T30 Yellow Exclamation point in network controller

[BillBraskey]

Hi, I have searched and searched for this but can't seem to resolve this issue. I have a T30 236681U which has the intel wireless PCI card installed, the kids got a virus on it so I decided to wipe the HD and reinstall to factory using some recovery CD's. The recovery seemed to work OK except I had no IBM software on the machine which i thought was weird, but whatever, so I downloaded everything I needed from the Lenovo web site and got everything working except the wireless.

I have no bios errors it boots into windows and tries to install the network controller but everything i have tried does not work. I updated the bios, the embedded controller, the chipset drivers, the most recent intel wireless driver from the Lenovo site. Tried deleting the network controller and letting windows reinstall, tried letting the wizard search my XP pro retail CD, tried searching the internet for this driver but alas no luck.

The wireless was working before this and there were no hardware changes made to the machine.

Right now I'm using a buffalo pcmcia card for the wireless which works fine but this is one of those things that I can't stand that i can't fix .

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the forums.
The operative word here is Intel.
Go to their website and get the drivers for your card there.
Intel 2200BG, 2915ABG or whatever type you have.
http://support.intel.com/support/wirele ... 010623.htm

[BillBraskey]

Well, the problem is not the wireless driver, it's getting past the fact that this OS (win XPproSP3) has the yellow exclamation point in the network controller, and the machine will not recognize that there is any wireless card in the slot.

Maybe the card just went bad during the reinstall or something.

[BillBraskey]

Just for the heck I installed Linux and it finds the card so i'm still mystified.

[RealBlackStuff]

FYI, those exclamation marks are often a sign of missing drivers.
Install the driver, and bingo, XP finds the hardware.

[BillBraskey]

FYI, those exclamation marks are often a sign of missing drivers.
Install the driver, and bingo, XP finds the hardware.

FYI, you're wrong. Thanks anyway.

Does anyone else have anything that might help with this problem. Thanks.

[Purcy]

FYI, you're wrong. Thanks anyway.

So then, does this mean that you installed the drivers from the Intel site? It might help the people who are trying to assist you, to know what you've installed so far for the adapter.

[madkat]

FYI, those exclamation marks are often a sign of missing drivers.
Install the driver, and bingo, XP finds the hardware.

FYI, you're wrong. Thanks anyway.

Does anyone else have anything that might help with this problem. Thanks.

RealBlackStuff was not wrong - he said that the marks are OFTEN a singn of missing drivers - not "always"
it coud be a sign of hardware malfunction, too - but if it works in Linux, it's not the case...

[JBUK]

At this stage I would be inclined to delete all the drivers that have been loaded from %system32\drivers then point XP towards the driver for your exact model of wifi card.
If you do not know this then post all the data marked on the chip on the card and we can try and identify it from that.

Worth a try anyway.

[BillBraskey]

Interesting. RBS you seem to have a fan club here.

That's cool. I meant you were wrong in my case, though, not wrong about the yellow exclamation point and the general knowledge part. I have worked on, refurbed, sold, owned, repaired, many many thinkpads over the years so basically i was looking for something different than the standard "install drivers" answer that is all over google, on the intel site, the lenovo site and a hundred other forums, and in this conference because I read back through everything i could find in the forum and google related to this type of issue. If I hadn't already done that i would have indicated in my response but instead I get the response that I need to do as I'm told and be happy.

Whatever. I'll get it sorted out. Thanks. Sorry to bother ya'll.

You can lock up this thread if you want, all this is in about 30 other post's so i believe it would be of the "duplicate" category.

[Purcy]

Hi Bill, there are fan clubs here of a sort, for long standing members who we all respect for their knowledge. I see from your sidebar that you have 5 posts here and since no one had the information about your previous searching and knowledge of repairs - I believe everyone was trying their best with the information present. Hope you stick around the forums, and also get your issue resolved.

[adtarheel]

I have the same model T30 and also just put a clean install of window's xp with SP3 and am now experiencing the same problem. I've tried downloading and installing the intel drivers but have had no luck getting the wireless working.

Any solutions?

[JBUK]

Do you mean that this wifi card was working before with XP but wont now with the fresh instal.

[adtarheel]

Yes, previously I was running xp with only SP2. It was an old install, I think from either a set of restore discs or an image from my university IT dept.

Just this past weekend I did a clean install of XP with SP3 and now I can't get any drivers to work for the wireless

[elportugues]

I have been working with different Laptops and finally I found how to resolve the Yellow mark on the hardwares.
I use "Driver Scanner" and resolve all the issues!
Look in Google and download it!
Good Luck!

[winslow]

I download the drivers onto a folder on a flash drive then when windows asks for the driver I navigate to the flash drive and it recognizes it immediately.

[emeraldgirl08]

Haven't other people reported things not working after installing SP3??? I might have heard something about this around.

[sjthinkpader]

Yes, previously I was running xp with only SP2. It was an old install, I think from either a set of restore discs or an image from my university IT dept.

Just this past weekend I did a clean install of XP with SP3 and now I can't get any drivers to work for the wireless

This is only the case for intel cards. You have to run the intel setup utility to get the intel wireless card working. Atheros driver will install fairly painlessly. AC should be updated at the same time.

[jronald]

I had a Broadcom give me FITS after the SP3 on a T23.
Its not right but it is running on the Broadcom Network Utility.
Im not kidding I installed more than 12 versions of the drivers, before I got one to work.
The Broadcom, the Gateway, the HP, Compaq and Dell....Im not even sure which one is running on it now, but it is working
Prior to SP3 it ran fine out of the box, on Microslouths Network Utility for a year.

Go figure!

Ron

[emeraldgirl08]

SP3 worries me. I have an PDA which uses Active Sync. I hear that SP3 causes it to not work. I'm going to hold off SP3 for now. How would I get rid of that annoying Update reminder in the taskbar?

[goofyGAguy]

How would I get rid of that annoying Update reminder in the taskbar?

Control Panel ----> Automatic Updates ----> Turn off Automatic Updates.

[emeraldgirl08]

Control Panel ----> Automatic Updates ----> Turn off Automatic Updates.[/quote]
Thanks goofygaguy!