Wireless network adapters lock up Compaq Presario 1510T laptop

[Jeff7]

I just got this card, and it seems to not quite work right. I follow the guide exactly - install drivers, shut down, install card, boot. If I do that, the system locks during bootup. Removing the card then doesn't do anything.
More info on this: During bootup, the system locks up right after the Caps lock and num-lock keys blink on and off. Maybe that means something to someone who knows more about the Windows boot sequence.

Power down forcibly (hold down power button for 4 seconds), and power up without the card, and it boots fine.
Insert card, and Windows immediately freezes. The caps/num lock keys do nothing, and the cursor won't move. The entire system is totally frozen, though the CPU is busy doing something, as the laptop's CPU fan kicks into high gear after a minute. Again, removing the card does nothing.
More info on the full-CPU usage theory - I opened up Task Manager, and held down F5 to constantly refresh the Processes list. The F5 hold-down kept Task Manager's CPU use at 99, however, when I inserted the wireless card, both explorer.exe and services.exe went up to 25% each, and 50 for taskmgr.exe. I let it got for a little while, and sure enough, the CPU fan kicked into high gear.


What gives here?

I'm running WinXP Pro SP2 here.


I got the /bootlog option into the boot.ini. The bootlog, which I believe is from the failed bootup, has this as the last line:
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\HTTP.sys



(Wow, just checked the bootlog of my other system - 16MB! Has a record of every bootup since October 21, 2003.)



Update: Well, luckily I have an old, semi-crippled laptop here that I haven't decided what to do with yet. Screen's a bit funky (I had to replace it myself with a close-but-not-quite match) and the battery charging circuitry may be shot.
Anyway, installing Windows on it to see what it makes of the wireless card. I'll try it without and with Service Pack 2.

Ok, got that other laptop here, an old Compaq Presario 1700. Just put WinXP on it (SP1) and the card installs perfectly. So that seems to be working fine. Going to put SP2 on and see what happens.



Installed SP2 on the Presario 1700 (old one) - card still works fine. Even with all updates from Windowsupdate, it still works fine.

Then I tried the card on the 1510T with Knoppix 3.7 - no problems. The card was correctly identified and began looking for a signal.
So the card works, and my laptop's PCMCIA slot is fine. The problem lies somewhere in my Windows installation. Great.
Please don't say "reinstall Windows." Ugh.

 

[OdiN]

Hi!

Well...HTTP.sys may not be the problem - it may be what is trying to load after that driver that is the true problem.

What I would do is get a different card and test it out - or if you can return that card for a replacement I would try that first perhaps. Also, what about removing the drivers and using the latest ones available off of their website..if you haven't done that already.

I have seen problems with some brands just not working right in some laptops - a DLink that borked the system but a Linksys worked fine. Unless you absolutely need this brand/model for something specific - looking at another brand may be a good idea.

Also, try running SFC /scannow to see if you have damaged system files.

 

[Jeff7]

Thing is, in my experience with Windows' bootlogs, it'll write "Loading driver whatever.dll" to the boot log first, then try to load the driver. I'll do some other checks.

I'd just hoped this would work - wanted to get something inexpensive on the forums here.

I'll also mention this to the people at Dlink, then wade through their scripted responses, then reply back "No, you're not reading what I'm saying to you," and so on.


For the record, the line after the http.sys line is:
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\lvusbsta.sys
lvusbsta.sys

I think I saw somewhere that a USB driver might be a problem. Going to investigate this one.

Ok, it appears that lvusbsta.sys has something to do with Logitech. I did install a USB Logitech optical mouse and a Logitech Quickcam 4000 Pro on this laptop at some point, though they aren't on there now. I also renamed lvusbsta.sys so that the system couldn't find it. Windows' driver protection service, or whatever that's called, didn't seem to care about it either.
But even with this driver disabled, the card still locks the computer.

 

[Jeff7]

Update:


Now I'm fairly irritated. I just reinstalled Windows (SP1). Fresh installation, NOTHING else installed, install drivers, shut down, put in card, boot up, Windows finds the card, starts installing drivers, and freezes.



So what, the card is just incompatible with my laptop???? At least when Windows is installed - remember that the card works fine with Knoppix.



I'm running low on time here too - college is only about 2 weeks away. Anyone hear anything bad about this Zonet ZEW1501 card?

 

[OdiN]

I would say that it's a problem with the card. Do other PCMCIA cards work okay? Hopefully it isn't the slot. Also...make sure there isn't a software update for your laptop that has an updated driver for the PCMCIA slots.

I haven't heard anything about the Zonet cards. Is there a problem with linksys? Or just cost issues with them?

If you wanted one of the best cards get an Orinoco, but those are probably around $100.

I have personally only used the Linksys and DLink PC cards and prefer the Linksys.

