Can't Get Laptop Wireless card to work

[Jack]

I have a Presario V6000 laptop with an internal miniPCI Express
wireless card. It is HP P/N 407159-001. The problem is that the
computer doesn't seem to know it is there, so I can't install it. I
purchased a replacement card on Ebay, and I get the same result with
that, so I guess the card is not the problem.

I am not sure what I should see in device manager, but what I do see
under network adapters is 2 lines, "1394 net adaptor" and "nvidia
nforce networking controller". Both are working properly according to
device manager. I am guessing the nvidia controller is referring to
the ethernet controller.

I don't know what the 1394 net adaptor is referring to unless it is
the wireless card that is not working. I have tried to change the
drivers for this, but Windows tells me it has the best options.

I would appreciate any advice as to how to get this thing working.
BTW, I am running Xp Pro.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Dave]

I have a Presario V6000 laptop with an internal miniPCI Express
wireless card. It is HP P/N 407159-001. The problem is that the
computer doesn't seem to know it is there, so I can't install it. I
purchased a replacement card on Ebay, and I get the same result with
that, so I guess the card is not the problem.

I am not sure what I should see in device manager, but what I do see
under network adapters is 2 lines, "1394 net adaptor" and "nvidia
nforce networking controller". Both are working properly according to
device manager. I am guessing the nvidia controller is referring to
the ethernet controller.

I don't know what the 1394 net adaptor is referring to unless it is
the wireless card that is not working. I have tried to change the
drivers for this, but Windows tells me it has the best options.

I would appreciate any advice as to how to get this thing working.
BTW, I am running Xp Pro.

Thanks,

Jack

You can't add expansion cards to any system unless the slots are enabled and
the mainboard chipset drivers are properly installed. First you need to
check your BIOS settings to see if the miniPCI Express slot is enabled. If
it is, you need to reinstall ALL your motherboard drivers. -Dave

 

[Jack]

You can't add expansion cards to any system unless the slots are enabled and
the mainboard chipset drivers are properly installed.  First you need to
check your BIOS settings to see if the miniPCI Express slot is enabled.  If
it is, you need to reinstall ALL your motherboard drivers.  -Dave

The only thing in my BIOS settings that relates to this is under Boot
Options where the "internal network adapter boot" is enabled.

My system board is identified in the bios as 30B7, version F.3D, which
seems to be the latest version, according to stuff I've looked up on
the web.

How do you think I should proceed?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Paul]

I have a Presario V6000 laptop with an internal miniPCI Express
wireless card. It is HP P/N 407159-001. The problem is that the
computer doesn't seem to know it is there, so I can't install it. I
purchased a replacement card on Ebay, and I get the same result with
that, so I guess the card is not the problem.

I am not sure what I should see in device manager, but what I do see
under network adapters is 2 lines, "1394 net adaptor" and "nvidia
nforce networking controller". Both are working properly according to
device manager. I am guessing the nvidia controller is referring to
the ethernet controller.

I don't know what the 1394 net adaptor is referring to unless it is
the wireless card that is not working. I have tried to change the
drivers for this, but Windows tells me it has the best options.

I would appreciate any advice as to how to get this thing working.
BTW, I am running Xp Pro.

Thanks,

Jack

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/s...c01035886/c01035886.pdf?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

The "1394 net adapter" is there, on models that happen to have
the Firewire option installed. Firewire supports disks, supports
capturing movies from a camcorder, but can also be used to build
Firewire networks. You can connect two computers with Firewire and
have a 400Mbit/sec network. That is why a "1394 net adapter" would
be present as a software feature. (Firewire networking is discontinued
in Vista, but should work in WinXP.)

The chipset is 6150 Go from Nvidia, so the Nvidia "networking controller"
could be an Ethernet interface embedded in the Southbridge.

So neither of those is pertinent to getting the wireless to work.

Wireless devices can be connected via USB. Or the card you purchased
(or had originally installed in the machine), could be mini-PCI.

You can use a program like Everest, and look in DevicesCI to
see if the card is visible. Or Deviceshysical Devices is another
place to look. Maybe you'll see an "Unknown" entry in there, or
something else of interest.

