This might help users of MAC systems with our WL50 wifi antenna
My own WL50 Mk2 is running quite happily under Lion but in 32bit Kernel mode – please confirm if you are in 32bit or 64bit Kernel mode by running the System Information App in the Utilities folder on your Mac. You will need to click on the Software section in the left hand column and then you should see the screen below and you are looking for “No” in the 64-bit Kernel and Extensions….
Our WL50 (Mk2) and our WL400 long range wi-fi adaptors both use the same Realtek RTL8187L chipset and drivers. The Tech Note attached was originally written for the WL400 but it is applicable to both the WL400 and your WL50 (Mk2). The Tech Note was also written before Lion was released but I have checked it on my Mac running Lion (32bit mode) and it works OK.
Tech 00002-2010 WL50+WL400 Snow Leopard
The problem is that Realtek have not released 64but drivers for the Mac and so you will have to run your Mac in 32bit mode when you wish to use the WL50 (Mk2). You can selectively boot a Mac in 32bit or 64bit mode by pressing either the “3”+”2″ keys when booting or “6”+”4″ keys when booting….see this Apple Support note…
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3773
I would suggest that you try following my installation guide in the attached email in 32bit mode. This should work, but it will mean that you will have to boot in 32bit mode when you want to use the WL50.
Whenever you reboot with no keys held down, your Mac will default to 64bit mode and there is no problem booting in 32bit mode sometimes and 64bit mode at other times.
My Mac is running under 10.7.5. and doesn’t recognize the WL 50. So it doesn’t work.
When will Digital Yachts have a software, that allows to use the WL 50 without booting the Mac in a 32-bit-mode ?
If this isn’t possible: Where can I find an antenna for plug and play with my Mac ?
Peter
Hi Peter,
It now looks very unlikely that Realtek, who manufacture the wireless chipset used in our WL50 Mk2, will release a 64bit Mac Driver and this is one of the reasons why we released the WL60 which uses a newer wireless chipset with latest Mac Driver support. I will email you separately to discuss a possible upgrade path for changing your WL50 to a WL60.
Best regards
PAUL