wireless card won't power on [solved]

[Paul Unger]

The scenario: I just pulled the atheros card from one T42 (3uu) and put it in another T42 (4tu). I installed a driver, but it wouldn't power on ... Fn+F5 didn't work; the card was 'enabled' in it's properties, everything seemed to be in order, but ... Just wondering what I'm missing? It's not the newest driver, but it's the one just before the latest release. Any hints much appreciated!

[RealBlackStuff]

Try cleaning the cards edge connectors with a pencil eraser, then re-insert.
You may need to re-insert a few times to get rid of the accumulated dust/grid in the socket.

[GomJabbar]

I don't know about the Atheros cards, but with my Intel 2200BG card I can run repair from the wireless software installer (either from Add or Remove Programs or by running iSetup.exe) to fix this problem. I believe you need the wireless software suite installed and not just the driver itself for this to work.

[Paul Unger]

It's working. I pulled the card out and 'erased' the edge connectors. Then I threw the latest driver at it (from 4.1.2.147 to 4.1.2.156). I'm not sure which of those did it, but the 4tu is now able to connect with the atheros card. Now I just have to figure out why my profiles are 'greyed out' in Access Connections. Perhaps I have to recreate them with the new card installed? Or reinstall AC after a wireless card swap / driver update? I'll tinker, unless someone has a surefire solution. Thanks for your help so far.

[GomJabbar]

You should always uninstall Access Connections before uninstalling or installing the Wireless driver software. Reinstall Access Connections after you are done.

In your case, you might want to uninstall the wireless driver software (since that was the last thing installed), reboot, uninstall Access Connections, reboot. Then reinstall the wireless driver software, reboot, and finally reinstall Access Connections, reboot.

I use the analogy of a layer cake. The layers have to be removed and added in the proper sequence.

[Paul Unger]

Thanks, GomJabbar. I looked at my AC profiles and they seem to be very dependent on the specific adapter (Manage Location Profiles > Edit > General Settings, 3. Choose the network adapter you want to use at this location). I went ahead and just created a new profile and the Atheros card showed up, so I selected it and away it went! I didn't have to unistall / reinstall AC (though I figure that would be a sure way to prevent profile hiccups). If anything doesn't work (though it all seems to be) I'll follow your instructions. Thanks again!