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Everest has Report:Report Wizard, to capture a text file of
hardware related information. But that is too big to post
in its entirety, and should be edited to get the relevant
bits.

Using an Ebay search, I get this -

"HP Broadcom 802.11g MiniPCI WLAN BCM94311MCG 407159-001"

FCC ID:QDS-BRCM1020
IC:4324A-BRCM1020

There are Dell and Acer equivalents of the same card. Their
SUBSYS enumeration might be different, but basically the
same kind of driver might be used.

While the "HP P/N 407159-001" is nice, a Presario V6xxx number
would be better. Or you can use your service tag on the
HP site, to search for a driver. Install the proper driver
and see what happens. (Compare the Device_ID and Subsystem info
in Everest, or in Device Manager properties, and see if it
matches an entry in the INF file of the installer folder.
I cannot comment on that, without acquiring the driver
first.)

There should already be a PCI bus bridge, which bridges the PCI
bus coming from the Southbridge. As near as I can determine,
it shouldn't be a missing bridge driver of some sort. You
should already be able to see the PCI wirelsss device and
its enumeration as is.

Paul

 

[Jack]

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01035886/c01...

The "1394 net adapter" is there, on models that happen to have
the Firewire option installed. Firewire supports disks, supports
capturing movies from a camcorder, but can also be used to build
Firewire networks. You can connect two computers with Firewire and
have a 400Mbit/sec network. That is why a "1394 net adapter" would
be present as a software feature. (Firewire networking is discontinued
in Vista, but should work in WinXP.)

The chipset is 6150 Go from Nvidia, so the Nvidia "networking controller"
could be an Ethernet interface embedded in the Southbridge.

So neither of those is pertinent to getting the wireless to work.

Wireless devices can be connected via USB. Or the card you purchased
(or had originally installed in the machine), could be mini-PCI.

You can use a program like Everest, and look in DevicesCI to
see if the card is visible. Or Deviceshysical Devices is another
place to look. Maybe you'll see an "Unknown" entry in there, or
something else of interest.

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Everest has Report:Report Wizard, to capture a text file of
hardware related information. But that is too big to post
in its entirety, and should be edited to get the relevant
bits.

Using an Ebay search, I get this -

    "HP Broadcom 802.11g MiniPCI WLAN BCM94311MCG 407159-001"

    FCC ID:QDS-BRCM1020
    IC:4324A-BRCM1020

There are Dell and Acer equivalents of the same card. Their
SUBSYS enumeration might be different, but basically the
same kind of driver might be used.

While the "HP P/N 407159-001" is nice, a Presario V6xxx number
would be better. Or you can use your service tag on the
HP site, to search for a driver. Install the proper driver
and see what happens. (Compare the Device_ID and Subsystem info
in Everest, or in Device Manager properties, and see if it
matches an entry in the INF file of the installer folder.
I cannot comment on that, without acquiring the driver
first.)

There should already be a PCI bus bridge, which bridges the PCI
bus coming from the Southbridge. As near as I can determine,
it shouldn't be a missing bridge driver of some sort. You
should already be able to see the PCI wirelsss device and
its enumeration as is.

    Paul

The HP product number is V6120US. I have gone to HP website and
loaded new drivers for "broadcom wireless lan" and for "nvidia nforce
chipset driver and network controller", but the problem remains that I
don't see the wireless minipci express card. I am not sure which
Everest file to run.

BTW, I am using a USB wireless adapter with this laptop now, and it
works fine, but it is somewhat inconvenient and because of it's width
it blocks off 2 USB ports, so I would like to get the internal
wireless working.

 

[Jack]

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01035886/c01...

The "1394 net adapter" is there, on models that happen to have
the Firewire option installed. Firewire supports disks, supports
capturing movies from a camcorder, but can also be used to build
Firewire networks. You can connect two computers with Firewire and
have a 400Mbit/sec network. That is why a "1394 net adapter" would
be present as a software feature. (Firewire networking is discontinued
in Vista, but should work in WinXP.)

The chipset is 6150 Go from Nvidia, so the Nvidia "networking controller"
could be an Ethernet interface embedded in the Southbridge.

So neither of those is pertinent to getting the wireless to work.

Wireless devices can be connected via USB. Or the card you purchased
(or had originally installed in the machine), could be mini-PCI.

