Thinkpads Forum

T61p 6459-CTO. Win 7 doesn't see the wireless card. Using Vista drivers, manual install produces no result. Add Hardware Wizard, Have Disk, doesn't do anything either. I can't seem to find Win 7 specific drivers. Am I missing something?

This is where I go for the latest drivers (including Atheros)

http://www.station-drivers.com/page/atheros.htm

Tseng wrote:This is where I go for the latest drivers (including Atheros)

http://www.station-drivers.com/page/atheros.htm

Thank you for the response. I think I have a bigger problem as the wireless adapter is not listed in device manager. It seems as though the OS is unaware of it. Scanning for hardware changes fails to find the card.

FN-F5 , then enable wireless radio.

Harryc wrote:FN-F5 , then enable wireless radio.

The radio is on, as is Bluetooth according to the indicator lights.

Maybe this should be another topic, but running System Update 4.0 gets me an error 77, so I can't do what I would normally do and let SU take care of everything.

Is this the original wireless adapter that came with the Thinkpad? If not, what is it and where did it come from?

Harryc wrote:Is this the original wireless adapter that came with the Thinkpad? If not, what is it and where did it come from?

Bone stock Atheros card that came with the machine from Lenovo.

See if they have a driver for W7 here.
http://www.radarsync.com/drivers/d28119 ... rk_adapter

Harryc wrote:See if they have a driver for W7 here.
http://www.radarsync.com/drivers/d28119 ... rk_adapter

Thanks for the effort. The problem is you can't install a driver for a device that's not present. Device Manager doesn't show any unknown devices. It's just not there. And System Update fails continuously with an Error 77.

What happens if you boot up a Live Linux CD? You need to figure out if you have a hardware or driver issue. On the surface it sounds like hardware. Linux would tell you because an Atheros card should work out of the box. PC-Doctor is another good choice for diagnostics.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 62911.html

Harryc wrote:What happens if you boot up a Live Linux CD? You need to figure out if you have a hardware or driver issue. On the surface it sounds like hardware. Linux would tell you because an Atheros card should work out of the box. PC-Doctor is another good choice for diagnostics.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 62911.html

Thanks for staying with this. I have an even simpler way. I put in the old drive with Vista Ultimate on it and the Atheros card is there and functioning. In fact, I'm using it to send this posting. I have no hardware issues under Vista. Put in the new drive (identical Hitachi 250GB drives) with Win 7 and the Atheros card disappears.

Well, I'll let someone with a T61 and an Atheros WiFi card running W7 comment here, but I believe the driver should self install from Microsoft. Have you tried hooking up an Ethernet cable and updating the driver online? Good luck.

Harryc wrote:Well, I'll let someone with a T61 and an Atheros WiFi card running W7 comment here, but I believe the driver should self install from Microsoft. Have you tried hooking up an Ethernet cable and updating the driver online? Good luck.

Yes, but it doesn't matter what flavor driver I load, the device is not found. Time to watch the game! I'm taking the night off.

You could try one of the following things:

1) Shut down Windows 7, remove the wifi card, reboot, shut down, put the wifi card back, reboot

2) Device Manager -> Action menu -> Scan for hardware changes or Add legacy hardware.

3) Try installing some third-party driver (despite the fact that the device is not present in device manager) like Tamosoft CommView for Wifi 6.2. You will need to install the whole application (trial) in order to be able to install the driver -> help menu -> install driver (if not prompted automatically) and see what happens. Disclaimer: I´m in no way affiliated with Tamosoft.

Format, reinstall, problem solved. I don't know why it wasn't discovered the first time, but using the same installation media the second time and everything is fine.

Was the driver native to Windows 7?

Harryc wrote:Was the driver native to Windows 7?

Yes. Installed and functioning out of the box.

Is it then possible that you may have installed Windows 7 with the wifi switch turned off?

Marin85 wrote:Is it then possible that you may have installed Windows 7 with the wifi switch turned off?

Marin85 wrote:Is it then possible that you may have installed Windows 7 with the wifi switch turned off?

Absolutely not, for 2 reasons: First, I never use the mechanical switch, period. I honestly don't trust it, fearing that it would fail in the off position. It seems to be a very inexpensive part and I really worry about the number of duty cycles it's rated for. On those rare times I need to kill the radio the Fn+F5 panel does the job. Second, while I don't claim to be a genius, I'm not that dumb. I had the bluetooth and the 802.11 radios both turned on and was looking at the LEDs. I also had a USB drive attached. I did not have it attached for the install that worked, but I really can't see what that would have to do with it.

I'm now waiting for all the Lenovo side utility drivers to come out of beta before I proceed further. It seems to me Lenovo's been a bit behind on that front, just as they were with TVSU for Vista after they broought it back. I would assume they'll have a handle on it in a month or so.