 

[Jeff7]

I'm fairly sure it ain't the card or the slot - both work just fine when Knoppix is booted on the troublesome laptop. It detects the card just fine and it starts looking for a connection.
And the card works on another laptop just fine, with Windows OR Knoppix.

I don't have other PCMCIA cards handy to try.

Seems like just some utter incompatibility with the DWL-G650 + Presario 1510T + Windows XP.

For the heck of it, I let the laptop go after it froze up. I popped the card out, with it still frozen. The thing is roasting, CPU usage must be at full.
I left a simple Qbasic counting program running, and it hasn't progressed at all, so I think whatever's got the CPU must be something critical, maybe kernel-level or something. Whatever's using the CPU has got very nearly exclusive control.


I'll see what, if anything more, Dlink has to say. Their advice thus far......they might as well say "jiggle it a bit and see if that helps."

 

[tyanni]

I had the exact same problem with the PCI version of that card - finally gave up and returned it. When I spoke with them, they walked me through the same thing I'd done a 100 times - reinstall drivers, jiggle card, etc. I am not a big fan of these cards anymore.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: tyanni
I had the exact same problem with the PCI version of that card - finally gave up and returned it. When I spoke with them, they walked me through the same thing I'd done a 100 times - reinstall drivers, jiggle card, etc. I am not a big fan of these cards anymore.

Their tech support though has actually been replying to me daily. Now with the new development - that it works in Knoppix but not Windows, possibly indicating a driver problem - they've suddenly fallen silent.

 

[Jeff7]

Zonet card is here. Same thing. Locks it up. None of the lights turn on on this one either. Windows refuses to communicate with it.
However, I do note, the hard drive activity light remains steadily on, very dimly while the system's locked up.

I'll give the card a full test in Knoppix again. I only just tested it for power on before. This time I'll actually try to give it a ping test to a wireless router.



I'd gladly test out another class of PCMCIA card in the laptop, if I had any. I do own a wired network card which I know does work, but I have spent the last few days cleaning up my room, and I can nearly see the floor a few places now, but I still can't find that card.




Ok, problem narrowed down. It is an incompatibility. The cards both work fine under Knoppix, and are able to ping a wireless router. The lights on them go on normally as well. The hardware is therefore functional.
In Windows, they still freeze, even after trying a number of recommendations at another forum.
Looks like it may have something to do with the TI PCI-4410 Cardbus controller. I guess it's got some issue with Windows that doesn't manifest itself in Linux.

More oddities - I started a Qbasic counting program just to see if it could get any CPU attention while the system was locked. I set ntvdm.exe to high priority, and installed the network card. This alone did not freeze the system - Windows had to gradually identify the card when it could. This took about 20 seconds, but the system did eventually freeze up, the Qbasic program included.

 

[Jeff7]

Well, updates.
Dlink says it's not their problem.
Compaq says it's not their problem, and they don't know why my BIOS won't update.
Texas Instruments says that they don't develop drivers, so it's not their problem.

So I guess it's nobody's fault. It just doesn't work. Right....:roll:

 

[derf1021]

sorry, read the rest of the POST. That is weird, are you sure your chipset drivers and all other drivers are up-to-date on the laptop?

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: derf1021
sorry, read the rest of the POST. That is weird, are you sure your chipset drivers and all other drivers are up-to-date on the laptop?

Everything's as up-to-date as I can get. Only thing that's not is the BIOS - and that is refusing to update for unknown reasons. The update disk says it's not the right model, which, I assure you, is not the case.

 

[Rottie]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: derf1021
sorry, read the rest of the POST. That is weird, are you sure your chipset drivers and all other drivers are up-to-date on the laptop?

Everything's as up-to-date as I can get. Only thing that's not is the BIOS - and that is refusing to update for unknown reasons. The update disk says it's not the right model, which, I assure you, is not the case.

maybe you can take it to compaq authorized center and let them fix bios problem. BIOS is compaq's problem.

 

[Jeff7]

That's what I was afraid of. As it's out of warranty though, I'm guessing this'd cost me much money - and I only want the BIOS upgrade if it's going to solve the wireless adapter problem.
I still would love to know why the boot disk says it's not the right model laptop. The readme file included specifically says it will work with my model laptop.

 

[Jeff7]

Another update! Not like it helps anything though....I finally found my old Netgear FA410TX PCMCIA network card - standard RJ45 wired ethernet adapter.
Plug it in, Windows recognizes it, and......................it works perfectly!


So what the heck gives here?

What works:
- Wired network card in Windows
- Wireless network card in Knoppix

What doesn't work:
- Wireless network card in Windows



Why should a wireless card be any different?


If it helps to know, the Netgear card is using IRQ 7, and it is not sharing it.
I of course have no idea what IRQ the wireless cards try for, as the system locks up right away.


