Belkin N52TE - where can I get the updated driver?

Hi all. I just purchased and received a Belkin N52TE keypad, and I was wondering where I can get the latest drivers and firmware for it. Belkin's support page for the N52TE only has an FAQ and owner's manual. Its predecessor, the N52, has a full drivers page, but the N52TE does not have any drivers on Belkin's site.

I also tried Googling "N52TE driver", and the first two results were links within Belkin's support site, but they were both dead links and simply redirected to the support home page. So, it appears Belkin does not have their own updated drivers. I guess I'll install the default ones from the CD, but I would like newer ones if possible. Does anyone know why they might have pulled all the drivers for this thing, and where I can get the drivers elsewhere?

Thanks for your help.

 

Ahh congrats, i was thinking of going for one as well but i am thinking maybe get the G13 instead. How are you liking it?

This could help you out:

http://www.n52te.com/community/index.php?

 

It's fantastic. It feels so comfortable. I was looking at the G13 as well. The only reason I was considering it was because it has more keys. The N52TE has 15 keys plus an 8-way D-pad, a scroll wheel, and a thumb button, though, which is still plenty for me.

I opted for this instead of the G13 just because it seems more form-fitting to the left hand, which I like. And it's backed by Razer technology, which has never failed me. Besides, the blue backlighting matches my DeathAdder perfectly.

In short, the G13 pros:

• 22 programmable keys, plus a thumb joystick and two thumb buttons
• GamePanel LCD
• Color changing LED backlighting

Cons:

• Relatively plain design, not as comfortable
• I tried one out on display at a store, and the keypresses felt pretty soft
• Lack of adjustability, one size fits all
• More expensive than the N52TE

The N52TE pros:

• Extremely comfortable and natural feeling ergonomic design
• Adjustable wrist rest and removable D-pad cap
• Very nice blue backlighting
• Scroll wheel w/wheel click
• Great clicky feeling on key presses, not too hard or soft
• Cheaper

Cons:

• Fewer keys - 14 + 1 thumb key (space bar) compared to the G13's 22
• No backlight color selection, just blue (although a very nice blue)
• Some complaints about the 8-way D-pad not working properly in some games; only works 4 ways in some
• Only two wrist rest positions; limited adjustability
• Some people think the thumb key/space bar is too hard to reach. It's fine for me, though I have huge hands
• No GamePanel LCD display

EDIT - I was about to send an email to Belkin support asking about the drivers, but their "email support" link was dead too, it just redirected to their support home page. >_<

 

razer website..
here is..a little information ...look at the bottom of list
http://www.razersupport.com/windows7/razer-windows-7/

 

Those are Windows 7 drivers, and it says "confirmation pending" anyway. I'm looking for Vista drivers, specifically 64 bit.

 

Hi Shroom,

I am afraid you may have made the wrong choice.

If you look at n52te.com, it appears that Belkin has completely dropped the ball on this product. There are some laughable posts from over a year ago about how fixing the DPad is going to require an aggressive rewrite of the firmware. The poster assures us that development is 'committed'. Committed to dead silence for over a year.

Try and register for the forum on n52te. I did yesterday to ask the question you are asking here. Apparently, generation of the email to complete registration is broken. I would say it is possible that it has intentionally been turned off.

It now appears we have a 79$ piece of hardware that no longer has any driver available for download on the internet. Think about that for a second, and the massive incompetence necessary to bring about that situation.

You are right though, the n52te is an exciting piece of equipment. It had the potential to give Belkin a strategic upper hand in what could be a massive market.

They blew it with some of the worst management I have ever seen.

Oh well, if you happen to run across a driver, please post and let us know.

 

It's not a huge issue to me, really. I don't really use the D-pad, and if I did I probably wouldn't use more than the 4 basic directions anyway, so no loss there. And the box came with drivers and macro software on a CD, which work well enough.

Anyway, I'm wondering if the missing drivers might have something to do with the recent Razer driver virus fiasco.

 

IT doesn't matter, if you use the Dpad just set the Dpad to change your weapon selection. Some people i know who own this use it for that and they told me its been flawless. Hardly a big deal.

The G13 has a very little joystick as well lol. You feel like you can break it by going up and down. Thats the one thing i didn't really like about it.

But i like the feel of the rubber part on your palm. I hope my original thing happens, i was planning on getting the G13 and the orochi but i don't know how that is going to pan out.

 

That actually sounds like a pretty good idea, using the D-pad for weapon selection. TF2, for instance, has up to 4 weapon slots per class (except for the Engineer, who has 5 with the building destruction tool, but I never use that anyway).

 

Couple of things:

I was just using the DPad issue to illustrate my main point - its been over a year since the last driver release and there has been no official communication from Belkin during that period. The fact that I cant get the latest driver from the internet is INSANE.

If I want to use the n52te I can't go to Windows 7. Hell I can't even move from XP to Vista even though stable drivers at some time supposedly did exist. I was an early adopter and I've got the CD with the original firmware and drivers. Buggy as hell on Vista.

It is possible to use the DPad for other functionality, but I paid 79$ - I should have the choice. The original n52 had no problems with the DPad. Seems reasonable to expect the same from the next generation.

I hope you are right about the Razer driver fiasco.... There is absolutely no reason why I should not be able to download any version of driver/firmware that Belkin has released.

 

I can confirm the above, as I also tried both the Belkin support website, as well as the Community Forum, and never received the registration email, which would have allowed me to post my unhappiness with product support.

Unfortunately, the driver and firmware packaged with the product (1.00/1.01 respectively), are very buggy, and don't work well when trying to create macros with delays.

If anyone is still on the fence trying to decide between the Logitech G13 and N52te... avoid the N52te.

 

Hmm...according to the software (still the one from the disk), I have driver version 2.1.2 and firmware 1.02. That's interesting. Do you want a copy of my software/driver/firmware disk?

 

yes , pls, I have 2 HDD, (raid 0) , with vista ultimate 64, and 8 gigs of ram and cant enjoy it because my n52te stopped working during the os and HDD upgrade, pls post send me you drivers man.

 

Okay, send an email to mastershroom[at]gmail.com with your address, and I'll burn a copy of the driver/firmware disk and mail it to ya.

 

I too was hunting for an updated driver for it and after some digging I found a link on belkin's cache server???

Anyways here it is: "n52te_win_driver_v212.zip"
http://cache-www.belkin.com/support/dl/n52te_win_driver_v212.zip

I hope this helps a few frustrated abandonware refugees like Me.

______________________________________________________
Do agnostic dyslexic insomniacs lay awake at night wondering if there really is a dog?

 

here is my n52te firmware 1.04 driver. hope it will help you :>

http://www.fileshost.com/download.php?id=69ABC7A91

http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/69214/n52te_win_firmware_v1.04_eng.rar

 

Thanks for that kvick. I have to say, looking for that firmware was getting me nowhere. I guess I won't retire my n52te in favor of the more supportive logitech team and their G13 just yet.

Now, to take up the waiting game for Razer to release new drivers for their joint creation with Belkin. Hmm... wonder how long that'll take.

 

Bah. Default drivers work just fine for me...driver 2.12 was included on the disk that came with mine, which I think is the latest anyway.