Frankenstien's laptop

[Elwyn]

One day I knew this would happen, especially with the amount of Thinkpads that my friends use.

So. I was helping them setup their wifi and it wasn't working properly. The wireless wouldn't connect, and Fn+F5 was non existent so a reinstall was arranged.

The exterior bezel under the screen lists it as a T40.

The tag underneath states "2373 WF9" on that rectangle tag thingy underneath that stretches the length of the machine. Internally the laptop says it is " IBM 2373WF9 ThinkPad T42"

Drivers. They all match up if it is a T40 except the wireless and modem. Nothing works for them. I have tried the drivers for wifi and modem for both model ranges and nothing works.

[PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_1014&SUBSYS_833117AB&REV_01\4&39A85202&0&10F0]
Device=Ethernet Controller
Manufacturer=N/A
Service=N/A
Status=Error
ErrorCode=28

[PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24C6&SUBSYS_055A1014&REV_01\3&61AAA01&0&FE]
Device=PCI Modem
Manufacturer=N/A
Service=N/A
Status=Error
ErrorCode=28

The above is what I have found out from various 'diagnostic' checks but haven't found if they are in the same place. Considering both together are not working I suspect they are attached, but short of opening it up I'm not sure how to narrow it down.

It's a Pentium M 1.7Ghz with 1GB RAM, 20GB HDD, CDRW/DVDr, Radeon 7500.

I have now found out it's end use and it is going to be hard wired to the network and not use wifi, but it is annoying not to have everything working

[RealBlackStuff]

This is what your machine started out like ex factory.:
ThinkPad T42 (2373-WF9)
Based 2373-CTO: P M 735, 512MB RAM, 40GB 5400rpm HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 32MB ATI Radeon 7500, 24x24x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD, IBM 802.11a/b/g wireless, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ether, UltraNav, Sec Chip, 6c Li-Ion, WinXP Pro

Over time someone swapped the lid or the LCD bezel from a T40.

The wifi card is an Atheros.
Drivers here:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... D=DS002379
If it extracts the files but doesn't appear to have installed anything, look in the C:\DRIVERS\WIN\WLLANATH folder and run SETUP.EXE.

[ajkula66]

OK, here's the story:

a) Your "ethernet controller" the wireless card (IBM abg) - Atheros-chipped cards identify themselves as "ethernet controllers" unlike all the others, the driver is here:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... D=DS003567

After downloading it and extracting, you must go into C>Drivers>Win>Wlanath and run the setup file from there.

b) I suspect that the modem is actually the Bluetooth driver, all of them are available here:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/researc ... D=HT035441

I would strongly suggest that you install the chipset and the graphics drivers first, and then proceed. Remember that the vast majority of downloaded/extracted drivers will end up in the Win subfolder and must be ran from there.

Good luck.

[Elwyn]

Thanks for that.

The machine was installed from a set of 4 CDs labeled as "T40 Re installation" and the chipset and graphics seem to be installed already. The machine rebooted numerous times and ran lots of scripts after the first install.

But thank you very much for your assistance

The bluetooth seems to be installed OK whilst the modem is still not installed properly, but there you go.

Cheers

Elwyn

[Elwyn]

Well, I already had those drivers on the laptop hard drive so just ran it again. Previously I was getting an error with AR5211 being corrupt or it couldn't find it whatever download I used. However, this has installed OK now and it has installed OK. And the modem is now sorted too. Even better!!!

However, the WiFi isn't accessed via the Fn+F5, that only shows the bluetooth. Would this because it is not installed in the regular place?

This is what your machine started out like ex factory.:
ThinkPad T42 (2373-WF9)
Based 2373-CTO: P M 735, 512MB RAM, 40GB 5400rpm HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 32MB ATI Radeon 7500, 24x24x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD, IBM 802.11a/b/g wireless, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ether, UltraNav, Sec Chip, 6c Li-Ion, WinXP Pro

So it could be a T42, but it's got double RAM, half HDD, and the rest is the same. So not as bad as I thought. At least I can get it back to them today

Thank you again for all my help I thought I looked in the publishable places for this model but didn't find it, was there anywhere I missed or was it private knowledge you tapped into?

Thanks

Elwyn

[RealBlackStuff]

It could also be a T40 with a T42 base. But either way, it's only cosmetics.
If you open up the RAM door at the bottom and remove the RAM (if there) you will find the motherboard P/N or FRU.
(Switch off and remove AC and main battery first!)
That will tell me more.

The Model/Type info is available here: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/default.page? and click on: >Use Quick Path

[Elwyn]

Thanks for the link and info. I must have misread that code last night because it didn't work now but in the light of day (well, murky light of day) it works. Or you used magic. I was probably tired...

The machine works as it should now, I'm not going to tempt fate