Thinkpads Forum

I'm writing about an X60T I bought new from the outlet several months ago. It is running Vista, and has more than 2.5 years left out of its 3 year EZ-Serv warranty.

The Atheros A/B/G wireless card contained therein is apparently defective. The machine will not maintain any wireless connection for more than a few minutes, whether to my home WiFi network or other networks I've connected to. This is true under both Access Connections and under the native Vista wireless program. The Atheros wireless drivers from Lenovo and the Access Connections programs have both been uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times and the results are the same. Device manager shows no problems.

I called Lenovo yesterday and spoke with a lady who seemed more intelligent and knowledgeable than most of their employees with whom I have talked on the phone over the last few years. I explained the situation with all the troubleshooting I'd done and she agreed it most probably was the wireless card itself that was to blame. I explained that I have replaced many parts in many Thinkpads and installed quite a few wireless cards over the years, and requested that they just send me the part (the WiFi communications card) and I'd replace it myself, sending back to them the defective card.

The lenovo technician refused, saying that lenovo will not send out Wireless cards to consumers under any circumstances, although they will send out such other parts such as keyboards, hard disks, etc., which to me seem at least as difficult for a consumer to replace than is a wireless card. Instead she is sending me an EZ-Serv box, although I told her it was most unlikely that I'd be sending the system in for their EZ Serv contractor to damage in some other way.

I have instead bought an Intel Card from a Marketplace listing here, and will plan to swap that in if need be rather than to risk an EZ-Serv debacle for such a small repair.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might get Lenovo to send me a replacement card rather than have to risk a pass through EZ-Serv, which seems more likely to cause more harm than good in my own experience and from various ghastly experiences I have read about on these boards.

Thanx,

You might try calling back again and hopefully get a more sympathetic representative.

Brad

Brad wrote:You might try calling back again and hopefully get a more sympathetic representative.

Brad

I was planning to do that, and your post motivated me to do it today. I got a gentleman this time who actually listened to me, and he seemed swayed by my saying I was going to use the HMM. He said I'd have no support from them at all in installing it since it is not a part they send out normally. He then asked what I'd do if I found out that the problem was something else, for example the connector on the mobo or the mobo itself. I said that at that point I'd send the machine in because even though I could replace the mobo, it would take more time than I would want to devote to solve this problem.

He said ok, and he's sending the part.

On reviewing the HMM (hardware maintenance manual) for the X60T, replacing a wireless card requires removing more parts than usual on Thinkpads (hinge bracket for the swiveling screen, keyboard, keyboard bezel, palmrest) and hence more screws. I'm sure I can do the job in half an hour, but it is a bit more involved than most of the repairs they let customers do with FRUs, so I can understand the issue with this particular machine (a tablet).

But the lady I spoke to first told me they won't send out WiFi cards for ANY Lenovo notebook, not just the X60T Thinkpad. This makes little sense since replacing the WiFi card, in say a T60, or T4x, isn't really any harder than installing an extra RAM chip in those machines.

she was likely just working by the 'script'... if it's not listed as a cru, it doesn't get sent out.

glad you got a resolution.

Bravo!

What's next an LCD or a hinge?

Brad

The IBM Atheros 11 a/b/g card for Vista with the Vista drivers is definitely defective (or at the very least, the driver needs an overhaul). In any event, my T61p came with the Atheros card and wireless didn't work properly. I purchased a replacement card here in the forum to no avail (card was known good). Just recently, I purchased an Intel 3945 here in the forum and wireless is now working just great.

I am reasonably convinced the problem is the Atheros driver, and I am disappointed that it has been nearly a year since Lenovo has upgraded it. Surely we two are not the only ones with this driver problem. ... JDH

jdhurst wrote:The IBM Atheros 11 a/b/g card for Vista with the Vista drivers is definitely defective (or at the very least, the driver needs an overhaul). In any event, my T61p came with the Atheros card and wireless didn't work properly. I purchased a replacement card here in the forum to no avail (card was known good). Just recently, I purchased an Intel 3945 here in the forum and wireless is now working just great.

