A commenter reported that his new V5 (one assumes all new V5s that are currently shipping to the U.S.) came with a BIOS version 1.63. This bios update is not available on the Dialogue website (in fact, the V5 EC/BIOS upgrade has been removed entirely from their site - the one that was previously posted was ver 1.53). His V5 does not permit WLAN (802.11x) or WWAN (cell service) to be used while the unit is in tablet mode. He attempted the previously discovered work-around, but without success. It is possible that version 1.63 is a USA-only update to reflect FCC compliance on transmission levels.
Of course, the first thing we all ask is “why are other tablet and convertible units getting away with it?” The answer may lie in the fact that this is a smaller unit than most. Something about the *density* of the many different antennas packed into the tight space around the screen (including, I would like to add, the crippled GPS antennas) appears to be a factor.
One possible “solution” that has been floated is for Sierra Wireless to create a modified version of their mini-card that transmits at a lower level (30% decrease?) to satisfy the FCC requirement. Would this translate into a 30% weaker signal? And… how/why does the Sierra coard affect WLAN?
Filed under: Drivers, Flybook V5, HSDPA
Do you have any fixes for this issue (WWAN not functional in tablet mode)? I am experiencing the same problem.
Many thanks.
If you have one of the brand new ones, I’m not sure anything has been successful. However, you can find the things that have worked in the past in the “More on Flybook Utility preventing wireless options while in tablet mode” post.
thank you for all