T43 Lost Intel 2915ABG Driver

[traveler]

Just lost Wi-Fi on my T43 after it had been working fine for years. The Intel driver for the 2915ABG card is crashing just after the Windows XP UI comes up. Windows system event log is reporting “The Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless WiFi Service terminated unexpectedly,” while the Windows application event log is reporting “Faulting application S24EvMon.exe, version 12.4.3.10, faulting module S24EvMon.exe, version 12.4.3.10, fault address 0x0004a920.

My logs show the Intel Wi-Fi card was working as recent as the end of March, then stopped working. Unfortunately, my Windows event logs were purged before I could catch the exact day the driver stopped working.

So far, reinstalled the latest IBM/Intel driver, uninstalled Access Connections when I saw that crash, too, and also installed the latest Intel Proset package just to see if it might help. It didn’t.

Short of losing 4 months of my work, would anyone be familiar with this scenario and how to get the cranky Intel driver to work again?

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the forum.
2915ABG is one of the worst wifi cards ever made, they regularly turned faulty.
To stay with wifi-G, look for an Intel 2200BG (same drivers as 2915).
If your router does wifi-N, get a 300Mbps TP-Link TL-WN861N.

[Hans Gruber]

I have the 11a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter II. It's an Atheros card. I am upgrading to a 300mbps wireless N card myself. Is the wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter II a good card?

[ajkula66]

Is the wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter II a good card?

By far the best one that was available from the factory on these machines.

[JPOESQ]

Welcome to the forum.
2915ABG is one of the worst wifi cards ever made, they regularly turned faulty.
To stay with wifi-G, look for an Intel 2200BG (same drivers as 2915).
If your router does wifi-N, get a 300Mbps TP-Link TL-WN861N.

I installed the TP-LINK TL-WN861N card in my T43p (modded bios and WIN7) and it works fine, but the wireless icon below the display does not light up, and hotkeys integration does not show the device in the list of radios. Is there a specific driver that I need to install for this device to work with the wireless icon and hotkeys integration in the T43p?

BTW, when I ran system update and tries to install hotkeys integration I received an error message to the effect that the package was not compatible with my hardware. Even a manual install would not work. I finally ended up installing the XP version under compatibility mode.

[ajkula66]

I installed the TP-LINK TL-WN861N card in my T43p (modded bios and WIN7) and it works fine, but the wireless icon below the display does not light up, and hotkeys integration does not show the device in the list of radios. Is there a specific driver that I need to install for this device to work with the wireless icon and hotkeys integration in the T43p?

Nope. The icon will not light up in the Windows environment by itself. There's a hack involving one of the pins on the card if I recall correctly, but I've never found it to be worth my time.

[JPOESQ]

I installed the TP-LINK TL-WN861N card in my T43p (modded bios and WIN7) and it works fine, but the wireless icon below the display does not light up, and hotkeys integration does not show the device in the list of radios. Is there a specific driver that I need to install for this device to work with the wireless icon and hotkeys integration in the T43p?

Nope. The icon will not light up in the Windows environment by itself. There's a hack involving one of the pins on the card if I recall correctly, but I've never found it to be worth my time.

Thanks. I didn't want to go on a snipe hunt. The icon worked under WIN7 with the original card, so I thought it might be a driver issue.

[Hans Gruber]

How is the speed of the TP Link wireless N connection and the range compared to your 2915ABG?

[JPOESQ]

How is the speed of the TP Link wireless N connection and the range compared to your 2915ABG?

I get between 100 and 150 Mbps depending on signal strength in my home, but when it comes to range, nothing is great because this building is concrete and metal everywhere. I have always had to use multiple access points regardless of what computer I am using.

[Hans Gruber]

I have two T43p Thinkpads. This one I am typing on uses the 2915ABG wifi card. The range and speed on it are very good based on my testing. If it dies on me, I have another from my original T43 that I use for parts. The other T43p has the Atheros card both wireless G. Both of my T43p's use 80GB 7200rpm HDD. Both have 1400x1050 screens.

I wasted $7 on Ralink wireless N card that never really worked even with correct drivers. My opinion on the T43 is that it's a very finicky Thinkpad. I do really like it though. For a 10 year old machine it still a very sleek and modern looking machine.

I may add a T43P with a 15" screen down the road with the 1600x1200 resolution.

Eventually I may get a TP Link wifi card.

[JPOESQ]

I have two T43p Thinkpads. This one I am typing on uses the 2915ABG wifi card. The range and speed on it are very good based on my testing. If it dies on me, I have another from my original T43 that I use for parts. The other T43p has the Atheros card both wireless G. Both of my T43p's use 80GB 7200rpm HDD. Both have 1400x1050 screens.

I wasted $7 on Ralink wireless N card that never really worked even with correct drivers. My opinion on the T43 is that it's a very finicky Thinkpad. I do really like it though. For a 10 year old machine it still a very sleek and modern looking machine.

