cant install correct wifi drivers for HP Pavilion dv7-1232nr

[Nvidiaguy07]

My friend gave me his computer to fix. It needed to be wiped.

So i did what i normally did, formatted and reinstalled windows vista x64. My only problem is the wireless driver will not install - also there are 3 or 4 base system devices in the device manager that i dont even know what they are.

I went to hps website and typed in the service tag which is 1232nr and downloaded every driver they had. Nothing worked. I even tried installing that crappy hp support center BS that did nothing.

I also went into bios to make sure it wasnt disabled, there was no option to change anything on it. Also there is no on/off switch for wifi on the outside of the computer. I did windows update a few times to see if they had any drivers for it, no dice.

Im out of ideas. I even went and installed linux on another partition and the wireless works fine there, so its definitely a windows driver issue.

 

[Dahak]

for the wireless driver, is it giving you somesort of error when trying to install it?

For the base system drivers it they are probably one of the following

1) Validity Fingerprint Sensor Driver
2) JMB38X Card Reader Host Controller Driver
3) QuickLaunch Buttons ( have to get it from the 32-bit side)

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

for the wireless driver, is it giving you somesort of error when trying to install it?

For the base system drivers it they are probably one of the following

1) Validity Fingerprint Sensor Driver
2) JMB38X Card Reader Host Controller Driver
3) QuickLaunch Buttons ( have to get it from the 32-bit side)

no error messages, just halfway through the install it decides to not pop back up again (like what would happen if you install the wrong driver)

im tempted to open this thing up and see exactly what kind of wireless card is in there. Possibly putting a different one in if i cant figure it out.

 

[Dahak]

the other thing to try is just manually install the driver and point to the location of extracted files

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

the other thing to try is just manually install the driver and point to the location of extracted files

tried it, went to all the unknown devices in dev manager (including a network device) and pointed to the folder where the drivers extract. Didnt work. Im thinking about just ordering a recovery disk from hp.

 

[RebateMonger]

Too bad owners don't make the Recovery Disks that they are supposed to make when they get their new PC. Even sadder is that many OEMs don't provide ready-made System Recovery or OS Install disks for their PCs.

A full System Recovery with a Dell or Toshiba Recovery Disk or Recovery Partition takes like five or ten minutes to restore the system back to its pristine factory image, complete with all the drivers.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Too bad owners don't make the Recovery Disks that they are supposed to make when they get their new PC. Even sadder is that many OEMs don't provide ready-made System Recovery or OS Install disks for their PCs.

A full System Recovery with a Dell or Toshiba Recovery Disk or Recovery Partition takes like five or ten minutes to restore the system back to its pristine factory image, complete with all the drivers.

I personally dont see it as a big deal. I would rather have better support offered through the companys website, because cd's get lost, and drivers get outdated.

Even if i have the driver CD that comes with whatever hardware i buy, i always go for online drivers first because they are the newest. Going to the CD is a last resort for me so i dont have to hunt down the last few drivers.

Yes I do think people should make recovery cd's to make life easier, but the main issue here is hp linked the wrong drivers on their website. either that or this specific model comes with a different wireless adapter, but has the same service tag as another model with a different adapter.

 

[addoraa]

Is the wireless on? There should be a wireless icon on the far right of the media bar, just touch it. Blue is on, amber is off.

Also be careful when trying to install a different wireless card as hp has been known to whitelist their wireless cards.

This should be the driver for the wireless card, a broadcom card.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...66477&sw_lang=

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Is the wireless on? There should be a wireless icon on the far right of the media bar, just touch it. Blue is on, amber is off.

Also be careful when trying to install a different wireless card as hp has been known to whitelist their wireless cards.

lol first thing i thought. Touching it makes no difference. It does turn blue in linux (when it works) so i think its more of an indicator than anything. Is there a program like speccy for linux that will give me detailed info about my hardware. If I can see in linux what kind of adapter it is it might help me in my driver search.

And seriously what the fuck HP. cant you just link the correct driver on your website?

I opened up the computer and this is what the card says:

ic:4104a-arbxb63h
FCC Id: PPD-AR5BXB63H

nothing else written on it. googled those numbers, no help so far. getting frustrated.

