1490 WLAN Card - Location Setting Affecting 5 GHz Operation

JoeAtt,

Make a system restore point. That way if thing don't work, you can come back to what you have.

Make sure you know your wireless setup information.

Download this Dell Wireless 1490 Dual-Band WLAN MiniCard Driver Japan has all sorts of FCC type (the Japanese equivalent) requirements, and is reflected in the options of the Japanese driver.

Go to device manager, click on network, then right clicked on 1490 adapter, then left clicked uninstall. It asks you if you want to remove and associated software with it. I clicked yes. When it is done, restart the computer.

Now install the downloaded driver. Then follow the instructions.

Rick

Thanks Rick.  Tried it.  No change.  Japan is still the only location option available in Device Manager.

The User Guide intimates that location is hard-coded based on point-of-sale (see excerpt below).  Perhaps the firmware needs to be changed to force the device into a USA location mode.  Do you know where I can obtain that firmware?

Location

Users who purchased their DW WLAN Card in the United States have USA as the default location; users who purchased their DW WLAN Card in Japan have Japan as their default location. For all other users, the Location property is not available.

JoeAtt,

If you recently installed the operating system, The notebook system utility and the chipset drivers need installed first or the rest of the drivers will fail to install. How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order

US

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&deviceid=9806&libid=5&releaseid=R286815&vercnt=15&formatcnt=0&SystemID=LATITUDE%20D620&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=-1&dateid=-1&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&impid=-1&checkFormat=true

Japan

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&deviceid=8042&libid=5&releaseid=R151518&vercnt=3&formatcnt=0&SystemID=LATITUDE%20D620&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=-1&dateid=-1&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&impid=-1&checkFormat=true

Except US and Japan

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&deviceid=8043&libid=5&releaseid=R151517&vercnt=3&formatcnt=0&SystemID=LATITUDE%20D620&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=-1&dateid=-1&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&impid=-1&checkFormat=true

Rick

JoeAtt,

What is the make and model of your comp;uter and operatign system?

When you downloaded the drivers from Drivers & Downloads Did you accidentally download and install the Japaneese drivers instead of the English drivers?

Rick

It's a Latitude D620 laptop running Windows XP Professional.  I downloaded the driver to which you pointed me.  I didn't see any distinction between Japanese and English versions.  How can one tell?

Thanks again Rick.  Looks like I was indeed using the US version of the driver on Friday during my attempts to uninstall and reinstall it.  And regarding the OS, I have not made any recent updates.  But I read through the guidance on the order in which drivers should be installed, and maybe it's worth going back and updating the prerequisites.  Concerning the Notebook System Software and Mobile Chipset drivers, however, can you tell me what hardware in Device Manger would use those drivers?  I looked through each section this morning, and didn't find anything with that nomenclature.  Below are two screeen shots showing devices available.

JoeAtt,

Concerning the Notebook System Software and Mobile Chipset drivers, however, can you tell me what hardware in Device Manger would use those drivers?

The Notebook system utility knows what devices are installed on your computer, like wireless adapters, webcam, usb ports, etc and helps to recognize them. The chipset drivers finished the installation for the usb ports and other items. You then have to install the rst of the drivers in order for everything to work. How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order When the order is not followed, this is the reason many usb ports and wireless adapters do not work.

Rick