Wi-Fi keeps dropping out

[MrMaguire]

Long story short, I just replaced the motherboard in a Dell Latitude D820 laptop, and I've needed to use the Wi-Fi for various reasons.

 

The system boots up, connects to the Wi-Fi just fine, and then with any considerable usage, the system will drop the wireless connection, as if the radio has been turned off, but it hasn't. Rebooting resets the cycle, and so on...

 

Why am I posting this in the XP forum? This seems to only happen under this particular install of Windows XP Pro x86. At first I was thinking that I didn't seat the Wi-Fi antenna connections properly. I needed to try some fresh Windows XP x64 and 7 x86 test installs anyway, and I noticed that the Wi-Fi was rock solid the whole time with those. No drop outs at all.

 

So I'm thinking there's something not quite right about this XP install. I've tried reinstalling the driver to no avail.

[bluebolt]

Given the possible back story involved with your hardware, you may want to check for “ghost” devices (and the potentially problematic drivers associated with those non-present devices).

 

You probably already know how, but I’ll post the procedure here if you don’t mind, if only as a reminder to anyone who hasn’t done this maintenance in a while…

 

Open a command prompt in administrator mode:  type cmd into the start menu search box, then use Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open in administrator mode (you can also right-click on the command prompt and choose Run as Administrator).

 

Now paste in the following line:

SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1

Then type in devmgmt.msc to start up Device Manager from the administrator command prompt.

 

Once you are in Device Manager, go to the View menu and choose Show Hidden Devices, which will show all the device drivers including things that aren’t currently installed in your computer.

 

Then you can uninstall the “lighter” (i.e. non-present) entries.

[submix8c]

?

under this particular install of Windows XP Pro x86

What does that mean? What's the WiFi? Are you sure you have the correct driver?

 

I only ask because only have an Add-In card (Realtek RTL8185L Antenna) and a USB (D-Link DWA-130 Wireless N+B USB). They both work fine for mine.

 

And do check the "hidden" as suggested above. BTW, sometimes you may have Connection Software that may be absolutely useless since the OS *may* have its own Connection method. ( about that since I usually don't use wireless and can't remember.)

[MrMaguire]

I should probably give a little more detail. This is a Dell Latitude D820 that was spec'd new with nVidia graphics. The graphics chip suffered from the inevitable BGA solder issue, so I swapped the motherboard for one with Intel graphics.

 

I decided to keep on using the same installation of Windows XP after the motherboard swap, and that's when I first noticed this issue. Like previously mentioned, I later did some test installs of XP x64 and 7 x86, and the wireless was working reliably the whole time.

 

The WLAN card is an Intel PRO Wireless 3945ABG. It does have its own utility (Intel PRO/Set), but I just installed the driver manually, and used XP's wireless zero configurator.

 

I've also noticed an issue with audio playback. After the system has been up for a while, I get stuttering in the audio, as if the system can't cope with the playback, except it can. This affects everything sound related in Windows, even the logoff sound. Just like the wireless issue, rebooting makes it disappear, only for it to come back again. Plus this issue also did not appear in the aformentioned tests of XP x64 and 7 x86.

 

I've uninstalled all of the hidden devices, and also the wireless and audio drivers. The computer is rebooting now. Then I'll check to see if the problems still exist.

[MrMaguire]

Alright. I rebooted. Windows hung on logging on to my account for like 20 minutes, which I find strange. Then it reinstalled some devices. Then another reboot ...and the same problems still exist.

 

I've never encountered issues like these. I probably should just do a fresh install, but now I'm kinda curious, plus I'm lazy.

[bluebolt]

I endorse curious-plus-lazy as a means.

 

In that spirit – and given that you did not swap the exact same motherboard? – you could go up the device manager tree to the next tier of driver uninstallation by uninstalling the controllers.

[Tripredacus]

The first item of concern (correct me if I am wrong) is that you did a motherboard swap without changing the OS. This would mean drivers from the old board would still remain and potentially cause a problem. I would uninstall any software from Control Panel that was for the old board and then install the driver software for the new board.

[MrMaguire]

Both motherboards are Latitude D820 'boards, but the old one had the 945PM Intel chipset (because of the dedicated graphics), and the new one has the 945GM Intel chipset (because of the integrated graphics). Both 'boards essentially feature the same set of hardware, minus the graphics. For what it's worth, they are on different BIOS revisions. The nVidia 'board had the latest A10 BIOS, whereas the Intel 'board has the A09 BIOS.

 

I just assumed that everything would work fine. I've cloned OEM XP installations to and from similar models where the same difference in graphics hardware exists (Latitude D810 > D610), and all has worked fine. I've even transferred a retail XP installation from an SiS based Acer motherboard to an Intel based Gigabyte one. With completely different hardware, aside from the hard drive, memory and processor ...and all worked fine there too.

 

This one's a real head-scratcher.

