Wireless Card gives Vista x64 BSOD

[psc]

I have an Atheros AR5007 wireless card in my laptop which also runs Vista
Ultimate x64 edition. The problem I get is every now or then I get a BSOD
that is caused by my wireless card. I have the latest drivers and don't
really know what to do to solve it. How can I prevent the BSOD from occuring?

Thanks.

 

[BigJim]

are you sure the drivers for the card are 64 bit? If not that might cause
the problem.

 

[psc]

the drivers are 64 bit, it's for both 32 bit and 64 bit systems. The system
is HP and the two drivers HP provide don't work with my wireless card since
one is for Intel Wireless and the other is for Broadcom wireless. All the
Atheros drivers crash my system once in a while. The system was stable before
but after I upgraded to x64 from x86 the crashes started again.

 

[Barb Bowman]

where are you getting the drivers from?

I have an Atheros AR5007 wireless card in my laptop which also runs Vista
Ultimate x64 edition. The problem I get is every now or then I get a BSOD
that is caused by my wireless card. I have the latest drivers and don't
really know what to do to solve it. How can I prevent the BSOD from occuring?

Thanks.

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[psc]

Originally I used HP drivers for another model computer because it had the
drivers for my exact wireless card. I have not gotten a single BSOD with it
until I came back to my university where they use some sort of root
certificate internet service. Now that I keep getting BSODs I used the
drivers Microsoft fetched for me that is also HP. This driver also gives me
the BSOD. I have a feeling it may be the internet service that is causing my
BSODs but I did have one entire semester where no BSODs occured so I'm not
sure what is going on.

 

[Barb Bowman]

is windows managing the wireless or some HP application? do you only
get BSODs at school?

Originally I used HP drivers for another model computer because it had the
drivers for my exact wireless card. I have not gotten a single BSOD with it
until I came back to my university where they use some sort of root
certificate internet service. Now that I keep getting BSODs I used the
drivers Microsoft fetched for me that is also HP. This driver also gives me
the BSOD. I have a feeling it may be the internet service that is causing my
BSODs but I did have one entire semester where no BSODs occured so I'm not
sure what is going on.

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[RalfG]

It could be the drivers themselves causing the BSODs. I had that problem
with an Atheros adapter after Windows installed a driver update. The problem
driver was available from both MS and the adapter manufacturer, and crashed
with or without the manufacturer's WLAN utility. Fortunately the original
driver was stable and good enough, just didn't have the improved security,
so I could at least still use the adapter. It was a very long time before a
fixed version of the driver was released.

Can you not use drivers from the manufacturer of your wireless card?

 

[psc]

i believe Windows is managing my drivers. When I tried to install HP's SP
setup nothing happened so I extracted the setup files and told Windows to
look in that folder for the driver. That's the only way to install the driver
files. Also, this only happens at school I believe. I never had this problem
at home.

 

[psc]

I have tried other drivers before and still get the BSOD. With my current
driver I get the BSOD less often but I just got it a few minutes ago before
posting. The drivers I use are the ones Windows pointed out for me but they
are still HP.

 

[RalfG]

There seem to be several versions of the AR5007 chipset that could have been
used in your adapter. You'd need to have drivers that were written for the
specific version that your WIFI adapter uses. They might not all be
compatible with Vista 64bit. See the list on this unofficial Atheros driver
page: http://www.atheros.cz/

This is one of the drivers they have that lists HP among the compatible wifi
adapters, but there are others as well:
http://www.atheros.cz/download.php?atheros=AR5007EG&system=4

 

[Barb Bowman]

can you borrow a pccard/express card and see if you have the same
issue at school?

Also, this only happens at school I believe. I never had this problem
at home.

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[psc]

I'm using a Netgear adapter right now and no BSOD yet. The only BSODs I get
are from the Atheros Driver and card,

 

[psc]

I believe I was using the correct drivers. Didn't know there were so many.
The thing is though that I never got the BSOD while at home with the drivers
I used and only get them here at school.

 

[Barb Bowman]

which Netgear adapter? several of them are Atheros chipsets.

I'm using a Netgear adapter right now and no BSOD yet. The only BSODs I get
are from the Atheros Driver and card

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[RalfG]

That could just be a coincidence. Either way you've got a hardware problem
on the computer now and limited options for fixing it. Could be the adapter
itself gone bad, flakey Atheros drivers, or some software or file that was
put on the computer recently that is affecting the drivers. If you can't
find drivers that will work or identify a software conflict then the easiest
workaround would be to get an inexpensive USB WiFi adapter to use instead of
the internal one when you are at school.