I may add a T43P with a 15" screen down the road with the 1600x1200 resolution.

Eventually I may get a TP Link wifi card.

The T43p isn't so much "finicky" Hans, as it is just old. A rule of thumb in the IT business is not to upgrade to an OS beyond the hardware generation for which the OS was designed. The same is true for drivers. New code is for new machines, and we cannot expect the code to work the same with an older machine as the code that was designed for that generation of hardware. While my T43p works on Windows 7, and does so even better than Windows XP which matches the generation of hardware, it's not an "out of the box" installation. With regard to the wireless cards, the chipset is everything and you should stick with a mainstream chipset. Try the TP Link card... they are inexpensive and Windows 7 recognizes Atheros out of the box. I found the way to enable the icon below the display and I am working on getting the card to work with the hotkeys (currently cannot control it with Fn-5).

I am breathing new life into my T43p with the SATA mod from RBS, an Intel SSD, an M10 fan, and the TP Link wifi card. The machine is not as fast as my i7 machines, and does not have even close to the memory, but works fine for its intended purpose as a programming workstation (and collectible). My 15 inch display is as sharp as the day that it was manufactured, but it's not an IPS display. I can live with that.

[Hans Gruber]

I have two T43p Thinkpads. This one I am typing on uses the 2915ABG wifi card. The range and speed on it are very good based on my testing. If it dies on me, I have another from my original T43 that I use for parts. The other T43p has the Atheros card both wireless G. Both of my T43p's use 80GB 7200rpm HDD. Both have 1400x1050 screens.

I wasted $7 on Ralink wireless N card that never really worked even with correct drivers. My opinion on the T43 is that it's a very finicky Thinkpad. I do really like it though. For a 10 year old machine it still a very sleek and modern looking machine.

I may add a T43P with a 15" screen down the road with the 1600x1200 resolution.

Eventually I may get a TP Link wifi card.

The T43p isn't so much "finicky" Hans, as it is just old. A rule of thumb in the IT business is not to upgrade to an OS beyond the hardware generation for which the OS was designed. The same is true for drivers. New code is for new machines, and we cannot expect the code to work the same with an older machine as the code that was designed for that generation of hardware. While my T43p works on Windows 7, and does so even better than Windows XP which matches the generation of hardware, it's not an "out of the box" installation. With regard to the wireless cards, the chipset is everything and you should stick with a mainstream chipset. Try the TP Link card... they are inexpensive and Windows 7 recognizes Atheros out of the box. I found the way to enable the icon below the display and I am working on getting the card to work with the hotkeys (currently cannot control it with Fn-5).

I am breathing new life into my T43p with the SATA mod from RBS, an Intel SSD, an M10 fan, and the TP Link wifi card. The machine is not as fast as my i7 machines, and does not have even close to the memory, but works fine for its intended purpose as a programming workstation (and collectible). My 15 inch display is as sharp as the day that it was manufactured, but it's not an IPS display. I can live with that.

Both of my T43p's have the modded bios. I put an M10 in one of them. It's always a question of money and how much you want to spend on your Thinkpad. I am a risk taker but take calculated risks. The wireless G cards are good enough for me. I used the 2 X 1GB from my T61 for the backup T43p. Those TP Link cards are $20-30 and only have 150mbps speeds. Which is around 40-45mbps max on internet dowloads. The wireless G cards do 15mbps down and 8mbps up usually. I have seen as high as 18mbps down.

I agree the SATA mod would bring new life into your T43.

[JPOESQ]

Both of my T43p's have the modded bios. I put an M10 in one of them. It's always a question of money and how much you want to spend on your Thinkpad. I am a risk taker but take calculated risks. The wireless G cards are good enough for me. I used the 2 X 1GB from my T61 for the backup T43p. Those TP Link cards are $20-30 and only have 150mbps speeds. Which is around 40-45mbps max on internet dowloads. The wireless G cards do 15mbps down and 8mbps up usually. I have seen as high as 18mbps down.

I agree the SATA mod would bring new life into your T43.

The TP Link card that I have is 300 Mbps and cost about $25 with shipping from Canada.

[ajkula66]

My 15 inch display is as sharp as the day that it was manufactured, but it's not an IPS display. I can live with that.

How can that possibly be? A 15" T43p sports an IPS panel by default.

[Hans Gruber]

Stand corrected, it's been an early morning for me.

[JPOESQ]

My 15 inch display is as sharp as the day that it was manufactured, but it's not an IPS display. I can live with that.

How can that possibly be? A 15" T43p sports an IPS panel by default.

Oops. Sorry George. No wonder it is so bright and clear.

[JoeItaly]

I have recently changed my wireless card to the TP-LINK N card .... No wireless light below the screen and Fn+F5 no longer working. Could someone explain how to re-enable the light and if the solution to switch off the wireless (if it's been found?). T43P without a manual switch ......The wi-fi heats up the palmrest for no good reason when it's not being used .