 

So I had an idea. What if the user profile is causing these issues? As crazy as it sounds, I've had Windows do some strange things because of a broken profile before. So I logged into another account on the system, which had an existing profile before the motherboard swap. I disconnected the ethernet, loaded up a YouTube channel, and let it play through the videos. After about 25-30 minutes, the Wi-Fi dropped and the audio started stuttering. Same problem.

 

Then I tried using another account, but deleting its existing profile, and letting Windows create a fresh one. Same test, same failure, except this time it lasted a little longer before it failed.

 

So it's not the profile

 

Then I tried the suggested and uninstalled the drivers for the various system controllers in Device Manager. After a reboot, Windows basically just reinstalled the drivers. And over an hour of the same testing later, the wireless and audio seem completely fine!

 

I'll report back if anything developes.

[MrMaguire]

Alright, so after the successful testing yesterday, I let the laptop sit at idle overnight, and this morning I come back to no wireless and stuttering audio...

 

Something screwy must be going on with the drivers, and I'm not sure what. I've had problems with drivers conflicting before on an IBM ThinkPad and causing issues. In that case, the Intel LAN and WLAN drivers were conflicting, and causing the WLAN to be extremely intermittent.

 

So this time, I've disabled all wireless radios on the laptop (it has Wi-Fi, bluetooth and 3G - the BT and 3G drivers aren't actually installed and never have been on this installation), and I'm performing the same YouTube test to see if the audio starts to stutter. If it doesn't, then I'll know that there is some conflict in the drivers. If it does, well, I'm out of ideas for now.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention in my last post that I did uninstall the nVidia driver, which is the only one that needed changed.

[MrMaguire]

OK, after hours of stutter-free audio playback, I'm sure that there is a driver conflict. I'm also sure that the Intel wireless driver is responsible. It's interesting that it didn't affect the test installs, and pretty much all installs that I've had on this laptop in the past 4 years. I suppose I'll look into the different drivers that I've used, and go from there. Maybe I'll end up swapping the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG for something Broadcom based.

[submix8c]

To understand (but I still don't).

This is a Dell Latitude D820 that was spec'd new with nVidia graphics. The graphics chip suffered from the inevitable BGA solder issue, so I swapped the motherboard for one with Intel graphics.

Both motherboards are Latitude D820 'boards, but the old one had the 945PM Intel chipset (because of the dedicated graphics), and the new one has the 945GM Intel chipset (because of the integrated graphics). Both 'boards essentially feature the same set of hardware, minus the graphics.

I did uninstall the nVidia driver, which is the only one that needed changed.

Old MoBo - nVidia (dedicated graphics - broken)

New MoBo - Intel (integrated graphics - not broken)

Common - 3945ABG

Works fine WinXP-x64/ Win7-x86

Fails (both graphics and sound) WinXP-x86

Me.

Are you sure you have the correct driver?

You.

Then I tried the suggested and uninstalled the drivers for the various system controllers in Device Manager. After a reboot, Windows basically just reinstalled the drivers.

Well, yeah, since the Drivers were still present in the OS/on the HDD INF folder (etc).

 

How about you indicate *which* drivers (version) you're using / trying to use for the WiFi and *where* you got them?

Win7 - http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=R257701

Older? (note that they come from Dell) -

http://download.cnet.com/Network-Intel-Intel-R-PRO-Wireless-3945ABG-Network-Connection-Driver-Version-A00/3000-2112_4-176179.html

FileHippo XP x86 (is *this* the version you used?) -

http://filehippo.com/download_intel_pro_wireless_xp32/

 

I say again - probably the Drivers are at fault. Using the exact same Version that failed (see above last quote) is repeating the problem, not changing to see if something else works (e.g. an older set).

 

Also be aware of the Graphics Memory usage between the old/new board. I'm assuming the "new" board is "stealing" RAM to use?.

Edited June 22, 2015 by submix8c

[MrMaguire]

I don't know which thread you're reading, submix8c. But it's obviously not this one.

 

I'm not at home right now, so I can't provide driver and other such details.

 

And yes, the GMA 950 is sharing some of the system memory. 128MB, I think. Of course, that would have absolutely nothing to do with either the onboard audio, or the Wi-Fi.

[submix8c]

That was an FYI (and a Q) only.

 

I suupose you entirely cleaned out the First Install of the Driver Files before you tried again? Just "Removing" from Device Manager doesn't make the Installed Driver Files on the HDD automagically disappear, hence their being "automagically" being picked back up.

but I just installed the driver manually, and used XP's wireless zero configurator.

I say again - probably the Drivers are at fault. Using the exact same Version that failed (see above last quote) is repeating the problem, not changing to see if something else works (e.g. an older set).

Now, if you want to continue to be p*ssy (that's an "i") and ignore my remarks or snark

I don't know which thread you're reading, submix8c. But it's obviously not this one.

then by all means wallow in your own failed understanding of "How Device Drivers Install and How To Remove Them Entirely".

 

Now, try again...

 

You're welcome.