You can use a program like Everest, and look in DevicesCI to
see if the card is visible. Or Deviceshysical Devices is another
place to look. Maybe you'll see an "Unknown" entry in there, or
something else of interest.

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Everest has Report:Report Wizard, to capture a text file of
hardware related information. But that is too big to post
in its entirety, and should be edited to get the relevant
bits.

Using an Ebay search, I get this -

    "HP Broadcom 802.11g MiniPCI WLAN BCM94311MCG 407159-001"

    FCC ID:QDS-BRCM1020
    IC:4324A-BRCM1020

There are Dell and Acer equivalents of the same card. Their
SUBSYS enumeration might be different, but basically the
same kind of driver might be used.

While the "HP P/N 407159-001" is nice, a Presario V6xxx number
would be better. Or you can use your service tag on the
HP site, to search for a driver. Install the proper driver
and see what happens. (Compare the Device_ID and Subsystem info
in Everest, or in Device Manager properties, and see if it
matches an entry in the INF file of the installer folder.
I cannot comment on that, without acquiring the driver
first.)

There should already be a PCI bus bridge, which bridges the PCI
bus coming from the Southbridge. As near as I can determine,
it shouldn't be a missing bridge driver of some sort. You
should already be able to see the PCI wirelsss device and
its enumeration as is.

    Paul

The HP product number is V6120US. I have gone to HP website and
loaded new drivers for "broadcom wireless lan" and for "nvidia nforce
chipset driver and network controller", but the problem remains that I
don't see the wireless minipci express card. I am not sure which
Everest file to run.

BTW, I am using a USB wireless adapter with this laptop now, and it
works fine, but it is somewhat inconvenient and because of it's width
it blocks off 2 USB ports, so I would like to get the internal
wireless working.

 

[Dave]

The only thing in my BIOS settings that relates to this is under Boot

Options where the "internal network adapter boot" is enabled.

Your system should have an "integrated peripherals" menu in the BIOS. That
is where you should check your settings. You might also have a PCI/PNP
(plug and play) menu in the BIOS. If so, you should check settings there.
If you are seeing NETWORK settings, then you are looking in the wrong
sub-menu of your BIOS setup screens. You aren't looking to set up a
wireless network card. FIRST, you must get the miniPCI express slot
working. In other words, the slot can be used for a lot more than just
network cards, so the settings you need to enable have nothing to do with a
network.

Again, make sure that the slot is enabled in BIOS. And then reinstall all
motherboard chipset drivers, if necessary. THEN try to install drivers for
the wireless adapter. -Dave

 

[Jack]

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01035886/c01...

The "1394 net adapter" is there, on models that happen to have
the Firewire option installed. Firewire supports disks, supports
capturing movies from a camcorder, but can also be used to build
Firewire networks. You can connect two computers with Firewire and
have a 400Mbit/sec network. That is why a "1394 net adapter" would
be present as a software feature. (Firewire networking is discontinued
in Vista, but should work in WinXP.)

The chipset is 6150 Go from Nvidia, so the Nvidia "networking controller"
could be an Ethernet interface embedded in the Southbridge.

So neither of those is pertinent to getting the wireless to work.

Wireless devices can be connected via USB. Or the card you purchased
(or had originally installed in the machine), could be mini-PCI.

You can use a program like Everest, and look in DevicesCI to
see if the card is visible. Or Deviceshysical Devices is another
place to look. Maybe you'll see an "Unknown" entry in there, or
something else of interest.

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Everest has Report:Report Wizard, to capture a text file of
hardware related information. But that is too big to post
in its entirety, and should be edited to get the relevant
bits.

Using an Ebay search, I get this -

    "HP Broadcom 802.11g MiniPCI WLAN BCM94311MCG 407159-001"

    FCC ID:QDS-BRCM1020
    IC:4324A-BRCM1020

There are Dell and Acer equivalents of the same card. Their
SUBSYS enumeration might be different, but basically the
same kind of driver might be used.

While the "HP P/N 407159-001" is nice, a Presario V6xxx number
would be better. Or you can use your service tag on the
HP site, to search for a driver. Install the proper driver
and see what happens. (Compare the Device_ID and Subsystem info
in Everest, or in Device Manager properties, and see if it
matches an entry in the INF file of the installer folder.
I cannot comment on that, without acquiring the driver
first.)

