Wednesday, July 28, 2010

WMB54G works in Windows 7 !!!

Okay, this is way out of topic but I want to share how to get the WMB54G music bridge (and probably also the Sondigo Sirocco) working in Windows 7.
The system used was a laptop with Windows 7 pro 64 bit and a WMB54G connecting on a wired network with firmware v2.18. UAC is set to minimum, all is done with an admin user.
I got several tips of the internet and blended them together. Here's what I did:

1) download the drivers from the linksys site (v1.3) and install it
2) open msconfig and uncheck the CMFlyWave application
3) open C:\Program Files (x86)\Linksys\WMB54G and set WMB54G.exe to compatibility mode Windows XP SP2 (or SP3). Do the same for cmas2ds.exe and CmFlywav.exe in the "Driver" directory.
4) run hdwwiz.exe and manually add the driver. Choose "Sound, video and game controllers" and point the driver path to C:\Program Files (x86)\Linksys\WMB54G\Driver. Install the WMB54G driver
5) make this batch file and put it in your startup folder:
ping localhost -n 5
start /b /d "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Linksys\WMB54G\Driver" cmas2ds.exe
ping localhost -n 2
start /b /d "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Linksys\WMB54G\Driver" cmflywav.exe
ping localhost -n 2
start /b /d "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\linksys\wmb54g" wmb54g.exe
exit
6) reboot
7) connect to the WMB54G with the utility
8) open the sound control panel and check if the playback device is set to Linksys Wireless-G Music Bridge
9) enjoy your music

note: for 32 bit systems: drop the "(x86)" in the batch file and directory paths.

For Mac OSX users: The alpha driver that Sondigo offers works okay. Only when closing the program it crashes, but sound is ok.

Such a shame that Linksys is not yet providing a real Win7, Mac OSX and Linux driver.
Or at least open source the protocol used to stream the audio.

please leave comments

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I was so happy to see your post. I have been looking for some help on getting the wmb54g to run with a windows 7 laptop. Unfortunately, your instructions don't seem to work for me. Everythings runs as it should but the bridge connection utility doesn't see the music bridge. My config seems similar to yours - I am running it wired directly into my lan switch (wireless turned off).

I am able to connect to the bridge's web interface at 192.168.1.210 (default) and the setup seemed to run just fine.

Any other tips you can think of would be greatly appreciated.

I would be just as happy to get the music bridge running from a ubuntu laptop. Any help on that would be equally appreciated.

Thanks
Clueless

Anonymous said...

Thanks. W7 64, works great.

To Anon': would not work till Iunchecked CmFlywave in msconfig -> startup. Make sure. The utility has always been awful at finding (and good at loosing) the music bridge box itself so keep kicking it and you may have some luck.

Seems irresponsible of Linksys since the basic software obviously works. Some tweaks to their installer would probably be enough.

linksis said...

I had doubts that it would work on Win7. But eventually it did!
But be persistent, you have to get every detail right. And yes, Linksys and Sondigo (and Realtek?) are being very lazy about this: they just say: "we don't support it." Booooooh!!!!

cpk said...

I followed your steps exactly. However, after startup the computer doesn't find the music bridge with the scan. Any ideas what I should look at/fix?

Anonymous said...

did you put all .exe's in compatibility mode? Just run trought the whole C:\prog files\linksys directory...

Brady said...

I finally took the time to do this. Some notes for folks doing the same:

1) When you install the utility, run "Setup.exe" but DO NOT click on "Click Here To Start". Instead, click "Install Utility" on the lower left.

2) You may have go to "Control Panel" and then click on "Sound" and set your Music Bridge as the default Device. On my computer it says "Speakers" and "Linksys Wireless-G Music Bridge Ready". Set that to "Default Device"

3) Once I set that as the default device, I was able to use the equalizer in the WMB54G Utility, but still couldn't control the volume or mute from there.

I'll work on figuring that out later, but for now, I'm happy to have the music on my computer playing back through the stereo again until I'm ready to spring for a full HTPC set-up.

Brady said...

Got bored already and played a little bit more, got the WMB54G Utility's Volume and Mute to work also. In "Program Files(x86)\Linksys\WMB54G" set "CmiInstallAudio.exe" to XP Compatibility Mode and check "Run As Administrator".

Anonymous said...

Works! THANK YOU!

Anonymous said...

Hi, please help me, I have a Music Bridge G linksys and I cant find the drivers and the media utility, the links web page dont work corretly,
plesa help me,
Sorry for my Englis,
Pablo Reinhardt mail:
pdrvc@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

great! IT WORKS, I was about to dump it!

NDee said...

Thank you so much, I almost smashed it! Great post!

Anonymous said...

You instructions worked beautifully, and after so many months trying to find a solution to this problem, my WMB54G works at last, no thanks to Linksys. I followed your instructions exactly as you typed them, wrote the batch file exactly as you typed it, and saved it in the Startup folder. I was very surprised and happy to see the WMB54G had been detected at last.
Thank you very much for your help.

