Thinkpads Forum

I just did an XP reinstall due to the machine failing to boot even into Safe mode. It has an Intel 802.11abg wireless card built in, and always used to find and connect to WiFi networks without issue.

Now it will not. After chasing it for two days, I have to ask -- how do you get the wireless card to work?

Any advice will be most appreciated.

On the front edge is a tiny switch, is that 'ON' (showing 'green')?

If the switch is on, also try Fn +F5 and see if the radio is turned off in software.

If still dead, check Device Manager and make sure Win XP found a driver for the WiFi card.
If you did a clean install (not from Factory Rec disks) it may not have installed a driver.

If so, go the the Lenovo T60 driver page, download & then install the proper driver.
Remember, you may think you're installing the driver but usually you're just extracting it to C:\Drivers and then it has to be installed from there.

The wireless switch in front is on. Green, to the right, all set.

When XP boots, the radio has to be turned on with Fn+ F5 -- it does not light up on its own.

Device Manager (under Network adapters) shows Bluetooth Personal Area Network, Bluetooth RFCOMM Protocol TDI, and the Intel PRO/1000 driver.

I again downloaded the T60 wireless driver for XP for an abg card and again had it uninstall the previous installation and fully install the new one and reboot.

No change. Still no driver for wireless in Device Manager.

Try another card if you can, but also reseat it and check that antenna wires are connected properly.

Selvaswami wrote:The wireless switch in front is on. Green, to the right, all set.

When XP boots, the radio has to be turned on with Fn+ F5 -- it does not light up on its own.

Device Manager (under Network adapters) shows Bluetooth Personal Area Network, Bluetooth RFCOMM Protocol TDI, and the Intel PRO/1000 driver.

I again downloaded the T60 wireless driver for XP for an abg card and again had it uninstall the previous installation and fully install the new one and reboot.

No change. Still no driver for wireless in Device Manager.

The Intel 1000 diver is for Ethernet. I am not seeing in your list an actual wifi driver.

Are there any items showing with a yellow exclamation point under device manager?

No exclamation marks in Device Manager.

There are 8 entries under Other devices with yellow question marks:
Audio Device
Biometric Coprocessor
Network Controller
SM Bus Controller
Unknown device
Unknown device
Video Controller
Video Controller (VGA Compatible)

Selvaswami wrote:No exclamation marks in Device Manager.

There are 8 entries under Other devices with yellow question marks:
Audio Device
Biometric Coprocessor
Network Controller <== THIS
SM Bus Controller
Unknown device
Unknown device
Video Controller
Video Controller (VGA Compatible)

Double click on "Network Controller" in your other devices, go to "Details" tab, select "Hardware Ids" from the dropdown menu, and post the contents.

Hardware Ids:

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4227&SUBSYS_10108086&REV_02
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4227&SUBSYS_10108086
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4227&CC_028000
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4227&CC_0280

Selvaswami wrote:Hardware Ids:

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4227&SUBSYS_10108086&REV_02
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4227&SUBSYS_10108086
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4227&CC_028000
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4227&CC_0280

You have an Intel 3945ABG wireless card. Try installing the correct driver from Lenovo. Remember that simply executing the file may not complete the installation (in many cases it only extracts the driver to C:\drivers); read all text prompts carefully, especially the last screen.

If that fails, try downloading drivers directly from Intel.

Latest drivers for your T60 can be found at: Drivers and software - ThinkPad T60 - From the "Operating System" drop down box click on "Windows XP"

Also see this post: Fresh Install Windows XP - HDA Audio Bus Driver problem - This may clear some of your yellow question marks in Device Manager

Does this fresh install of XP require the full set of disks, or just the Recovery Disk (which I have)?

Would I have the same or similar issues if I bought a full copy of Windows 7? Does that go on with similar driver quirks?

Selvaswami wrote:Does this fresh install of XP require the full set of disks, or just the Recovery Disk (which I have)?

Would I have the same or similar issues if I bought a full copy of Windows 7? Does that go on with similar driver quirks?

Well, I don't think Peak2Peak is suggesting making a fresh install
If you installed your system with recovery disks, then it is supposed to have all drivers built-in. You may have a hardware failure on your hands.

Windows 7 should pick up on the drivers either automatically or via Windows Update. As far as I can recall, when I installed Windows 7 on my X60, Windows Update had all the drivers.

As to win7 - I had to install the fingerprint and video (ATI) drivers only, rest worked fine out-of-the-box.
Anyway, all the drivers are on the support site or you can download them via system update.

If you have the T60 recovery CDs for your T60, you should have the correct (if old) driver for your wireless card. Or are you using an OEM Microsoft XP disk? Win 7 should have all the necessary drivers built in but I'm not sure what extras this would give you.