Network PC card not working.

Question

I have a Latitude CPx H450 GT. In the PC-slot, I use either a WiFi-card or a ethernet card. This has stopped working, leaving me without any network connection.

Both cards work when I try them in a friends laptop.

The ethernet card has LEDs that light up when the card is in use. Those LEDs come on in my friends computer, but not when the card is used in mine.

Running the diagnostics utilities, no problem is detected with the PCMCIA controller if there is no card in the slot. If there is a card in the slot, I get a message saying that the card is not fully seated. I believe (strongly) that it is... I have checked the pins in the connector, and they are ok; nothing bent nor broken.

The problem occurs on both the upper and the lower slot.

Does anyone know what is broken, and if it can be fixed, and if so, how?

jmwills · Answer

Are the drivers installed for these devices?  Who does the Device manager show?

mhcarlberg · Answer

Yes, the drivers are installed.

In the windows device manager, the device has a red cross over it. The windows trouble shooter, as usual, is of no help whatsoever. Re-installing the drivers does not help.

jmwills · Answer

The red 'X' means the device has been disabled.  Right click and enable it.

jmwills · Answer

'Of Course'.....I have no idea what you have tried.  Have you tried moving the card to another machine to verify if it is the card?  Sounds like the card is dead.  NIC cards are cheap...around $10 after rebate. Message Edited by jmwills on 09-06-2005 02:42 PM

mhcarlberg · Answer

I have of course tried that. It does not help.

mhcarlberg · Answer

Yes, I have tried moving the cards to another machine, and there they work splendidly. As I wrote in the original post: > Both cards work when I try them in a friends laptop.

jmwills · Answer

All of the PCI slots are 'dead' on your MOBO? Sure sounds like it.

jmwills · Answer

Something has become disconnected between the PCMCIA slots and the MOBO and I would have a qualified technician look at it, but if they say it needs to be replaced, then look at that cost vs a new laptop which can be had for around $600 these days.

mhcarlberg · Answer

I suspect that the circuits driving the PCMCIA slots are broken. I infer this from the info from the diagnostics software (see the original post). I assume that this means I will have to replace the motherboard to fix this. I suspect that replacing the motherboard is an expensive operation. The laptop is almost 6 years old and not worth a large investment.

goyito38 · Answer

Does anyone know where I can get drivers for the ethernet slot on my latitude d610 computer? I recently got the laptop from my dad who used to work for a company that allowed their employees to purchase computers with their software already loaded on them. I called Dell and they said the drivers were on the website, but I can't find the correct one to work with my system. They won't tell me because they have an agreement with the company my dad used to work for not to change the original configuration of the computer. Is there any way I can get the computer to recoginize the ethernet card on the computer or not? I am a teacher and would like to use the computer in my office to connect to the school's network via an ethernet connection.

Thanks

John

jmwills · Answer

I make it a rule not to answer new threads within a thread but since you are a teacher, then:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/devices.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=LAT_PNT_PM_D610&os=WW1&osl=EN

akahan · Answer

With respect to the original poster's problem: I think it's likely that you've got a motherboard hardware problem, or a connector problem.

But before you give up, you might want to blow a TON of compressed air in the PCMCIA slots and then try again. You mention that none of the pins are bent, but I'm wondering if you've got some little piece of something (plastic, yesterday's sandwich, who knows what) lodged in the PCMCIA slots preventing the cards from sliding in all the way. That would account for perhaps some, but not all, of the pins connecting (so your machine can tell the difference between you having a card in there or not, which it does) . If the compressed air doesn't work, shine a flashlight in the PCMCIA slots and see if you can SEE anything stuck in there.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Network PC card not working.

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