9 Posts
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4446
Inspirion 7375 - Wireless Adapter Disappears after Sleep
To begin, this issue has been present since the VERY first power-on. No BIOS or other driver updates created this issue as I had just received the laptop and have not done any. To be crystal clear, the laptop was shipped with this issue. A lot of the initial setup was skipped because the wireless adapter could not be found.
After a clean power-on the wireless adapter is ALWAYS present and working. Whenever the lid is shut for a period of time (Sleep for 5 minutes), the wireless adapter disappears and wi-fi is not available (Network Reset doesn't bring it back either). Even though wireless is gone, the Bluetooth adapter is still present, working, and available. Bluetooth and wireless are derived from the same Qualcomm Network Adapter Card. This, and the fact that the wireless ALWAYS returns after a clean shutdown, lead me to believe the network card is seated properly. The fact that the wireless adapter disappears after Sleeping\Hibernation leads me to believe there is a FW\Driver\BIOS issue with the power-down state during sleep\hibernation. Not sure if this is an AMD CPU issue or FW/Driver/BIOS but I'd appreciate any assistance you can provide. Having to do a clean shutdown every time I want to use wireless is getting old and makes for a terrible customer experience.
pdinka
4 Posts
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January 28th, 2020 07:00
In case anyone stumbles across this thread from a Google search or something, I did some more diagnosing on this. I bought a Intel 9260 Dual Band AC WiFi card and put it in a few of my 7375's as a test. After replacing the WiFi card, the sleep issue is completely gone, so the problem is not BIOS, but is either firmware or drivers. The replacement WiFi card was $13 on Amazon and an inexpensive test to see if the problem was specific to the Qualcomm card.
Here is a link to the card:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079QH5KW1/ref=pe_2640190_232748420_TE_item
Until Dell fixes their firmware and/or forces Qualcomm to resolve this issue, this is the only solution I can offer for now. I will update this thread if the problem comes back, but I've had two users using their laptops for a week now since the swap and nobody that received the new cards has reports any issues.
nyc10036
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5.6K Posts
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November 20th, 2018 15:00
Check Windows power settings.
graham936
9 Posts
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November 21st, 2018 08:00
I checked all of the power settings and even went a few steps further. While I was able to see the wireless adapter I went into Device Manager and dove down into the options for the Qualcomm Bluetooth\Wireless adapter and unchecked to the box to allow the device to power down during sleep. Still didn't work. I went so far as to also modify the power option to allow PCIe devices (which the Qualcomm card is) not to power down during sleep as well. I'm really at a loss from what to do from an OS perspective. This smells highly of a Driver/Chipset/BIOS issue. Could also be an AMD CPU power-state issue that needs to be addressed.
Dell-SreejithR
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November 21st, 2018 09:00
Thank you for the tag details.
Please download & save the following drivers to your desktop screen.
1)Qualcomm Wi-Fi & BT driver
2)AMD Chipset driver
3)BIOS (1.5.0) Download this even if you have the latest driver.
Open device manager – network adapter – right click on the Wi-Fi driver & click on uninstall (check the box that says delete driver) Do not restart the computer.
Install the above drivers & then restart the computer.
Open device manager – expand network adapter – right click on the wireless driver – Advanced tab – Uncheck Allow this device to sleep (save power)
Open Power management – Wireless adapter settings – Plugged in & On battery should be changed to Maximum performance.
Let me know the outcome.
graham936
9 Posts
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November 26th, 2018 09:00
Sent a PM. In short, did not work. Also did a factory reimage and tried your suggestions. Issue persists.
One additional step I tried. I went into Advanced Power Options and modifed PCIe Link Power Management to be 'OFF'. Figured it was worth a shot since the network card is a PCIe device. Still did not work.
Dell-SreejithR
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November 26th, 2018 09:00
This could be an issue either with the Windows OS or the motherboard. I would request you to back up data & do a clean install. If the issue persists, I can assist you with the service options.
graham936
9 Posts
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November 26th, 2018 11:00
I know how to do a factory install but do not know how to do a fresh, or clean install of the O/S. Do you have a quick link to an instruction or a brief explanation how to do it? If it is in the same 'F12' menu as the factory image restore I can figure it out.
Dell-SreejithR
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3.4K Posts
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November 26th, 2018 12:00
Please use a blank 16 GB thumb drive & use the Microsoft media creation tool from this link http://bit.ly/2nmvVhA .
Once you have the image follow the below steps to install Windows. Please note that doing this will result in loss of data.
JenEpstein
3 Posts
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October 6th, 2019 03:00
Did you ever find a fix for this? Same thing happens with my Inspiron 7375
Roger_2k
1 Message
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December 31st, 2019 15:00
Hello @graham936 and @SreejithR ,
I'm having the same issue here, and nothing that I've seen until now fix this problem.
Did you get it fixed?
I appreciate if you can send me an answer, some feedback.
Thanks in advance.
Navy423
1 Message
0
January 2nd, 2020 23:00
Same thing is happening on my Inspiron 7375. I always assumed it was a settings issue and just delt with it until I finally got so annoyed with it I began looking harder for forums about it. Of course this was after my warranty period had ended and Dell customer service had become completely useless. Even tried replacing the WiFi card and zero changes. If anyone makes any headway with the issue please let us know. Pathetic that Dell is sending out broken machines and doesn't even have the decency to fix them.
pdinka
4 Posts
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January 16th, 2020 13:00
I have this issue too. I bought a few of these machines for use in low-priority roles and all 5 of them we've bought are exhibiting this same issue. They're fine with sleeping for a little while, but if they sleep for more than 12 hours or so in a bag, they will come back up with no wireless networks. Tried the following:
1. Disabled hibernation entirely
2. Upgraded Qualcomm driver to latest version on Dell site
3. Installed latest AMD chipset drivers
4. Upgraded BIOS to 1.5
5. Clean install of Windows 10 Pro 1909
Issue persists on all machines. Only way to bring it out of it is to reboot the machine. Then the wireless networks are back again.