Wifi controller won't install drivers

Hi arturop,

I recommend you to install the wireless driver from the following link:

http://dell.to/QjjZDA

Enter the system service tag and click Submit to get the drivers for your system model. After installing the driver restart the system. Now you should be able to go online wirelessly. Revert for further queries.

Hi Sujatha,

Thanks a lot for getting back to me on this. I had already tried this - I understand the driver you want me to install is this one

www.dell.com/.../latitude-e6420

It installs correctly but nothing changes after rebooting.

Any other ideas please? Thanks

Hi arturop,

Thank you for the update. I recommend you to flash the latest version of BIOS and then install the Chipset driver and wireless driver respectively. In case you find difficulty in finding the drivers send me a private with the system service tag to provide the appropriate drivers. Please click on my name and click Start Conversation to send me a private message.

Note: While flashing BIOS connect the Ac adapter and make sure the battery has minimum 15% charge as this needs uninterrupted power supply. Do not use the system till it restarts and comes up to the desktop. Restart the system after each driver installation and then check.
Revert for further assistance.  

Hello. I have done everything as per your advise. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. I'm pretty sure I have the right files as I have input my Service Tag in Dell's website.

What next? :-) Thanks

Arturo

Hi arturop,

Thank you for the update. I request you to provide me the screen shot of the device manager. Also send me a private message with the system service tag to check the system details. Click on my name and click Start Conversation to send me a private message.

Hi Sujatha,

Someone suggested that I shut down the laptop and removed the battery. Nothing had worked so far so I decided to give it a try. To my surprise when I booted up, the card was there, working correctly and identified correctly as well. I decided to see if it had picked up the newest driver which according to the Dell utility had been installed but it hadn't. I decided to upgrade it. When I did that after rebooting the problem had regressed. I removed the battery again and magically after another boot up the wifi card came back and with the updated driver.

The difference I have observed is that when the card is working the Hardware ID comes up slightly differently as

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0082&SUBSYS_13218086&REV_34

Obviously I would be interested in finding a permanent fix for this, but in the meantime knowing I can rely on the battery trick massively helps.

Downside is I can't send you a screenshot now, unless I do something to make the problem regress, which I'm not 100% keen on as it is a pain. So do you think there is any way to fix this forever without resorting to that?

I'm sending you the service tag in a private message.

Thanks,

Arturo

Hi  arturop,

I would like to know how the wireless icon is displayed in the system tray that is to the lower left corner for the screen. Is it green colored bars or let me know if it is different.

In case the wireless network is detected by the system, I suggest you perform the steps given below:

1. Click start and in the search box type ‘cmd’, right click on cmd.exe and select "Run as Administrator" to open a command prompt.
2. Type ipconfig /release (there is a space between ipconfig and /).
3. Type ipconfig /renew.
4. This will renew the IP address.

If the above commands fail, then the TCP/IP stack needs to repaired by following the steps provided below:
1. Click on “Start”, and in the search box type ‘cmd’, right click on cmd.exe and select "Run as Administrator" to open a command prompt
2. Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults (without quotes): “netsh winsock reset catalog”
3. Reset IPv4 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults (without quotes): “netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log”
4. Reset IPv6 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults (without quotes):”netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log”.
5. Reboot the computer.
Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Hi Sujatha,

It is white coloured bars not green.

Why do you want me to run all those commands? Wireless is working fine now, only that if I try to do some changes I know the problem will regress. Is it to see what happens in order to diagnose? Obviously I would like to get to the bottom of the issue so I'm happy to go along if that's what you want - just let me know please.

Thanks,

Arturo

Hi Arturo,

White colored bars indicate that the system has the wireless connection.

The reason I request you to do these steps is to reset the IP address. I recommend you perform the steps suggested in the previous post.

Hi Sujatha,

The steps you suggested made the problem regress. Hopefully when I go home tonight I will leave the laptop without the battery and everything will be back to normal in the morning, but as I'm writing I have lost wireless capability again.

Thanks.

I'm sorry to hear about your problems. In my case, it was finally down to replacing the Wifi miniboard. That sorted it out.

Good luck.