WiFi Disappeared

[saberman]

Lenovo X201
Windows 7 Ultimate X64 with all patches

Suddenly, both the system and Access Connections no longer sees the WiFi adapter.

When I start Access Connections it has Other connections selected and it ignores my clicking on WiFi.

Is there a diagnostic to check the WiFi adapter? If it is bad is it replaceable?

[Brad]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry for your trouble.

Is the wifi indicator on the bottom section of the LCD bezel lit?

Try holding down the Fn keyboard button and pressing F5 once. That should bring up the wireless radio settings. If the wireless card is off turn it on.

The wireless card is replaceable.

Brad

[saberman]

>Is the wifi indicator on the bottom section of the LCD bezel lit?
Yes, but I think that lights for the Bluetooth radio as well.

>Try holding down the Fn keyboard button and pressing F5 once.
I think i said I ran Access Connections (which is Fn-F5) and it did not allow me to select WiFi.

>The wireless card is replaceable.
How do I order a replacement and how do I install it?

[dr_st]

Before you order anything - check the Device Manager. Is the Wifi there under Network adapters? If so, is there a yellow bang next to it indicating some problem? If not, are there any unknown devices (with question marks) present anywhere?

Check that it hasn't been accidentally disabled in the BIOS. Check that the hardware switch isn't set to off (although if Bluetooth is working, it probably isn't).

[saberman]

>If so, is there a yellow bang next to it indicating some problem?
Yes

>Check that it hasn't been accidentally disabled in the BIOS.
Wireless LAN and WiMax Radios: On
>Check that the hardware switch isn't set to off
It is not set to off.

It think the unit overheated and fried the Wifi adapter.

If I put the unit lying on the back of the screen with the base vertical I cannot detect any airflow from any of the vents and there isn't any fan sound (assuming there is an internal fan). The drive is solid state and so makes no noise. The area to the right of the battery is extremely hot. All the way up to the top.

I also noticed the area getting hot when the unit was shut down with the charging cable plugged in.

I do not see anything in the Lenovo Tool Set that provides a temperature monitor.

Edit:
It seems to have cooled down a bit -- that is it is warm but not very hot.
I installed Open Hardware Monitor and the CPU cores at at 59 and 67 degrees C.

Tried reinstalling the WiFi driver and Windows said I have the most current one installed.
So it may just be that the WiFi adapter failed.

[RealBlackStuff]

Apart from the wifi issue, when was the last time the fan was cleaned and thermal paste (AS5 preferably) renewed?
These machines can run quite hot...

[Hans Gruber]

Did you check if you turned off the radio hardware switch usually on the front right corner (side) of your laptop. Sometime people bump the button which turns off all your radio receiver connections.

[Paul Unger]

Before you do anything too drastic, another question: do you have Windows Update set to Automatic? I don't, but it just told me there were updates available. One of them was for my Intel Ultimate-N 6300 wireless adapter. I accepted the update, but after the reboot it told me that the wireless driver failed to install... WiFi no longer works. Device Manager shows my WiFi device with a yellow 'bang' and the need to reinstall the driver. I'm blaming Windows Update for now. Still haven't been able to fix it...

[Paul Unger]

Just got it working again... Here's what I did:
Go to Device Manager, right-click wireless, click Properties.
Go to Driver tab, click Uninstall.
Driver was automagically installed thereafter (the driver was found in 'pre-configured folders' or something like that).
For what it's worth,
Paul

[dr_st]

Tried reinstalling the WiFi driver and Windows said I have the most current one installed. So it may just be that the WiFi adapter failed.

It does happen. What exactly is the error code in the Device Manager (if you right click the device and go to "Properties")? You can try uninstalling the driver and then reinstalling it - if it is the driver that is somehow corrupt, it may fix the problem.

[saberman]

Tried to uninstall driver -- didn't help.
Then tried to uninstall driver and check delete driver software.
Scan for hardware changes

Wifi now working.

Thanks.

[saberman]

Apart from the wifi issue, when was the last time the fan was cleaned and thermal paste (AS5 preferably) renewed?
These machines can run quite hot...

I am an end user and would prefer not to take the machine apart unless there is a very easy way to get to the fan.

BTW, I figured out what was causing the problem. Windows Update was trying to install a new driver for the WiFi adapter while it was in use. The install failed but left the WiFi adapter in a non working state.

[Paul Unger]

Glad you got it sorted out. I figured the same thing as you--update failed because the wifi adapter was in use. For the life of me, though, I don't remember that happening before; and I've updated a fair few wifi drivers...

[saberman]

Glad you got it sorted out. I figured the same thing as you--update failed because the wifi adapter was in use. For the life of me, though, I don't remember that happening before; and I've updated a fair few wifi drivers...

But you were probably either on an ethernet connection at the time or completed disconnected and applied an already downleaded patch.

[Paul Unger]

I don't often run on ethernet, so I don't think that was it... I wonder if System Update is more adept at updating wifi drivers (i.e., turns the adapter off after downloading and before installing the update)? I think that's how I've usually done it.