There should already be a PCI bus bridge, which bridges the PCI
bus coming from the Southbridge. As near as I can determine,
it shouldn't be a missing bridge driver of some sort. You
should already be able to see the PCI wirelsss device and
its enumeration as is.

    Paul

The HP product number is V6120US. I have gone to HP website and
loaded new drivers for "broadcom wireless lan" and for "nvidia nforce
chipset driver and network controller", but the problem remains that I
don't see the wireless minipci express card. I am not sure which
Everest file to run.

BTW, I am using a USB wireless adapter with this laptop now, and it
works fine, but it is somewhat inconvenient and because of it's width
it blocks off 2 USB ports, so I would like to get the internal
wireless working.

 

[Jack]

Your system should have an "integrated peripherals" menu in the BIOS.  That
is where you should check your settings.  You might also have a PCI/PNP
(plug and play) menu in the BIOS.  If so, you should check settings there.
If you are seeing NETWORK settings, then you are looking in the wrong
sub-menu of your BIOS setup screens.  You aren't looking to set up a
wireless network card.  FIRST, you must get the miniPCI express slot
working.  In other words, the slot can be used for a lot more than just
network cards, so the settings you need to enable have nothing to do witha
network.

Again, make sure that the slot is enabled in BIOS.  And then reinstall all
motherboard chipset drivers, if necessary.  THEN try to install driversfor
the wireless adapter.  -Dave

I understand what you are saying and I think you are right about
getting the slot working, but the bios is remarkably void of settings
in my experience, although I haven't had a laptop before this.
Anyway, here are my bios menu items:

MAIN - It shows date and time, which I can change, and a bunch of ID
stuff which I can't change. This includes System board ID of 30B7 and
Bios version of F.3D

SECURITY - Only 2 items here, admin password and power on password

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION - This shows only the following: Language, button
sound, VDRAM size, Virtualization technology, and boot options.

DIAGNOSTICS - the only item under this is Hard Drive self test

EXIT

None of these sub items has a sub menu with anything like what you
suggest I should find. Is it possible the bios is screwed up even
though the version, F.3D, is the latest per the HP web site? Should I
re load the bios?

Thanks for the help,

Jack

 

[Paul]

The HP product number is V6120US. I have gone to HP website and
loaded new drivers for "broadcom wireless lan" and for "nvidia nforce
chipset driver and network controller", but the problem remains that I
don't see the wireless minipci express card. I am not sure which
Everest file to run.

BTW, I am using a USB wireless adapter with this laptop now, and it
works fine, but it is somewhat inconvenient and because of it's width
it blocks off 2 USB ports, so I would like to get the internal
wireless working.

I see three drivers available for V6120US. 6.20 Current, 6.10A, and
6.00A. I downloaded 6.20 and 6.10A. 6.10A has more files, and my guess
is, it includes a Broadcom configuration package. It could be, that 6.20
is "just drivers", and configuration is to be provided by Microsoft
"Wireless Zero Config".

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...n&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=228&product=3250963

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Zero_Configuration

WZC appeared in WinXP SP2, so if you didn't have SP2 installed, you
might not have a WZC to use. You might want to try an older
driver in that case.

If I was in your position right now, I'd download the 6.10A
package and try that instead.

When the HP download extracts itself, you can look in the
bcmwl5.inf file, for VEN/DEV/SUBSYS information. You install
Everest, and run "Everest Home Edition" from your program
menu. Select PCIevices, then look in the DeviceID field
for your wireless device, to get the hexidecimal numbers
for it.

For example, if your device enumeration happened to be this in the .INF file

PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4320&SUBSYS_00E70E11

then in DevicesCI this would appear as

DeviceID 14E4-4320
SubsystemID 0E11-00E7 (yes, they're reversed for added confusion)

in Everest.

