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mari-lu

3 Posts

16913

April 9th, 2005 18:00

How do I enable wirless adapter in Inspiron 8100?

I had a linksys wirless adapter in my laptop.  Then dropped the laptop and smashed the adapter.  I just got a new linksys adapter and when I try to complete configuration, I get message to insert or enable wireless adapter.  I remember this happening the first time and don't know how I was able to enable it.  The linksys support people said that most laptops have a button to push to enable the card, but I can not find a button.  Any help would be appreciated.

dgbowen

168 Posts

April 11th, 2005 13:00

If there is no physical damage to the notebook that would prevent it from recognizing the card....

It might be the function key combination problem. The colored "FN" key has a function that turns off wireless access (on my 600m you hold down the "FN" key and "F2" to turn the wireless card off and on). There is no visible way to know how the toggle is set, but if it's set to OFF, the wireless won't work.

mari-lu

3 Posts

April 11th, 2005 22:00

Thank you for the suggestion.  It did not work on my Inspiron 8100, but I am now going to try and find out what the other function keys do.  The F2 on your 600m might have been a different key on my laptop.  Thanks again for your help.

johnallg

7.3K Posts

April 12th, 2005 19:00

Are we talking mini-PCI internal or a PC Card in the PCMCIA slot.  If internal, make sure the mini-PCI slot is enabled in the BIOS.  If PC Card, it is possible the slot receptacles were damaged or ripped from the motherboard when the first card shattered when dropped.

mari-lu

3 Posts

April 13th, 2005 15:00

It is a PC Card in the PCMCIA slot.  I am starting to think that the slot receptacles were damaged.  When the original card was working, it would occasionally drop the wireless connection.  It may have been slightly loose and dropping it may have actually damaged the receptacles.  Thank you all for your suggestions.  I think I am going to look into a USB wireless capability.

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