Wireless problem for WinXP T42 with 2100 3B Mini-PCI

[edbatista]

Hi everyone--I just found my way here from http://groups-beta.google.com/group/ibm.ibmpc.thinkpad. I read the FAQ and this looks like an incredible forum--I'll try to contribute as much as I'm learning.

I just got a certified used WinXP T40 2374-72U with an Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini-PCI, and I'm having problems getting it to work on my wireless network.

It appears that there's a conflict between WinXP and IBM Access Connections that's causing the card's radio signal to turn off. I can turn it back on using Access Connections, but each time I reboot, XP turns it off again. When XP is being used to manage the wireless connection, the radio signal cannot be turned on.

A few notes:

When I first got the T40, everything worked fine, including the wireless, for a few hours. But then I ran Windows updates, including XP Service Pack 2, and the problem started. And there's no indication anything's wrong with the 2100 3B in the Device Manager. So it doesn't appear to be a hardware issue.

I've updated the 2100 3B driver, and am now using version 1.2.3.14.

I've updated Access Connections and have uninstalled/reinstalled.

I'm running out of ideas and patience. Can anyone help save my sanity?

Thanks--

Ed Batista

[sktn77a]

I have the same error on my 2373-72U (intel 2100B). When I use access connections, it always says the radio is not switched on but, in fact, it is. My wireless is working so I don't worry about it

[redcivic]

I am having the same exact problem and come to think of it, it may have started acting up after I ran all the updates for windows. Where do I go to get the updates from IBM?

[edbatista]

A very similar problem was discussed on this board in December. Here's the thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 42&start=0

I haven't followed up on the fixes suggested in that discussion, but they look promising.

[JaneL]

>I read the FAQ
>

Good grief! Someone who actually *read* the READ ME FIRST FAQ *first*! Pass me the smelling salts, please.

I worship at your feet, sir...

[edbatista]

>I read the FAQ
>

Good grief! Someone who actually *read* the READ ME FIRST FAQ *first*! Pass me the smelling salts, please.

I worship at your feet, sir...

Well, it seemed like the polite thing to do.

Am I imagining it, or am I seeing a number of T42 owners with wireless problems in here? The thread I posted above seems helpful, but I still haven't been able to solve the problem in my original post.

[edbatista]

UPDATE: Good news for me, but unfortunately it's not going to be helpful to anyone else who's grappling with this issue.

After wrestling for more than a few hours with the problem described at length in my initial post in this thread (radio signal in wireless card repeatedly turned off at bootup after installing WinXP SP2, in a T40 2374), I had to just put the machine aside for a few days--too busy to even look at it.

I pick it up this morning, boot up...and everything is working fine. Totally inexplicable--I'm baffled. The ThinkPad gods must be smiling today. Let's hope the WinXP gods don't get angry tomorrow.

[MadeInJapan]

edbatista, although my computer is a T30, it also uses an Intel wireless card and I run XP SP2. I have intermittent problems with connecting with it and am constantly uninstalling and re-installing my wifi network card drivers to get it to work. Don't know why, but works some days and on other days it doesn't. I think that my TP boots up with the the antena turned off sometimes too, and the only conclusion I have come up with is that by re-installing the drivers, the wireless connection somehow gets "kick-started," as the antena is forced on this way. Even if I try to start the antena through Access Connections or even with Windows software, it never works when it is turned off to begin with.