Optiplex 3010 doesn’t detect wireless adapter in PCIE Slot

Question

First time post, so bear with me. I am rebuilding an Optiplex 3010 to give to my 12 year old for Christmas (I will dismantle it and he and I will put it back together over the break). My first task is to get it up and running, connected to the Internet and then upgrade Windows. Because I had it available, I have uploaded Windows XP Pro as the OS (via CD). To do so I had to disable secure boot and change the protocol to ATA from ACIA. I have installed a TP-Link Wireless Adapter in one of the PCIE slots. The BIOS does not detect it and, hence, Windows XP doesn’t either. I can’t seem to find any particular element of the BIOS which would seem to let me enable/ disable the PCIE slots so I am a bit stuck. Any suggestions where to look/ what to do next would be most welcome, please. I’m running out of time! Thanks in hope!

DaddyV · Accepted Answer

Thank you - following your instructions I have been able successfully to install the Win7 image and to download and install the drivers. Now to get hooked up to the internet, download and install Windows 10 and my boy will have his present for Christmas and - hopefully a taste for building and developing his own computers!

thank you - I could not have done this without your help!

speedstep · Answer

Newer chipsets run the PCI-E bus at 2.1 or 3.0 speed. OLDER pci-e 1.0 based cards will not be seen. OR the issue is Secure Boot on and Legacy option roms off. 64 bit versions of windows will not load hardware or drivers if secure boot is turned on. Older cards that have windows intel chipset drivers are REQUIRED before anything is seen on any PCI bus.

This model is new enough that a WIN7 image is available for F12 USB FLASH BOOTING.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln299044/how-to-download-and-use-the-dell-os-recovery-image-in-microsoft-windows?lang=en

What you will need

Service Tag of the Dell PC on which you want to install Microsoft Windows or Linux
Download and install Dell OS Recovery Tool (runs in Microsoft Windows 7 or higher only)
Blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of free space
Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5.2 or higher which means WIN7 is the minimum
Administrator user rights and at least 16GB of available storage space to download the Dell ISO recovery image onto USB FLASH drive.

The drivers below are minimum required for XP.

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03466621M/1/DRVR_WIN_R304291.EXE

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00334682M/1/Chipset_Driver_36X7D_WN32_2.0.30.0_A02.EXE

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00349943M/1/3010_Chipset_Driver_9WGT6_WN32_8.0.3.1427_A00.EXE

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00865736M/1/3010_Chipset_Driver_J1RHD_WN_1.0.0.114_A00.EXE

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00703784M/1/3010_Chipset_Driver_G2TGX_WN_8.1.0.1248_A01.EXE

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER01741084M/1/Chipset_Application_NWM8K_WN_9.5.14.1724_A01.EXE

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER02025414M/1/Audio_Driver_T82DN_WN_1.0.54.0_A05.EXE

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER05057307M/1/O3010A21.exe

VISTA, 7 , 8.0, 8.1 drivers will require that they be installed manually and be 64 bit versions.

32 bit drivers will not load or install on 64 bit windows.

Any ole card from Joes Crab shack networking is not supported.

There are XP drivers for the 3010 so it may be as simple as downloading and installing 7 zip to extract the drivers into the documents folder. aka c:\users\mydocuments\~username

Then right click on the driver cab file copied to there and tell 7zip to extract here.

https://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Then right click on yellow ! in device manager and say update driver from my pc instead of the internet.

xp is end of life end of support.

A 3010 should have a windows 7 coa. So you would be able to download a 7 recovery image from dell.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln312414/dell-command-deploy-driver-packs-for-enterprise-client-os-deployment?lang=en

Windows 10 will also install fine extracted to the my documents folder etc.

http://downloads.dell.com/folder00428962m/1/9010-xp-A00-37DV2.CAB

http://downloads.delltechcenter.com/DIA/Drivers/win7_optiplexd4_a07.cab

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03656814M/1/3010-Win10-A01-XM7K2.CAB

speedstep · Answer

There is no more interactive support for XP from ANYONE including Microsoft.

There is no reason to use anything less than WIN7 pro. If you have XP software you need to load USE XP MODE from windows 7.

Enclosure is very basic and not expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/

DaddyV · Answer

Thanks for responding! The Optiplex data manual says the PCIE slot is 2.0, the Adapter itself doesn’t say if it is 2.1 or 3.0 so I suppose that could be an issue, but I don’t think so. Legacy ROMs are enabled. I have had to put a new, clean HDD in it so I don’t think the original Dell recovery stuff will still be there. I think the Windows 10 update approach you suggest is probably the best solution in due course, but first I have to get the device recognised by the BIOS, or find a replacement device! Thanks

DaddyV · Answer

Thanks - Sorry to be dumb, but I’m not sure what 'Sneakernet' means, or putting my HDD in an 'enclosure', sorry. I also don’t have a cluse where I would go to get them from. Thanks

speedstep · Answer

Buy a 16 OR 32 gig sandisk cruiser blade usb 2.0 flash drive.

Download the DELL RECOVERY TOOL.

Download your WIN7 image for that machine based on service tag from the machine you are posting from now.

Create a DELL WIN7 recovery USB flash drive.

Download 7 zip installer onto the same recovery flash drive

Download the 7 cab file onto the same recovery flash drive.

F12 boot the USB FLASH from the 3010 on USB 2.0 PORT

Install win7

copy the cab file to documents on the 3010

RIGHT CLICK extract here on the 3010

Update missing drivers FROM MY PC vs the internet.

