Replace 4965AGN Wireless Card to reduce heat? X61

[tjwasiak]

You should use BIOS version made for tablets for your tablet.

BTW. Just swapped Intel 3945ABG for Intel 6205 Advanced-N in my X60s using this modified BIOS mentioned already by RBS.

[Temetka]

FYI:

That X61T has only two wires, I'm fairly certain.

Given that you're a Linux guy, go for an Atheros-chipped card and I *guarantee* that you'll love it.

Got any suggestions as to which Atheros card?

[ajkula66]

Got any suggestions as to which Atheros card?

My favourite:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200806224584

[Temetka]

I'm sure you know your stuff, but just to be sure - that card will work in Windows and Linux, right?

[RealBlackStuff]

Yes, provided you update the BIOS to a version with Whitelist removed, such as Middleton's BIOS.

[ajkula66]

Yes, provided you update the BIOS to a version with Whitelist removed, such as Middleton's BIOS.

He got that X61T from me, so Middleton's BIOS was already there...

[Temetka]

[E350]

Hey guys: Installing Middleton's BIOS on my X61 was no problem.

However, I get the following error when trying to flash the Tablet version of Middleton's BIOS on my X61T:

Error during flash. Error code = 99 ( 179 )

And a warning that says bad things happen when you try to flash your BIOS with bitlocker on. However, my search for bitlocker seems that it is not part of Windows 7 64-bit or at least my version of it, because I can't find it.

OK I got it done by searching on this forum, but I didn't find my answer (my flash on LAN in BIOS was already enabled, etc. and it had nothing to do with bitlocker). After I read about flash on LAN in BIOS, I went through my other BIOS settings to see if any of those could be causing the error code.

HERE IS MY ANSWER, in:

BIOS Setup Utility

Memory Protection

Execution Prevention
change to "Disabled"

I then was able to flash from the CD without error.

[ajkula66]

@E350:

I presume you're attempting a BIOS flash through Windows. How about from a bootable CD?

[RealBlackStuff]

For the X61T (and many others) I use bootable USB drives.
Instead of that cumbersome HP utility to create a bootable USB drive, get RUFUS from http://rufus.akeo.ie/

[E350]

I went to the rufus link and downloaded OpenIt which is a zip extractor.

I don't know if that is the correct thing or not?

[RealBlackStuff]

I said "get RUFUS"

[E350]

Hope you guys has suggestions.

I flashed Middleton's BIOS a couple of weeks ago. Went very well.

Downloaded and extracted the cz Atheros drivers.

Recieved and installed Atheros AR9380 card today. (the one linked to ebay)

Was unable to update the drivers for the card even when browsing to the location on my hard drive where I extracted them.

So new card would not work.

Re-installed old card, and works as before.

X61 W7 64-bit

[ajkula66]

@E350:

What OS are you running? I had no issues in W7 with that card, was discovered and installed natively...

[E350]

Thank you for your help.

I am running W7 64-bit

[ajkula66]

Hmm...that's odd.

Is there a setup file in the Atheros folder on your HDD, and have you ran it? I'm working blind here, from a machine that has an utterly different - albeit Atheros-chipped - wireless card...

[E350]

There are two of each of the following file types which extracted from the cz driver download:

.inf
.cat
.sys

But curiously, there is no .exe file.

[ajkula66]

Well, you know what you're missing then.

A setup file is an .exe file, no doubt about that...your favourite search engine should be put to good use now...

Good luck.

[E350]

Success!

At George's suggestion I used my favorite search engine (DuckDuckGo) to search for drivers. After two pages I found the following forum:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/windows/57679 ... s-7-a.html

which started by saying:

"Windows Drivers for apple atheros 9380 ar5bxb112 windows 7

Hi I just built a new rig and bought the apple atheros 9380 ar5bxb112 wifi card for DIY wifi card. I have only booted WIN 7 64 Bit so far and card driver can't be found. Can't find anything on official atheros site and all other sites that claim to have the driver are dead ends; eg : http://www.atheros.cz.

Anyone know how i can get this to work under Win7? Thanks."

A few posts down was:

"Hi. Is this one working?

Atheros.zip (2.12 MB, 97 views) "

http://www.tonymacx86.com/attachments/w ... theros.zip

which does in fact work.

That said, the Atheros AR9380 card seems slower than the Intel Model 4965AGN MM1 it replaced.
I will give the Atheros AR9380 a little time, and if it doesn't speed up, I i will put the Intel back in or better yet do you guys have a recommendation for a three-wire Intel upgraded card?

X61 W7 64-bit

[E350]

Ok I am glad I tried it but, at least with my wireless router, it is subjectively slower than the Intel 4695AGN MM1 that it replaced. So, I am looking forward to selling it for $5 plus $2 shipping.

Please buy my Atheros AR9380

I bought it from these guys and it took about three weeks shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200806224584?ss ... 1497.l2649

If you buy it from me I will ship it the next day. Cheap enough for you to try.
I plan on trying the Intel 6300 three antenna next. And will post the results.

[ajkula66]

I'd check the properties of the card and make sure that everything is optimized before I'd proceed with giving it away...but it's your call.

[E350]

I was not aware of the 3 wire issue, having just picked up my own X61T.

I plan on upgrading the wifi card to something with less heat output, so I'm glad this thread was here. Now I have a better idea of what kind of cards to look for when I go to do this to my machine.