If you ever need to look up an unknown device type, you can find it here.

http://pciids.sourceforge.net/pci.ids

The reason you're looking for those numbers and letters, is
to match a line in the INF file, to what is shown in Everest.
This is how the operating system decides a driver is "just
right". If there is no match, of the Everest enumeration,
with any of those VEN/DEV lines in the INF, then the
driver won't install/load. The reason there are so
many entries in the INF, is the driver supports many
computer maker's products (HP/Dell/Acer etc). Also,
different regions of the world, use slightly different
radio specs, so sometimes that is covered by enumerations
in the driver as well.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Peter]

I have a Presario V6000 laptop with an internal miniPCI Express
wireless card. It is HP P/N 407159-001. The problem is that the
computer doesn't seem to know it is there, so I can't install it. I
purchased a replacement card on Ebay, and I get the same result with
that, so I guess the card is not the problem.

I am not sure what I should see in device manager, but what I do see
under network adapters is 2 lines, "1394 net adaptor" and "nvidia
nforce networking controller". Both are working properly according to
device manager. I am guessing the nvidia controller is referring to
the ethernet controller.

I don't know what the 1394 net adaptor is referring to unless it is
the wireless card that is not working. I have tried to change the
drivers for this, but Windows tells me it has the best options.

I would appreciate any advice as to how to get this thing working.
BTW, I am running Xp Pro.

Thanks,

Jack

Have you turned the wireless device on by pressing the on/off switch on
the laptop?

 

[Jack]

Have you turned the wireless device on by pressing the on/off switch on
the laptop?

Yes, I have turned the switch on. No matter what position I place the
switch, the light is amber, meaning the internal wireless is off. The
light is supposed to be blue when the wireless is on.

 

[Jack]

I understand what you are saying and I think you are right about
getting the slot working, but the bios is remarkably void of settings
in my experience, although I haven't had a laptop before this.
Anyway, here are my bios menu items:

MAIN - It shows date and time, which I can change, and a bunch of ID
stuff which I can't change.  This includes System board ID of 30B7 and
Bios version of F.3D

SECURITY - Only 2 items here, admin password and power on password

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION - This shows only the following: Language, button
sound, VDRAM size, Virtualization technology, and boot options.

DIAGNOSTICS - the only item under this is Hard Drive self test

EXIT

None of these sub items has a sub menu with anything like what you
suggest I should find.  Is it possible the bios is screwed up even
though the version, F.3D, is the latest per the HP web site?  Should I
re load the bios?

Thanks for the help,

Jack

I contacted HP and they suggested re flashing the bios, which I did,
but the problem remains, and I still have no option in the bios to
enable/disable the wireless card. They say it is a mb problem, and I
should send the laptop in for a free repair.

 

[Dave]

The HP product number is V6120US. I have gone to HP website and
loaded new drivers for "broadcom wireless lan" and for "nvidia nforce
chipset driver and network controller", but the problem remains that I
don't see the wireless minipci express card. I am not sure which
Everest file to run.

It's possible your miniPCI card is simply defective. -Dave

 

[Dave]

I contacted HP and they suggested re flashing the bios, which I did,
but the problem remains, and I still have no option in the bios to
enable/disable the wireless card. They say it is a mb problem, and I
should send the laptop in for a free repair.

Before you do that, are you sure the card is firmly seated? I mean, this is
a laptop, it gets bounced around a bit. -Dave

 

[gonzo]

I have a Presario V6000 laptop with an internal miniPCI Express
wireless card. It is HP P/N 407159-001. The problem is that the
computer doesn't seem to know it is there, so I can't install it. I
purchased a replacement card on Ebay, and I get the same result with
that, so I guess the card is not the problem.

I am not sure what I should see in device manager, but what I do see
under network adapters is 2 lines, "1394 net adaptor" and "nvidia
nforce networking controller". Both are working properly according to
device manager. I am guessing the nvidia controller is referring to
the ethernet controller.

I don't know what the 1394 net adaptor is referring to unless it is
the wireless card that is not working. I have tried to change the
drivers for this, but Windows tells me it has the best options.

I would appreciate any advice as to how to get this thing working.
BTW, I am running Xp Pro.

Thanks,

Jack

There were huge problems with wireless cards
quitting on HP laptops. It's a well known issue.
A replacement mobo is the only answer. The
problem is so bad that some HP laptops have
had their warranties extended for another
year. See here
http://www.techsupportforum.com/net...-compaq-presario-v6000-wireless-problems.html