IBM Thinkpad 570 and Mini PCI Wireless?

[GnatGoSplat]

One day I opened my old Thinkpad 570 (P2-366) and discovered its built-in modem is a Mini PCI card. I was going to buy a Mini PCI card for my Thinkpad T40 anyway, so I picked up an Intel 2200BG 802.11b/g Mini PCI Wireless NIC. Anyway, I decided to try it in my 570, so I replaced the built-in modem with the 2200BG. I didn't hook up any antennas to it since my 570 doesn't have any. I figure I can buy those later IF the card works in my 570. So I booted it and to my amazement, XP SP2 discovers a "Network Controller". I point XP to the directory with the driver, and sure enough, it recognizes the driver and installs it. Then it gives me a notice that there is a problem with my network card. In the Device Manager, it says "Device cannot start (Code 10)". I am using Intel's latest drivers. Just for kicks, I even tried the Thinkpad no-1802.com hack - nothing. I also tried it in my wife's TP 570, and it got the exact same error.

I know the card is good, I put it in my T40 and it works 100% perfectly (had to run no-1802.com first since it's not an IBM-branded card).

Has anyone succeeded in getting an 802.11g Mini PCI NIC to work inside a 570?

 

[WackyDan]

Could be a firmware related issue with the 570.... It just might not fully support it even if it DOES recognize the card.

Maybe.

 

[cheesehead]

It may just be that the BIOS does not like anything other than modems stuck in the modem card. Or, it could be a hardware problem; perhaps it's directly connected to the modem port and associated electronics, and therefore having difficulty talking to the rest of the laptop. To be honest, I really do'nt know, as I'm a fan of external (PCMICA) wireless cards anyway; a Orinoco Gold wireless card can be had for about 30$ after S/H, and it gives you much better RAM than any internal wi-fi card does.

 

[GnatGoSplat]

I think it's probably a BIOS problem. The modem jack plugs into the back of the card so it's not a non-standard mini PCI port.

I already have a D-Link Super G PCMCIA card that works fine, but if I snaked the antenna into the LCD, I could get as good signal strength as the T40 which is excellent (always maximum bars). Not to mention I don't like the protrusion of the PCMCIA card. My wife already cracked the keyboard bezel of her TP570 because I guess she accidentally set it down at an angle and the antenna from the PCMCIA card pushed up against the casing.

Oh well. I even gave it another try today, uninstalling the modem and D-Link card drivers, and even booting into Safe Mode with Networking support.