Latitude E5440 Wi-Fi disconnect after 20 seconds, says hardware switch is off

Hi CurbedLarry,

Thanks for the post! I would initially suggest making sure the wireless card its self has the latest drivers installed from the Dell support page  

If with the latest drivers installed the issue persists, there is a BIOS setting designed to automatically disconnect network connections upon the detection of an alternate signal. This can be found under BIOS Settings >> Power Management >> Wireless Radio Control. If enabled this could cause the connection to drop as you describe.

We have some further troubleshooting instructions here but If the problem continues let us know / could you also clarify, what wireless card is installed in the system / the Driver revisions installed / if any external devices are connected to the system / do other devices connect to the same wireless router without issues or have you been able to check this system on a different wireless network and had the same issue?

Thanks,  

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Yes I have since raised this with support and checked I was on the latest Dell drivers (was already using them before I bought the dock last month).

I also found another post where you mentioned the same setting:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19599147

However, that setting was already unticked and changing it makes no difference.

Seems like a BIOS bug to me as it's always enabled regardless of the tickbox.  Windows Event Log shows nothing, the Intel wireless utility just suddenly reports the card has been turned off at the hardware level. Nothing in Windows will re-enable it, I have to flick the hardware switch OFF then ON to force it to power up.

No reply from the guy with the E6330 above but I'd guess it was unticked for him too (by default).  Probably not that common for people to need Wi-Fi with a dock but still the BIOS setting should work with common Dell docking stations.

Sadly not able to do much more debugging, but have had dozens of devices using this router over the years and no similar problems.  Power saving is disabled in the Power Options.

Wireless Card = Intel AC 7260

Driver = 17.0.5.8

Dock = PR03X

Let me know if you need more info.

Lawrence.

Thanks for clarifying that Lawrence.

I’m going to attempt to replicate this with matching hardware in our lab. Do you have one or multiple systems with the same issue? Does your system react the same when on and off dock / what else is connected to the system and docking station (USB devices, network cables, monitors, etc)

I see support has asked you perform an OSRI, was this tested / have any effect?

Thanks,

Hi,

I only have one machine and dock so can't replicate myself.

Only happens when connected to the dock. Mouse, keyboard and VGA monitor attached to dock, no network cable.

I'd guess it happens exactly one minute after powering up. Might try booting Linux off a USB stick later to prove it's not OS related.

Machine is in daily use so don't have the time for an OS reinstall, plus I'm sure all my issues are BIOS and driver related so wouldn't make any difference.

Lawrence

I've just tried booting Linux Mint 17 off a USB stick and the wireless card isn't deactivated.

So now I'd guess something in the Dell/Intel Windows drivers and services.

Power Saving is definitely disabled in my Avanced Power Options. Power Saving also unticked on the driver Power Management tab.

Found some warnings about the Dell Feature Enhancement Pack Service in the Event Viewer which I think I set to Manual execution a while back.

Starting that service makes things even worse and immediately disables the entire wireless card driver!!!  Why???

Looking in the Dell Business Client Re-Image Guide v11 it says the "Dell Feature Enhancement Pack" is only for 3rd/4th generation machines.

E5440 is 5th generation and should be using a "Dell Power Management" service instead (this is running on my machine).

So if this service isn't needed why is this logged every 20 seconds:

DFEPService RPC Connection ERROR : Dell Feature Manager Service is not running!

and

The thread 3864 in process DFEPApplication.exe was not able to connect to DFEPService via RPC due to BIOS Service Error# 0Xa0000200.

Between those every second I get:

Sleep Time in SvcUtil: 1000 waiting before testing if service is started for DFEPService.

Can you confirm is this service and warnings are supposed to be there on a E5440 with Win7 64bit?

I've only updated drivers/apps listed for my machine on the Dell support site and it isn't listed there, must have been in the factory build.  Machine came from Dell Outlet so possibly re-imaged incorrectly?

Finally made some progress.  Seems I installed the incorrect utilities update in July.  I used the RSS feed option to be notified on updates and it seems this has been feeding me incorrect updates.

I've just regenerated the RSS feed link and was totally different???  The whole Drivers/Dwnloads section is a mess and when you open an update the dates are completely different from the listings:

LISTINGS OF UPDATES

Dell Command | Power Manager

View details

OPEN THE ITEM

http://www.dell.com/support/home/uk/en/ukdhs1/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=VJMDY

Anyway I uninstalled the Feature Enhancement Pack, rebooted but didn't stop the wi-fi disconnect. Then I installed the latest correct utilities (with Power Manager 2) and the wi-fi doesn't disconnect any more!!!

But... I now have the same issue as these guys below, I can't retrieve or apply Thermal settings:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/mobile-devices/f/4586/t/19600316

From Event Viewer when opening:

Warning from DellCommandPowerManager.exe OBJLIB-TMP11
Message: No thermal mode currently set on the system

When applying:

Warning from DellCommandPowerManager.exe OBJLIB-TMP3
Message: Invaild thermal mode value returned: None

Seems like some sloppy coding not handling systems upgrading from the last version?