I am reasonably convinced the problem is the Atheros driver, and I am disappointed that it has been nearly a year since Lenovo has upgraded it. Surely we two are not the only ones with this driver problem. ... JDH

Funny you mention this . . . . I may well be on the way to doing the same thing. Yesterday I purchased a newly pulled 3945abg from a Marketplace listing, which is also enroute to me.

Given your experience, JD, I may test the new card before I fully reassemble the X60T's case with the replacement Atheros card installed. If the problem persists (and it is so obvious that with 15 minutes testing I could be certain), I may keep the replacement Atheros card but install the 3945 in its place. Eventually they'll fix the driver and presumably I'll find a use for the Atheros card eventually.

People like to diss the Intel cards, but I've used them almost exclusively for years. The software can be buggy (especially the repackaged Lenovo versions of the Intel software) but aside from that the hardware has always served me well.

Ken Fox wrote:<snip>

People like to diss the Intel cards, but I've used them almost exclusively for years. The software can be buggy (especially the repackaged Lenovo versions of the Intel software) but aside from that the hardware has always served me well.

Good luck with the Intel replacement.

It pays to keep an open mind. I replaced the Intel 2100 card in my T41 a long time ago with an Atheros card and never looked back. Now, on the T61p, the Intel is working better.

I bear no ill to any vendor so long as their product works like it says on the can. ... JDH

jdhurst wrote:
Good luck with the Intel replacement.

It pays to keep an open mind. I replaced the Intel 2100 card in my T41 a long time ago with an Atheros card and never looked back. Now, on the T61p, the Intel is working better.

I bear no ill to any vendor so long as their product works like it says on the can. ... JDH

Hi JD,

I received the new Atheros card from IBM yesterday and the Intel card from the marketplace listing today. I decided to just go ahead and swap the intel card in there based upon your comments. Those tablets are a PITA to take apart, and I would not recommend that most people attempt swapping a wireless card in an X60T (the X61T appears to be easier as the palmrest is separated from the rest of the keyboard bezel).

I uninstalled the Atheros driver package and AC, then reinstalled the Intel driver package plus AC (in that order), which I've repeated 3 times with the same result. The wireless card works fine, but each time I boot up I get an error message indicating that the AC GUI program (whatever that is) has crashed. AC itself seems to work fine. Obviously, GUI refers to the graphical interface, but I don't know what that component is in relationship to the rest of the program which appears to function normally.

Other than going through the registry with a fine tooth comb to try to remove each and every listing that refers to AC, then to reinstall it, I have no idea how I might eliminate that error message on boot up. Do you have any experience with this, having yourself swapped an Intel card in for an Atheros one in Vista, and any suggestions on an easy fix to this annoyance?

Thanks,

Try uninstalling Access Connections, reboot, then uninstall your wireless driver software and reboot again. Now install your wireless software again, reboot, then install Access Connections and do a final reboot.

I just had to go through this procedure to get my wireless working properly with Access Connections again in Vista. This procedure has always worked for me. If you still have problems, launch regedit32 and search for atheros, deleting any entries that seem like they shouldn't be there. If you cannot delete an entry, right-click on it and grant Everyone full access under permissions. You should be able to delete it now.

I can only offer what GJ just did, as that is how I did it. Access Connections gets intimate with the card, so I uninstalled everything profiles and all, put the card in, installed it, and then got Access Connections going. No issues. ... JDH

I was unable to easily fix the issues surrounding changing the wireless card in this machine. Although I did edit the registry extensively there were entries with "Atheros" in them that defied removal. Those entries which did not allow removal also did not allow their attributes to be changed, no matter what I tried.

After about 3 hours wasted I simply cloned over the disk from my other X60T which has an Intel card in it. I changed a few things to adjust for other minor hardware differences and to give the system back its real name in the network.

I don't know for sure what went awry, but whatever it was, it was not worth any more of my time. It is always worthwhile to keep backup images or to have another source of a good image to transplant onto a notebook should this sort of aggravation present itself.