OptiPlex	Included Models	Windows 7 CABS
D8 OptiPlex Family	5250AIO,7450AIO,3050,3050AIO,5050,7050	A14 (10/23/18)
D7 OptiPlex Family	3040,3240,7040,5040,7440AIO,3046	A22 (03/29/18)
D6 OptiPlex Family	3030,7020,9030,3030AIO,9030AIO,3020M,9020M	A18 (03/20/17)
D5 OptiPlex 3011	3011,3011 AIO,3011AIO,3011-AIO	A04 (02/17/15)
D5 OptiPlex Family	9020,9020AIO,XE2,3020	A29 (12/14/16)
D4 OptiPlex Family	3010,7010,9010,9010AIO	A07 (05/30/14)
D3 OptiPlex Family	390,790,990	A03 (07/12/13)
D2 OptiPlex Family	380,780,980,XE	A01 (10/08/12)
D1 OptiPlex Family	760,960	A01 (10/08/12)

DaddyV · Answer

....something else occurred to me.

If I could get the driver for the on board ethernet adapter loaded (device manager tells me the driver is not present) then I could access the internet via a cable to my router.

Would you be able to suggest, please, how I might go about locating a driver for the on board ethernet adapter, please?

Thanks!

DaddyV · Answer

Great - I think I’ve got loads to go on there. I might be best getting hold of a Win 7 disk and uploading from there. Thanks very much for your help!

DaddyV · Answer

Great, I will give that a go as soon as I get a chance. That’s very comprehensive, thanks for your help. I’ll share out my solution once I get it done. Thanks again.

speedstep · Answer

This is chicken and egg. You cannot detect things without chipset drivers. These are NOT optional for xp thru win10.

YOU MUST HAVE chipset drivers loaded.

You will have to sneakernet them over via burning them to DVD or putting the hard drive in an enclosure and downloading them that way.

xp wont work with the internet because you need at least IE 8.0 and the base disk DOES NOT HAVE THIS.

Microsoft has also removed the download for IE 8.

Make a win7 USB FLASH DRIVE RECOVERY and start from there.

Then install 7 zip.

Then download the WIN7 CAB FILE. This file as well as the 7 zip installer and win7 image fits onto a single 16 gig usb flash drive.

Then move that file to the documents folder.

Then Right click extract here for the cab file via 7 zip.

Then go into device manager and say UPDATE driver from my PC vs the internet and the rest of the stuff will install.

This model supports windows 10 via the COA KEY or the WIN8X bios key so once you get 7 on there you can update free to 10.

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Blade-Flash-SDCZ50/dp/B00652C690/

You only need to install the dell tool on a WIN7 or higher machine then tell the app the service tag of your machine to download and install the image onto the sandisk.

The other gotcha is that you MUST USE USB2 PORT to F12 boot from and install or it will crash.

DaddyV · Answer

Hello Sorry to trouble you again - I have gone through the process of creating the USB Win 7 Recovery drive and I have got everything ready, except for the '7 Cab File' you mentioned. I have searched on the Dell Support site, but I can’t find anything which appears to have the right name or description. There are loads of WinPE driver files but I don’t know if they are the right ones? Would you be able, please, to give me a more precise description of the file I need to find, or even a link to it? Once I get that, I’m ready to go. Thanks for your continuing help. Regards

speedstep · Answer

You have to download the CAB file and move to the Documents folder.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln312414/dell-command-deploy-driver-packs-for-enterprise-client-os-deployment?lang=en

WINDOWS 7 MUST BE F12 INSTALLED VIA USB 2 port. Will not work on USB3 port. If you start the install on usb 3.0 port it will fail with error 0x8007025D = ERROR_BAD_COMPRESSION_BUFFER = the specified buffer contains ill-formed data. USB 3.0 uses the Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI) mode for communications with the system. USB 2.0 uses the much older Interrupt Request (IRQ) system.

http://downloads.delltechcenter.com/DIA/Drivers/win7_optiplexd4_a07.cab

Once there you have to install 7zip and reboot.

https://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Then go to the cab file and right click on it with the 7zip EXTRACT here command.

Then right click on any yellow ! in device manager and say install from my pc instead of from the internet.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln312414/dell-command-deploy-driver-packs-for-enterprise-client-os-deployment?lang=en

OptiPlex	Included Models	Windows 7 CABS
D8 OptiPlex Family	5250AIO,7450AIO,3050,3050AIO,5050,7050	A14 (10/23/18)
D7 OptiPlex Family	3040,3240,7040,5040,7440AIO,3046	A22 (03/29/18)
D6 OptiPlex Family	3030,7020,9030,3030AIO,9030AIO,3020M,9020M	A18 (03/20/17)
D5 OptiPlex 3011	3011,3011 AIO,3011AIO,3011-AIO	A04 (02/17/15)
D5 OptiPlex Family	9020,9020AIO,XE2,3020	A29 (12/14/16)
D4 OptiPlex Family	3010,7010,9010,9010AIO	A07 (05/30/14)
D3 OptiPlex Family	390,790,990	A03 (07/12/13)
D2 OptiPlex Family	380,780,980,XE	A01 (10/08/12)
D1 OptiPlex Family	760,960	A01 (10/08/12)

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Optiplex 3010 doesn’t detect wireless adapter in PCIE Slot

What you will need

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