The last four hours have probably been one of the most harrowing in recent months. It has also been most educational as far as learning more about networks.

And as usual, sometimes, the solution is always the simplest.

So here's the long story...

In my last post, I talked about getting the wireless network adaptor for the xbox360. Well, after speaking to a friend, I kinda decided to buy a wireless bridge instead. For those who don't know much about networks (like me), the xbox network adaptor connects to xbox via the USB port and I won't be able to use it anywhere else. A wireless bride is like a wireless box which I can connect directly into the network port behind the xbox360 and I will be able to use it with the PS3 in future. So, it kinda makes sense to get the bridge instead, right?

So, off I went to Funan and bought a wireless bridge for $135. Considering that the xbox360 wireless adaptor costs $129, I thought the price was very reasonable. After that, I went for a colleagues BBQ before returning at about 10pm to try out my bridge and see if I could connect to xbox Live. That was when the horror started.

I had to connect the bridge to my PC to be configured. So I disconnect my PC's internet and connected the bridge. I ran the setup software and it could not detect the bridge. So I tinkered around with system settings and enable a network adaptor which had a dreaded red cross next to it. After doing that, the bridge was recognised and I proceeded to configure it. Sounds simple? That was where the nightmare started. Once I disconnect the bridge, I shut down the PC coz I wanted to reconnect the internet. When I restarted the PC, the PC's fan started whirring faster and faster and faster!!! It got louder and louder and I thought the PC would burst into flames! So I powered down the PC, waited a while, then turned it on again. This time, it whirred faster, but then started slowing down, then the PC started loading windows. The logo came out... then it hung. The whole darn computer just hung. So I restarted PC again. This time windows loaded... and I accessed the web as usual. But after about 5 to 10 mins, the web browser hung. Then the whole PC hung. So I rebooted and this time, the whirring started again!!!! I freaked out lor. I tell you, it's the most horrible sound which I've heard coming from my PC. So to cut a long story a little shorter, I pretty much screwed up my PC. So, I thougt, nevermind... let's connect the xbox360 to internet. At least got some good come out of this. So... guess what, the xbox360 COULD NOT CONNECT using the bridge! So now I had two problems, PC screwed up and Wireless bridge can't work! So I decided to call Meow, a computer expert (many more times than me) for help.

For the next 4 hours (until 2.30pm) I pretty much went through solving all the problems with him. Firstly was my PC. Apparently, some driver somewhere was screwed up. Possibly by the stupid programme which I had run earlier to configure the bridge. So, Meow told me to uninstall the network adaptor and also reset my system bios. After going through step by step with him, my PC stopped doing weird stuff. It;s been 2 hours since the PC problem was solved, so right now, I think things are back to normal for the PC. PHEW! (x10000000 times). Frankly, I hate PC problems. It was 'fun' debugging it when I was much much younger but no more for me. I simply want a PC that works. Nothing else.

So onto the Wireless bridge. Over the 2 odd hours, Meow brought me through various configurations. I was moving the bridge from the xbox to the router, editing settings on the xbox, editing settings on the bridge, checking the ip setup, pinging the bridge, testing the xbox live connections and it went on and on and on and on. Nothing seemed to work. Things got a little better here and there but it always ended up with the xbox360 not being able to connect to the network. First it was invalid IP address. Then it was invalid DNS. Sigh. Nothing seemed to work. After 2 hours of struggling, (and 2 hours of HANDPHONE CHARGE!) we gave up. It pretty much seemed as if the bridge was damaged. So after many apologies to Meow (who had to go to work in less than 6 hours!) I disconnected the call and sat facing the bridge and xbox360 with resignation. Perhaps it just wasn;t meant to be.

Well, I thought, it really can't be so impossible. So I decided to tinker a little more. Tried doing some stuff which Meow had brought me through earlier. Things still didn't get better. Then I went into the xbox website and searched through some help files and found that the bridge I bought WAS in the compatible list. So that was fine. Then, I noticed that the list stated clearly that the Firmware should be version 1.10. Now, Meow had told me much earlier on to check the firmware of the bridge. But I couldn't find it listed anywhere, so I told Meow that the bridge would probably work fine even without the latest firmware upgrade. So we left it at that. Well, in my desperatin, I decided, why not. So I went to the website, downloaded the firmware, upgraded it... and as fate would have it.... it finally worked. Yes. It FINALLY worked. Sigh. To think that all that time was wasted simply coz I didn't do the simplest of things... upgrade the firmware. AARRGGGHHHHH!

Like I said at the beginning of this post, sometimes, the solution is simply the simplest one. If only I had tried that earlier.

So that's that. 4 hours of horror. Actually, the bridge thing was just tedious. It was the PC thing which really killed me. Dear readers, please heed this warning. Don't mess with your PC unless you absolutely have to or unless you are a masochist who loves to listen to your PC suffer.

It shall be a long time before I do anything scary to my PC again.

So that is the sad tale of what happened. I was so looking forward to trying out some xbox360 games tonite. Guess that'll have to wait till tomorrow. Good nite. And I certainly hope for sweet dreams.