 

[RebateMonger]

FCC Id: PPD-AR5BXB63H

One search result says that's an Atheros AzurreWave. It's also used on an Eee 701.

Here's the mini-PCI version of that card:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Atheros-ARBXB63...less-Card-/280523333740?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

Drivers:
http://www.atheros.cz/
Judging by the eBay ad, it's the same as the AR5007EG shown in the Atheros driver table.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

FCC Id: PPD-AR5BXB63H

One search result says that's an Atheros AzurreWave. It's also used on an Eee 701.

Here's the mini-PCI version of that card:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Atheros-ARBXB63...less-Card-/280523333740?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

Drivers:
http://www.atheros.cz/
Judging by the eBay ad, it's the same as the AR5007EG shown in the Atheros driver table.

tried it, no difference. I beginning to think the problem is its stuck in "disabled" mode and the button doesnt work, so theres no way to turn it on an install. I googled it and some People were having the same prob.

It works in linux but now in windows, so i doubt the adapter needs to be replaced.

 

[addoraa]

Shouldn't make any difference but have you tried installing the HP wireless assistant along with the drivers???
The driver I listed earlier was the only wireless driver listed for that model.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...66477&sw_lang=

 

[razel]

This thread should list everything you need:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...v6-gen-2-dv7-gen-3-dv8-hdx16-hdx18-intel.html

If that's the wrong generation of dv7, then keep searching around that forum. You'll probably find another similar thread.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Shouldn't make any difference but have you tried installing the HP wireless assistant along with the drivers???
The driver I listed earlier was the only wireless driver listed for that model.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...66477&sw_lang=

yep tried the wireless assistant. It wont let me enable. Also downloaded the HP software update tool, wouldn't install a new driver.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

This thread should list everything you need:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...v6-gen-2-dv7-gen-3-dv8-hdx16-hdx18-intel.html

If that's the wrong generation of dv7, then keep searching around that forum. You'll probably find another similar thread.

i dont see any AMD sections, everything is intel. i might try out a few drivers anyway. Cant believe i still havent figured this out.

On a side note i went to order a recovery CD from HP's website. They charge 15 bucks for 5-7 day shipping for a fucking CD. are you kidding me? This should be shipped for free. I just had lexmark send me their cd for free and it got here in like 2 days. bullshit.....

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

update: decided to just give up and put a different card in and i get this bullshit message:

104 unsupported wireless network device detected

HP is completely screwing me over right now. How can they do this. Whats the problem with buying another adapter and putting it in?

 

[addoraa]

Wish I had some answer for you.

Welcome to the HP whitelist. Sucks they do that with wireless cards. Hinted at that a few posts up. They want you to buy from them and pay 3 times what the card is worth.

That has to have a Broadcom card in it, from the numbers you posted earlier. At least that is what I come up with when googling.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Wish I had some answer for you.

Welcome to the HP whitelist. Sucks they do that with wireless cards. Hinted at that a few posts up. They want you to buy from them and pay 3 times what the card is worth.

That has to have a Broadcom card in it, from the numbers you posted earlier. At least that is what I come up with when googling.

haha yea know i know what you meant by whitelist. What a bunch of crap. I might try looking for one on ebay, but it works 100% fine in linux, which makes me think the adapter itself is fine. I even tried completely removing it, turning the computer on, then turning off and putting it back in hoping it would enable it, no luck.

After searching around this is what im thinking: The wireless on/off feature does not work. It is stuck on off in windows and there is no way to enable it. And without it enabled i cannot install the drivers for it. So yes they might have put the right drivers on the product page, but without being able to enable the adapter they wont work.

For some reason the adapter is enabled by default in linux, so im guessing thats why it works there. People all seem to describe the problem as "on/off switch doesn't work" or "wireless orange/blue button is stuck on orange" and when they contacted HP they said its a motherboard problem and offered to replace for 400 dollars.....

Is there anyway for force enable this adapter? since there is no physical button to enable.

My only other option is to hex edit the bios so i can use a different wireless card, but id hate to do that and have it not work.