Mateus said...

It works awesome!! I have been fighting with this thing around 1 year or more!

Thank VERY MUCH,
Mateus

Mateus said...

Do you think is possible to install this on Linux ??

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for sharing this fix for using the WMB54G with Windows 7. Too bad that a major corporation like Cisco / Linksys cannot help their loyal customers.

Unknown said...

BTW Windows 7 update as of 4/20/2011 or 4/26/2011 breaks the fix. I don't know which one because I uninstalled back to 4/20.

Anonymous said...

Yes, it works great. THANK YOU! One extra if you're running Symantec SEP11 - you must disable the Network Threat Protection to allow the utility to see the bridge(s).

Anonymous said...

i have a win 7 32 bit
followed the directions and got it to works on 2 laptops (both connect to one music bridge)
thanks for making wmb54g awesome again

Patrick said...

thanks for sharing!!
Have it working both on my Win7 x64 Notebook and my wife's MacBook with OS X 10.6.7
Shame Linksys/Cisco don't provide drivers for recent OS for this great product!
Also nice to know I'm not the only one on this planet who likes the idea of transfering audio via WiFi instead of additional hardware ;)

Mykeul said...

Hello, does anybody got a tip for the Sondigo Sirocco?

Unknown said...

Sondigo is basically the same as the WMB, you can mix drivers!

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have the WMBg4G windows vista setup files? they are no longer on the Linksys wesite.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate this information. The (old) WMB54G Linksys Music Bridge, and its software, are a pain in the @#$%. But when they work it is great.

Recently had a problem and had to re-load the Linksys software. Your web instructions saved the day, again.

- Tim

Anonymous said...

Thanks a bunch. I got this to work on 2 of 3 computers. Still struggling with number 3. Quite a painful configuration process. Couldn't have gotten the first two without your tutorial.

Unknown said...

I am desperately looking for the 1.3 WMB54G drivers. I cannot find them anywhere. Cisco/Linksys has removed them from their website. It should be about 30mb. Does anyone have a good download link. Perhaps, at 30 mb you could even compress and email.

Anonymous said...

1.3 WMB54G V1.3 driver: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23515595/WMB54G%20Utility%20-%201.3.rar

enjoy!

Anonymous said...

I did it like descriped... It works a little bit. 2 seconds sound, 2 seconds silence, 2 seconds sound... LAN or WLAN is the same problem. Now I installed a virtual XP machine and from this VM I can play my music.

Anonymous said...

I get all the way to connecting, but pressing the connect button does nothing. :(

Anonymous said...

Anyone got the v1.4 drivers and utility?

Unknown said...

First off thank you for all the help, however when I scan for the bridge I am still unsuccessful. I can access the bridge settings, and it is in my playback devices list. Also have set all the ".exe's" to compatibility mode for XP SP2. I have no idea what else to try. Thank you in advance

S Battles said...

Works just like you said!

Step 4 was a little confusing until I realized we were installing the WMB driver manually. I had no idea what "hdwwiz" was, either (LOL!) -- the hardware install wizard. ;))

Gosh looking back over the years, there's so much that could go wrong during the set-up process it's a wonder anyone ever used these things -- But, like one poster here stated, once the unit is set up, it's great!

Anyway, thanks for saving my five-year old music bridge from the trash heap! \!!!

Bruce Horwitz said...

Thanks so much for posting this and providing a link to the software. I just got a Win7 machine and was wondering what to do... AND, dumb me, misplaced my ver 1.3 files.

Anonymous said...

Hi.

I've tried the same with the Sondigo Sirocco, but I the last step of the batch is a cpl file and not an exe file. How can it be adapted? Did someone try it?

Anonymous said...

Wooohooo.. this is great news. Will try it soon!

If anyone wants, i seem to have the older v2.11 firmware in flashable bin form. I used it to roll back my WMB54Gs which did solve some skipping/clicking issues.

Mail me at: bbatliboi at marissa-mayers-email-service /com -- if anyone needs it!

Cheers,
R

Anonymous said...

Oh, i also have the Utility (software) v1.21 if anyone needs that to correspond with the v2.11 firmware i mentioned just above this reply.

Cheers,
R

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much!! I'd been running the bridge on my XP laptop for years after updating my other desktops to 7. The aging laptop was my last way to control the bridge until now. I don't know how you figured it out, but thanks. WTF Linksys/Cisco??

tps5352 said...

I have determined that the Linksys Music Bridge also works with the Windows 8.1 (64-bit) operating system. (Has this been reported?) Therefore, it should work in Windows 8 and 8.1 64- and 32-bit systems. I am preparing detailed instructions based on Vanwijnsberghe's directions and the minor variations due to the specifics of Windows 8.1.

Despite the agony Linksys put us through, these little devices are turning out to be real workhorses. I use mine EVERY night for relaxing music (from the "Hearts of Space" streaming service in Marin County, California, USA).

And my Music Bridge is still going strong after years and several changes in Windows.

Many thanks to Dieter Vanwijnsberghe!