Temetka: I just opened my X61T to put in the Intel Model 622ANXHMW WLAN card which I mistakenly bought for my X61 3-antenna setup. And I noticed that I had previously installed a third antenna for the Intel 3965AGN card I had previously installed. It is a Tyco antenna which I just laid on top of the mother board.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tyco-Internal-W ... 5d44b76944

I have done this before in some of my "X61s" (the thinner X61) and it seemed to work fine. So you may want to buy a Tyco antenna and use a 3-antenna card like I did (and buy my Atheros to try for $5 and $2 mailing) or not buy the Tyco antenna and use the 622ANXHMW which is only for two antenna, but which I am trying for giggles right now.

[RealBlackStuff]

If Temetka does'nt want that Atheros AR9380, I'd be happy to take it.

[E350]

RBS: You bet! I also sourced the current location for the drivers per above.

[RealBlackStuff]

You mean I got it?
If so, PM me with payment details.

[E350]

No word from temetka, so sold to RBS!
PM sent.

[banhammer420k]

Nice score RBS, card is very well worth it, a shame it seemed to have spiked in price nearly $10 on eBay recently, perhaps a sudden surge of interest on them from us here

I don't need the 5GHz on my X61 Tablet as that often comes to travel with me and I never encounter 5GHz anywhere away from home (or anywhere I'd care to take my T61p with me ) so I have fitted it with a AR9287 half height with a bracket I had lying around.

I chose the AR9287 not only because it was $3.50 shipped on eBay, but it was released around the same time as the AR9380 so it is one of the newer BGN cards Atheros put out before the name change, and it is 2x2 whereas similar options for the same price (AR9285 for example) are only 1x1.

I will see how it runs but I expect it to be just fine. I didn't get a AR9280 because I saw many reports of trouble with bad speed on them. Plus, the AR9287 was dirt cheap, over half the price. Since the AR9280 is only $6 I will think about buying it anyway and seeing how it fares on my home network.

http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Atheros

Can't wait to put a 802.11AC card in my laptops!

[E350]

banhammer420: I noticed the 802.11AC cards when I was researching the Atheros.

As the resident asker of stupid questions: Let me ask, will those cards work with my agn routers or to I need to change my routers to AC too? What are the supposed benefits, etc. Are "free wifi" retail stores like McDonalds, etc. broadcasing in AC?

The following Wikipedia entry sheds a little light:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac

[banhammer420k]

banhammer420: I noticed the 802.11AC cards when I was researching the Atheros.

As the resident asker of stupid questions: Let me ask, will those cards work with my agn routers or to I need to change my routers to AC too? What are the supposed benefits, etc. Are "free wifi" retail stores like McDonalds, etc. broadcasing in AC?

The following Wikipedia entry sheds a little light:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac

Yes AC is backwards compatible fully and you can use an AC card without owning an AC router, or vice versa.

I have not bought a AC card yet even though I have an AC router since the only option out there really is the Intel 7260HMW (which confusingly there are two versions of the 7260, both called HMW, only one has AC and the other is N only and 1x1 not even 2x2!)

I have experience with many, many wireless cards and Intel have never once given me good performance on the 5GHz spectrum, and I have best luck with Atheros over Broadcom chipsets, so for now I'm waiting to get my hands on a Atheros Qualcomm PCIe AC card. DevWiki has about 6 models listed but only one of those 6 is confirmed to be in any machines, and they are all too new for such cards to show up in great number on eBay or anything of the sort.

If you prefer to go by what's widely adopted rather than "cutting edge" in your own home, just get a nice 450M 802.11n card and call it a day. Most public locations (McDonalds, airports, etc) are still on 802.11g, I even find public WiFi still on 802.11b! Only about half the places I go to use public WiFi even have 802.11n. It will be quite a while before you are seeing 802.11ac in such locations. I have had good experiences with the AR9380, AR9280 (gets slow transfer speeds if preferences are not optimized though), and Intel 6250 (though 5GHz reception is weak if you are not close to the AP)

However the benefits are fairly great, about as great of a leap as 802.11g to 802.11n was (54mbps to 300/450mbps), 802.11ac is up to 6.77GB/s (but only on a MU-MIMO setup which requires 8 antennas total, on a 2 or 4 antenna setup you'll get about 1.6GB/s or 3GB/s) which is a considerable improvement over 450mbps...

I plan on waiting until more 802.11ac hardware infiltrates the market instead of being an early adopter on the first "consumer" 802.11ac PCIe card. Plus, I hear it's buggy and drivers need work. I'd much rather wait for them to be in great number with several choices and easily obtainable for under $30 shipped before I will swap out all my machines with AC cards. I will probably put a mini PCIe AC card in my desktop before anything else. For now, all my machines are outfitted with good Atheros chipsets and I like them.

I am actually running a Intel 4965 in my desktop right now since it's cooled very well and the extra heat/power consumption isn't any matter inside a desktop, plus I had a million lying in a desk drawer and it works fine there

Edit: I misspoke. THe 4965agn is not capable of 450m. I was thinking of the 5300 instead.

[flyingfishfinger]

Recently ordered the 9380....should be in my mailbox today! Let's see how it performs when I get a chance to install it next week. Any speed optimization tips?

R