Edit: Thought of a way to find out. The Netgear card also liked IRQ 7 on the older Presario 1700. So, maybe the wireless cards have similar IRQ preferences. The Dlink wireless card likes IRQ 9. Now, IRQ 9 on the old 1700 is used by Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System, as well as the integrated ethernet, the modem, the sound chip, the USB controller, AND the PCI-1410 Cardbus controller. So the wireless card is sharing IRQ 9 with 6 other devices, and working fine.
Now, on the problematic Presario 1510T, IRQ 9 is used up by Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System. That's it.



Yet another update: Sister's back from her college-summer-job. She brings with her a wireless network card, another Dlink - DWL-650+, a slightly different model than what I had. Results? The same as the other wireless cards. Lockup.
Why are these wireless cards all different from the regular wired type? Old or new models, it doesn't matter.

 

[Jeff7]

Anyone heard any new rumors on this? Myths? Stone tablets that might be relevant? Anything at all?

 

[reinja]

Hi, I have run into this same problem with my Compaq presario 1516us. My Linksys card 802.11b but both a Netgear and Motorola 802.11g cards instantly freeze the computer.

I have concluded it is the TI PCI-4410 cardbus controller.

If anyone knows who writes the drivers for this I would appreciate any help.

Thanks
Jay

 

[braytonak]

I really think you've just discovered an incompatibility with your TI Cardbus controller and the wireless cards. They may be using some control sequences that the wired cards do not use. Don't bother looking at it as an IRQ conflict. When using an ACPI system, any IRQ that appears to belong to anything on the PCI bus is just a place-holder or alias. PCI devices don't use the numbered IRQ's. They use their own Interrupt methods and the ACPI system provides aliases so that legacy software won't freak out when it can't find the IRQ for an item.

I use a Compaq 2195us as my main system. It's using something called an O2Micro OZ6912 CardBus controller. The chipset is from ALi in my case. I've had a few odd occurances with a USB2 card on this system, but other than that, it runs fine with Cards.

The most similar problem I have is that if I forget to Disable my onboard wired NIC before shutting down while docked, then undock and turn the system on, it will BSoD upon startup. The wired NIC has to be disabled before being removed from the docking station (which is nothing more than an extension of the RJ-45 connector, rather than an actual NIC) or it will cause Networking freak-outs.

Just remember that just because you have a name-brand computer, doesn't mean that it has reliable name-brand pieces inside. Not to mention the fact that the x86 world has SO many variables that there are bound to be conflicts and incompatibilities among devices for no apparent reason.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: reinja
Hi, I have run into this same problem with my Compaq presario 1516us. My Linksys card 802.11b but both a Netgear and Motorola 802.11g cards instantly freeze the computer.

I have concluded it is the TI PCI-4410 cardbus controller.

If anyone knows who writes the drivers for this I would appreciate any help.

Thanks
Jay

Yay, confirmation!

O2Micro OZ6912 CardBus

My sister's Dell Inspiron uses something like this. That laptop's only PCMCIA device has been a wireless card, and it works fine. No idea how it works with other products though. She's happy with the integrated USB 1.1 - only USB thing she owns is a digital camera.

 

[Pepsi90919]

I have the O2micro controller in my Compaq 2198CA and it will lock up the system hard randomly while streaming WMA files from another computer with both a dlink card and a trendnet card.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Anyone heard any new rumors on this? Myths? Stone tablets that might be relevant? Anything at all?

I've seen similar boot-up "kernel freezes" happen, when the NT HAL can't properly rebalance/allocate hardware resources, so it simply shuts down/freezes as a failsafe (?). Most often this happens due to IRQ problems/shortages. I've seen this happen on older Pentium machines with buggy PnP BIOSes as well running W2K. I'm wondering what kind of PnP hardware resource preferences that NIC exposes, and the fact that IRQ9 is preferred by XP for ACPI control is interesting as well.

One more thing to check would be the power, there was a bug with voltages with certain PCMCIA cards a long time ago, something about 5v/3.3v issues and being incorrectly detected by Windows, but that was a long time ago, I expect that was long since fixed.

 

[Jeff7]

Well I got the IRQ and other resource preferences from another laptop that the wireless cards work on. It likes IRQ 9. You mentioned the ACPI control sharing - thing there is, on both laptops tested, the ACPI thingy is on IRQ 9. On one, it works just fine while sharing that IRQ with several other devices. On the 1510T, it's just ACPI control and the wireless card.
I'd love to update the BIOS and see if that helps, but this laptop doesn't want to update its BIOS. "Incorrect system type" it tells me, and it won't do anything else. Running the BIOS update program without the system-checker enabled simply freezes the laptop.
Link to another thread elsewhere. In some posts I detail the resource preferences. This problem isn't just with my laptop model either.