Hi Lawrence,

Glad to hear removing / updating to the latest power manager seems to have corrected the wireless disconnect issue. I’ll certainly be checking with our web team regarding the RSS feed though and making sure we look into the issue you described.

The move to Dell ‘Command’ utilities on our systems has been a relatively new one so depending on the date of your purchase this software may not have been included in the factory image used by our outlet.

As the RSS feed had you installing incorrect drivers though I would suggest making sure any other drivers installed through these updates are correct. If drivers intended for other systems have been installed it could cause numerous issues and to be safe I would recommend reinstalling all of them either manually, directly from the support site here or by using the Dell Command Update utility here.

In the Command Power Manage version 2.0 update some power management plans were removed and this error can be displayed if the previously used plans are no longer available. The Quiet Power Plan option for example was handed to automatic regulation by the BIOS for most systems.

Should problems persist, an ORSI with Dell media would be recommended to help remove any lingering registry issues caused by the incorrect driver / software installations.

Thanks,

Here are the feeds, I notice old one is "US", maybe my region wasn't set but doesn't return anything right now.

Old RSS feed:

www.dell.com/.../GetRSSFeed

New RSS feed:

www.dell.com/.../GetRSSFeed

As you say I shouldn't trust it anyway, the new Command Update utility seems much better.

I think the Power Manager utility should at least handle that scenario.  Are you still going to escalate that issue as there appears to be no way around it?  The E5440 hasn't had a BIOS update since before Power Manager 2.

I'm pretty sure the old CPU thermal modes were also broken as they made absolutely no difference to fan speed (too high) or duration (far too long).

Shawn B,

Is there any way you can raise the issue of Power Manager 2 internally within Dell?

I've been told I would need to sign up to telephone software support (i.e. pay money) just to report issues with Dell utilities, even if they're standard part of the machine!

Same for the BIOS.  Even if I found a catastrophic BIOS bug I'd have to pay Dell to report it, let alone fix it.

I'm no expert but that can't be compatible with UK/EU consumer protection laws.

Lawrence.

Hi Lawrence,

Please feel free to post any concerns here on the forums for us to address, or private message me. We always appreciate possible bug reports and can engage our engineering teams directly for solutions to issues raised here.

We are looking into the Power Manager software concern you provided above and are making sure the power plans are being properly managed by the systems BIOS after the update. Have you been able to perform an OSRI with Dell media to confirm there are no residual errors to the incorrect driver / software being installed on the system?

Thanks,

Hi, thanks for that.

You'll understand it's frustrating to not know if an issue has been picked up, it could easily get lost in the dozens of posts per day of old hardware faults.  Perhaps there should be a Dell software/BIOS sub-forum or one just for people under warranty?

My machine came with no restore media (because I bought from the Outlet?) but I created a backup as soon as I got it.  Either way Power Manager 2 would need to be installed as an upgrade to the previous power management scheme (same for majority of users).

At present I'd rather hold on for a possible PM2/BIOS fix than go through a full restore, especially as several other people with a completely different machine have the same problem.

As a developer I have VPN client, Virtual PCs, various tools, etc... so a full reinstall is several hours work.  This isn't a generic corporate machine that just needs Office throwing on.

I bought Dell for a well-built, reliable business machine precisely to avoid tinkering which could cost me time/money.  Accept that new machines may have minor bugs to be patched early in their life but this machine has been more effort than the 7 year old HP it was supposed to replace.

Lawrence

Lawrence,

Please continue with Shawn. I have also seen some adapters have issues and some have tweaks

Maybe this tweak may help you.

Rick

Hi Rick,

If you skimmed the thread you probably missed that the original issue was solved by updating to Power Manager 2.  The settings you mentioned were all tried and made no difference.

Issue is now that Power Manager 2 cannot apply thermal modes.

I strongly suspect thermal management of the processor/fan has never worked properly on this machine as even the old settings (through Advanced Power Options) did nothing.  All recent Dell's seem to be stuck on a default "Cool" scheme that means endless fan noise.

All of my issues with this machine have been caused by bad/buggy/conflicting power management drivers and/or BIOS.  Every other aspect of the machine is perfect so it's fair to say it has ruined my experience.

Not criticising you support guys trying to help, but this seems to be a huge weak spot for Dell.

Lawrence.

Lawrence,

Windows 7 the driver should be ok. If using Windows 8, Intel was having issues with many of their adapters. The driver on Dell's website would be the best bet but don't update the driver. I have downloaded the drivers from Dell's website and save them to the desktop. I then went to device manager, right clicked on the adapter, then left clicked uninstall. I told it to remove the software and the drivers, then restarted the system. When I logged in, the new hardware wizard will try to install the adapter(it usually fails), then I install the drivers saved to the desktop. I then do the tweaks on all my systems.

I have Intel ~ Recommended settings for 802.11n connectivity

I have not been following Intel's forums for a while, so I don't know if Intel got the drivers issue corrected with Windows 8.

I have noticed that systems with VPN's sometimes have problems connecting. I wasn't sure if it as the setup for the VPN, firewall or virus protection causing the issues.

Rick