Getting Intel ProSet Wireless to work in a Dell

I seem to recall a post elsewhere that involved the proset and the problem was solved by getting the Dell driver rather than the Intel one.

Many thanks for that, we hadnt realised that there was a Dell driver for this device!

Sorry for that last message: Two things went wrong: Firstly the lengthy Dell installation programs stopped abruptly at the end with a message saying this computer didnt support this hardware.

Then, as I cant see any reason I shouldnt put my own network card in my own computer, I tried installing the driver anyway. It then told me that the 2200BG doesnt have the necessary drivers in the location where I had put them.

Were these problems encountered in the other thread and does anyone remember what cured these problems please?

Are you sure that Intel card works?

Just to follow up, the Proset was used in the Compaq 2000 onwards range of laptops.

From my recollection, the card has a driver AND a set of software from HP which handles the mechanical on/off button function for that ( and the volume controls from memory).

So that Intel card appears to be hardware specific and may not work in the Dell.

However, it will work with Linux Ubuntu without the extra module, so maybe there's a work around.

To see if it is compatible load Ubuntu in trial mode on the Dell - and if compatible it WILL work without the aditional utility.

If not, Ubuntu will give a decent message in the Queen's english which may shed some light on the situation.

Later in the thread, you disclose that it's an Intel 2200BG card. Numbers and complete model numbers are always a good thing to know.

Hint: Replacement Dell Truemobile 1150 cards are about $15 on eBay:

Nope. It should work.

Any particular OS? Extra credit for the service pack version.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results. See government relief programs for an example.

Well, I can't "see" your computer either. Does the Intel 2200BG card show up in the Device Manager under "Network" devices?

Actually, there is. There were multiple versions of the 2200BG firmware for IBM, HP, Dell, and others. The idea was to have the machine refuse to recognize non-OEM devices in order to somehow preserve the FCC Type Certification. The manufacturers fell for this nonsense because it will sell more overpriced cards in place of much cheapter non-OEM cards. However, the usual failure is that the BIOS complains on bootup that it found a non-OEM card and hangs before booting. Obviously, this is not happening, so it possible that you have obtained the correct card, or that the bios on your Inspiron, Dimension, Latitude, or whaver 8200 doesn't have this feature. That still doesn't prevent the manufacturers from "enhanching" the card firmware in some way, thus preventing it from being recognized by the non-OEM driver. Hard to tell from here.

Thanks for the responses guys and sorry for the delay in answering but internet access is a bit spotty

I think you are right and that the card is specific to the manufacturer for the reasons mentioned. It WAS working prior to transplant.

This is XP updated to pre-SP3. The reason for this exercise was that I was trying to do the update! What worried me was that this Inspiron

8200 wont work with any other cards either, even a PCMCIA linksys card and Netgear 511 cards which have worked before and whose software was installed. The computer cant see ANY Network card and whatever I do, nothing shows up in device manager properly except an exclamation mark.

I suspect it must be something to do with reinstalling TCP IP?

Do your updates with a wired ethernet card. It's both easier and less prone to screwups.

Oh-oh.

Nope. If the device manager is complaining with an exclanation mark, it's a low level driver issue, not a higher level TCP/IP stack problem. The driver has to be recognized BEFORE the TCP/IP stack comes into play. When looking at the explanations box under the exclamation mark (i.e. right click and properties), does it say "driver failed to something" or does it say "device disabled"? If device disabled, try digging into the BIOS or play with the function keys until the MiniPCI slot comes alive.

This problem is getting easier and easier with each step I take?? Clicking on the item in device manager produces a result I have never seen before: "Adapter State not found in registry" Surely it can tell I am in Los Angeles by all the freeways and all the cars whizzing around everywhere? And when I try to look at the drivers, the recently installed ones are all there and apparently OK??

(Tried googling it and found this may be a circular problem in that I am trying to update and it cant see the card without the update so I will follow advice to do it through ethernet connection)

Correct that

The whole computer just died

Completely

Dead hard drive

Must be a coincidence.

Correct that

The whole computer just died

Completely

Dead hard drive

Must be a coincidence.

well, when you install again after you replace the hard disk, make sure you do both the actual wifi driver and then the proset software

Two part process... the driver talks to the actual hardware, and proset talks to the driver... proset doesn't (usually) talk to the hardware itself, just to the driver

(from a quick search online, i show 109 drivers for the dell inspiron 8200, no clue/didn't count how many of the 109 were for wireless, could be wrong, but i'd bet at least 1 of the 109 are for wireless oh ps, link i looked at for the dell drivers was