me, this is how it works for me in Windows 8.  First time when you launch Capital Connect, you will see the “No Device” message.  Just close the program (from the tray, right-click and select Exit option) and once again double click on the Capitel Connect icon on your desktop. (Ensure that this will work only if you have installed the driver successfully, which means that there should not be any yellow marked exclamation icons in your Device Manager)