Missing WIRELESS network adapter on new T60p

[Crite]

I know the Ethernet adapter can vanish in power saving modes, and I have disabled this feature, however since Thursday the wifi adapter has not been present on my system, and I have not been able to get it back. Rebooting / scanning for hardware changes does not find it. The bluetooth adapter is working correctly though, and the radios switch does not help (it is obviously on for bluetooth to be working). Fn+F5 just offers enabling / disabling the bluetooth adapter, but does not even list the wifi adapter.

I have search these forums, but only seem to find reports of the Ethernet adapter vanishing on battery without powered hub/switch/router connected. To repeat, the wifi adapter is not working on battery or on mains power, it is as if it has been physically removed from the laptop.

I would appreciate any advice you can give.

Thanks

Chris

[tomh009]

Which wireless card do you have? And does it show up in the BIOS setup screens?

[perry_78]

Try going into network connection, and allowing/enabling the wireless adapter.

When disabled, it doesnt even show up on the FN+F5 menu.

[Crite]

Sorry, to clarify, the adapter does not appear in the connections window, or in the devices listing, the card is effectively not present from the OS's point of view, it is not simply not functioning correctly, the adapter is entirely not detected by the machine.

I don't know which card it is (this is a new T60p from December 06 if that helps). How can I determine which adapter is it, given it does not exist in the device manager list and I do not believe it is detailed anywhere else. The MAC address for the 802.11n adapter is: 00-16-CF-AF-75-58, which might help (the fact it supports 802.11n may be sufficient, I don't know enough about the adapter range).

Thanks

Chris

[tomh009]

What's your T60p's model number?

Do you get a Centrino ore Core Duo logo on the initial bootup screen?

[Crite]

1844-C9U (T60p Widescreen Intel Core 2 Duo).

[johhn14]

dumb question...the wireless switch on the front of the computer is 'on' right?

[Crite]

Fair question, I forgot to say, bluetooth is working perfectly (which would also confirm the radio switch is on). Sorry, this is a work laptop, and I have detailed the complaint to our tech sup, but they are in the US (I'm in Germany), and they are not the quickest of people (if it needs shipping, and also they won't be available until the end of tomorrow now). Therefore I forgot that I had not given all the details here.

Bluetooth works, radio switch no effect on finding the wifi adapter, rebooting has no effect, scanning for new hardware has no effect, powered/battery has no effect. Adapter is not visible in any system configuration (will try checking the bios screen later, can't reboot it again now as it's busy)

Thanks

[perry_78]

You might want to attempt at reseating the card?

Otherwise, try a different adaptor?

[Crite]

Where can I get the schematics of the laptop to find out where the card is and how to get access to it. I don't want to go with the old-faithful or simply unscrewing every screw and turning it upside down to see which bits fall off.

Thanks.

[tomh009]

You can download the hardware maintenance manual here:
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... 844_01.pdf

It has all the details you need on how to get access to the wireless MiniPCI card.

[Crite]

That seems to have worked. Actually, I unscrewed the keyboard release screw, but before undoing the palm rest screws, I needed to retrieve some data, so I turned it back on and it had started working again. I hadn't even got around to removing the battery.

I powered down, completely removed the keyboard and checked, there was no movement in the wifi adapter, but somehow it is now working.

Thanks everyone for the assistance

Chris