WLAN "disappeared from system"

Jim Elbrecht hath wroth:

What operating system? What maker and model wireless card are you using? Built in MiniPCI or USB? Driver version (if you can find it)?

That smells like overheating. Depending on what you have for a wireless device, I suspect it's dead or dying.

Another possiblity is that it's just not shoved into the MiniPCI socket correctly. Open lid, wiggle card, close lid, and try again.

Another possibility is tat your USB port is shutting down, going to sleep, or turning off for some reason. Anything plugged into it proclaims itself as disconnected. Look into the power management settings. Also, your unspecified USB device might have a setting for something like "let Windoze control the power".

Work on disclosing what hardware and software you're using so I don't have to guess.

Hi, Virus? Malware?

Sorry about that-

Win MCE

Built in- factory - I thought "Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN" identified the card- that driver is version 4.100.15.5

Under Network adapters I also have "1394 Net Adapter" driver version

5.1.2535.0 [this shows as working even when I lose connectivity]

and NVIDIA nForce networking controller driver version 50.2.4.0

-snip-

I hadn't ever looked in there- so I popped off the two access covers on the laptop. 1 has the memory- the other the hard drive. Couldn't see anything else under either- so I left well enough alone. If it looks like hardware I'll deliver it for warranty work.

-snip-

No USB devices involved. Power saving turned off. [except for hard drive after 2 hours or some such] Also it is pretty random. Sometimes only allows a minute before disconnecting- other times an hour or two.

-snip-

I think I covered the hardware. For software- This might be significant- It *seems* like if I just open Agent 4.2 [Forte's email & usenet client] I keep connected longer than if I open IE7 & start browsing the internet.

I use AVG free for virus control- and haven't caught anything. It updates daily. AVG Anti-spyware 7.5 Windows firewall.

I think that's it-- Thanks, Jim

Are you sure? There are quite a few DV60xx models listed on the HP web site.

What's that? Is it Windoze ME? Are you sure it's not Windoze XP or Vista?

Right click on "My Computer" icon and hit "Properties". What operating system does it say? What version?

That's the MiniPCI internal wireless card. If you have XP, I think the current version is 4.40.19.0. However, I'm not sure. See:

Since I'm NOT sure what exact model you have, I can't tell if this is really the latest driver. Use the "HP Update" wizard. There's also the HP Wireless assistant to update:

That's your firewire port. It's not involved in this problem.

That's your ethernet port. It's not involved in this problem.

Look again under the middle cover. Here's the instructions on how to replace the wireless card:

Argh, a flash video clip. Looks like an Express PCI card.

That eliminates power saving, but I'm still suspicious. See if this sounds familiar.

Not really, but it's not your fault. HP dv6000 has many variations. See if you can determine exactly which is yours.

Only 48 models to choose from.

Weird. I have no idea what that means. If it's a power down problem, as I've been suspecting, then the traffic generated would keep the connection up longer with whichever program generates the most traffic. Try firing up IE7 and play a *LONG* YouTube video clip. Does it stay up?

I don't think this is a virus or spyware.

On Tue, 01 May 2007 15:02:09 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote in :

Media Center Edition, a flavor of XP.

Media Centre Edition (a version of XP that MS tried to use to break into the 'a pc in your living room' market).

On Thu, 03 May 2007 00:27:45 +0100, Mark McIntyre wrote in :

Nasty echo in here. :)

The HP tag on the back says "Product HP Pavillion dv6000" - I checked their support page when I go there it also identifies it only as a dv6000.

Then I found this "Many HP Notebooks are identified by a series number rather than the actual model number. For example, the notebook PC may be labeled with dv9000 on the case, but it is actually part of a 9000 series notebook PC. The correct model number may be dv9098" Then they show how to decipher the product tag-

It's a dv6171cl. Did they manage to make that as difficult as possible?

Media Center Edition-- sorry I just went to Win98 [from WFWG] a couple years ago- and have only used this laptop for a couple months. I thought MCE was a common abbreviation.

Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002 SP 2 [but I note that the MS authentication tag on the computer calls it 'Version 2005']

You are correct on the driver version. I just ran the 'HP update wizard' a week ago and it said I was good. Next time I'll look for whatever is giving me trouble and do it manually.

OK- updated both. Thanks.

-snip-

Ahhh-- and a huge one. But worth 10,000 words. Turns out I probably did what you suggested without realizing it. I was looking at the cable connections because they were unfamiliar to me, and wiggled them on their contacts to see how they worked.

And I've been connected now- with both Agent and IE7 for several hours. [that was a couple days ago- yesterday was flakey again]

Thanks for that link-- lots of other good clips there, too.

-snip-

Not really- If I understand it correctly, when I close the laptop it goes straight to hibernation. It always restores when I return. OTOH- someone there mentioned the unreliability of HP Update vs Windows update-- I'm waiting for Windows update to load as I write this.

-snip-

Started R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" 41min. at 8:18am- finished loading about 8:40 - and it played through. [this might be another 'good day' - I've been online for over na hour with no drops.]

-snip-

Thanks- even if it isn't really cured you've given me a wealth of info and sources.

Since it seemed like wiggling those wires cured it- but only for a day. . .and now it seems ok- Do I dare put the tiniest drop of dielectric grease on them-- or just hit them with some desgreaser?

Jim

On Fri, 04 May 2007 09:06:03 -0400, Jim Elbrecht wrote in :

Hibernation? That sounds more like suspend to RAM. Hibernation is where the contents of RAM are written to hard disk, and read back in to restart, which typically takes a noticeable amount of time. Suspend to RAM is instant by comparison. Regardless, neither has anything to do with power management.

Yikes! Use contact cleaner (sparingly) instead. Available at Radio Shack.

Jim Elbrecht hath wroth:

I'm not sure whom to blame for that stupidity. However, you'll be thrilled to know that IBM and Compaq also do the same thing to varying degrees. I guess confusion sells products.

The URL's I supplied were based on the base dv6000 configuration. Doing the search using the dv6171cl results in a slightly different driver list:

My fault. I guess it's common enough, but I see so few versions of Media Center Edition, that I didn't recognize the acronym. Under the garrish media player, it's either XP Home or Pro.

I've had some problems with the HP update wizard. It's very conservative and only announces updates literally months after the update appears on the HP download web site. I use the HP update wizard for convenience, but when there's a problem to solve, I download the latest directly from the web site.

Well, I kinda cringed when I saw them using a pair of metal tweezers to yank on the coax crimp part of the connector. Prying is fine, but it's much easier to shove a plastic or wooden wedge between the coax crimp and the circuit board to extract the connector. Getting it back in place is where the fun comes in. Those Hirose U.FL connectors are not good for very many insertion and removal cycles. My guess is after about 10 such cycles, the connector is going to start showing signs of self-destruction. Be *VERY* careful with the connector.

Ok, so it may have been a loose RF connector.

As I recall, most laptops are set to go into "standby" instead of "hibernation" when closing the lid. Standby leaves power applied to the memory so that when you open the lid again, everything is exactly where you left off with little delay. Hibernate saves the memory image to the hard disk. When opening the lid (and/or punching the on/off button), you'll see "Resuming Windoze" drag itself across the screen. It's reading the stuff that was saved on the hard disk and loading it into memory. That takes more time than standby. However, hibernate does not suck power from the battery when the laptop is turned off. You can tweak the settings with: Control Panel -> Power Options.

That's not what I meant. I wanted you to be moving data through the wireless while you were waiting for it to disconnect. A massive download is only good for doing that during the duration of the download. Anyway, it seems to be working, so no need to repeat the test.

No, don't do that. If they're dirty, some alcohol might be useful. You don't want anything that will act as an insulator or attract dust and dirt. No oil, grease, goo, tar, paste, or anything that might get inside the connector. Dry is best (unless you have a condensing atmosphere to deal with).

On Fri, 04 May 2007 14:08:34 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote in :

I've found free Belarc Advisor to be helpful in identifying computers and solving problems.