Dell Wireless 1490 mini-pci card fails to start (code 10)

Question

My Dell Latitude D620 wireless died This week while connected.  I had been using wireless access in my home without any problem, as I do most days for the past year plus.  I walked away to do something else and returned a couple hours later to find I no longer had a connection, though the system tray icon still showed a 'Very Good' connection.  I opened the Network Connections window and found I no longer had a wireless connection, nor even the mini-Wireless device configured.  I opened the Device Manager window and saw no reference to my wireless.  I had it refresh and it found it again, but with an ominous red ! through the device.  Try as I might, I could not get it to load drivers, and finally Windows XP SP2 declared the device not working.  Specific property window reports:   This device cannot start (code 10)   As the Laptop is still under warranty, I had a new 1490 shipped, I installed it confirming all connections were good, and got the exact same symptoms and error message.   Any ideas?   Thanks, Jere

volcano11 · Answer

First, go to the following site and download the latest drivers for the 1490 wireless adapter.     < ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>   Once downloaded, find a way to get them to the hard drive of the Latitude D620.   Next, boot into Safe Mode (start tapping the F8 key after restarting the computer but before Windows loads).  Once in Safe Mode, go into Device Manager, expand the listing for Network Adapters, select your wireless adapter, then click on Uninstall.   Reboot to Normal boot, cancel the New Hardware Wizard, if it starts, then run the downloaded driver file and see if you can properly install the drivers.  Report back what you find.   Steve

Jere39 · Answer

Thanks, all good ideas, and I have done these without any success.  I've tried several combinations of uninstall, rollback, and install new drivers.  Ultimately, driver reinstall fails at about the same point, leaving me with the same indication:   Device cannot be started (code 10)   This was the original problem, and it stayed the same after first reseating the original mini card and all connections as well as after installing a new mini-card and verifying the same good connections.   Additional guidance from another source suggests a possible cardbus controller failure.  Thoughts welcome.

roborific · Answer

I have the same thing, code 10. the only problem is it is with an Intel prowireless 3945 mini pci card. i have tried everything. this includes having the card replaced.

volcano11 · Answer

Try reinstalling the chipset drivers for your machines, followed by another attempt to install the network drivers.   Steve

volcano11 · Answer

Try resetting the BIOS to its defaults.  This should force the BIOS to re-establish communication with all devices.    http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&docid=BD5FD2C62D03485EBBB5D7ECD5144D4E&journalid=E8D8152C4F1E11DBBA0AE5F7E6D00524&l=en&s=gen   Steve

Jere39 · Answer

Ok, I would never have thought of that, so I did it yesterday.  Unfortunately, it made no difference to the symptoms.  Ultimately, the card will not start, and reports the as yet unidentified code 10.   I'm happy to keep trying things.  BTW, I found I was on an older BIOS (A05) and took the time to update to A08.  Of course this had no impact on my mini-pci card.   FWIW, I've resurrected an older pcmcia wireless card that is working fine as an interim solution while I continue to diagnose.   Happy New year, Jere

Jere39 · Answer

Ultimately, I ended up with a new motherboard.  Because this is a fairly standard config among colleagues at work we first moved my hard drive to an identical system and confirmed that it was not an issue with my installation, software, registry, etc.  By then the diagnostic process was getting well past diminishing returns, so we ordered the motherboard, got it overnight, installed it, moved my memory onto it, booted up and wireless is working fine.  I guess this is not definitive proof, but I suspect some sort of card bus connector or something, possibly due to temperature.   Anyway, thanks for all the good ideas, I'm conveniently wireless again.  Just in time for my stint in Jury duty.  With luck, I'll get more work done without the ringing phones and open door policy back at the office.   Regards, and happy new year, Jere

Pirin · Answer

I have same problem with a Intel 3945ABG on a inspiron 1520, and the card works fine on linux ! but give me that code 10 on windows ! can some1 have find any fix for this ????

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