[SOLVED]Wifi Card slot corrupted?

[axmaxwell]

Hi all,
Newbie to the forum.
I recently purchased an X230t with the Intel 6300 Ultimate N wifi card factory installed. I starting plugging away at making minor upgrades (msata OS drive, 16gb ram, webcam install) and quickly found that even with installed updates and troubleshooting, I could not connect via wifi.

So I took it to my local computer shop, highly recommended, dude is a desktop building wizard. He fixed minor issues I was having with Windows 10, but I stressed figuring out the wifi was my primary concern. he said he tried 'Everything' he could think of... including swapping in a different wifi card that he had in his parts bin, to no avail.

So he has had it for almost a week and a half and so I decided that if he can't figure it out, I'd get it back and continue to plink at it myself and resolve the issue somehow.

Then it hits me. I read somewhere between all the unofficial Thinkpad references that Thinkpad hardware is FRU/BIOS specific... so if he had swapped in a wifi card for a different brand, the bios probably blocked it.

His official diagnosis: The wifi card slot is corrupted.

Do you think this can be fixed if I get a replacement Lenovo FRU/BIOS approved wifi card?

[TPFanatic]

Have you checked the physical Wireless On/Off switch?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin ... 5ddc74.jpg

To the front of the laptop under the Expresscard 54 slot.

[RealBlackStuff]

A non-approved non-Lenovo wifi card would stop the machine from booting with an 1802 Error message!
So it may well be a dirty or faulty wifi-slot.

[axmaxwell]

So it may well be a dirty or faulty wifi-slot.

How would one go about cleaning such a Wi-Fi slot? Like remove the chip and hit it with some air duster?

It's actually a pretty good possibility that it could be dirty. When I received my x230 from the eBay seller, it was disgusting. The pictures didn't show it but there was white crust in all the little alcoves.

[RealBlackStuff]

Remove the wifi-card, then apply some compressed air and/or use e.g. a soft toothbrush to clean the slot.
Also, check that card in another machine to see if it works or not.

[axmaxwell]

wow, so dumb and simple, but it worked. little compressed air and its fine.

[skx]

wow, so dumb and simple, but it worked. little compressed air and its fine.

the local computer shops are already extinct over here, and for a reason

[axmaxwell]

the local computer shops are already extinct over here, and for a reason

Don't get me wrong, he's a good guy and gets me wholesaler prices on software and operating systems, but his skill set is definitely rooted in desktops.