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Intel My WiFi Radio Switch


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Hey all, within the past week, my laptop has been acting up. Below is the issue and specs.

With increasing frequency now, my laptop ( while browsing the internet ) randomly looses wireless connectivity, and a little box pops up in the bottom right hand corner that says the Intel My WiFi Radio Switch has been turned off. Ive tried toggling the keyboard shortcut to reenable this, but it does nothing. I have also opened the program from the control panel, and clicked enable, but after a few seconds, it still does nothing. However, if I completely restart the computer, it starts working again.

Specs:

Dell Studio 1558

Less than 2 years old

Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6250 AGN

Warranty Expired

Do you guys know whats going on here? I really need this resolved as quickly as possible!

Thanks!

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Have you tried running the Dell Diagnostics utility? It is usually fairly good at diagnosing hardware problems. If that doesn't isolate the problem, try replicating it in Ubuntu. (Ubuntu 11.10 should support your wireless card out-of-the-box. Older versions may as well, but support for your wireless card has been greatly improved in recent kernel versions; so definitely go for the latest version of Ubuntu.) If the problem persists in Ubuntu, you probably have a failing wireless card or failing mini-pci slot on your motherboard. If not, it has to be a software (probably driver) problem in Windows. In that case, get the latest driver from Dell, like warwagon suggested, or possibly even go for the very latest one from Intel.

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Have you tried running the Dell Diagnostics utility? It is usually fairly good at diagnosing hardware problems. If that doesn't isolate the problem, try replicating it in Ubuntu. (Ubuntu 11.10 should support your wireless card out-of-the-box. Older versions may as well, but support for your wireless card has been greatly improved in recent kernel versions; so definitely go for the latest version of Ubuntu.) If the problem persists in Ubuntu, you probably have a failing wireless card or failing mini-pci slot on your motherboard. If not, it has to be a software (probably driver) problem in Windows. In that case, get the latest driver from Dell, like warwagon suggested, or possibly even go for the very latest one from Intel.

Dell Diagnostic Utility found nothing wrong. I just downloaded and burned Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit to a DVD, but for some reason my laptop won't boot from it. I've used Ubuntu/Linux before and never had this problem before. Here is the message I get:

Realtek PCIe CBE Family Controller Series

PXE-E61: Media test failure; check cable

After this, it reverts back to starting up Windows. I have attached a photo of what the screen looks like. Any ideas?

post-213796-0-14560700-1325615417_thumb.

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Dell Diagnostic Utility found nothing wrong. I just downloaded and burned Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit to a DVD, but for some reason my laptop won't boot from it. I've used Ubuntu/Linux before and never had this problem before. Here is the message I get:

Realtek PCIe CBE Family Controller Series

PXE-E61: Media test failure; check cable

After this, it reverts back to starting up Windows. I have attached a photo of what the screen looks like. Any ideas?

Make sure that either

A) The CD is the first boot device,

or

B that you just press the boot sectiion key as the bios is posting usually F12, F10, F9 or Escape and then select the Ubuntu Media from that list and press enter.

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Try removing the wireless card, cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser (preferably a NEW pencil eraser) and putting it back in.

Otherwise, replace adaper.

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Try removing the wireless card, cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser (preferably a NEW pencil eraser) and putting it back in.

Otherwise, replace adaper.

I did, and to no avail, as 5 minutes later the problem cropped up again.

However, this time I used an ethernet cable to plug directly into the modem, and I am now online again.

So, this leads me to believe that the wireless card is going bad? If so, how exactly do I find out what wireless card I have?

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Well, the wireless card in question here is the "Intel Centrino Advanced-N + Wi MAX 6250 802.11a/b/g/n"

Unfortunately, Dell only sells refurbished version of this card.

I just tried installing the drivers directly from Intel instead of from Dell, and it seems to have temp. fixed the problem, as it is yet to act up.

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So its been a couple months since I've posted on this thread, but I just wanted to let you guys know that I am still having this problem!

I got frustrated with it and I have been happily running Ubuntu (problem free) since January, but when I occasionally need to use Windows 7, the wireless is still acting up.

I have cleaned the contacts on the card, and updated the drivers.

I know the card itself is fine because it works no problem in Ubuntu. Does anyone know what else I should do? Another friend of mine with a Dell is also having this problem.

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install the regular version drivers again as follows:

remove drivers using formal uninstall procedure>reboot>use driversweeper>uninstall all wlan drivers using it>reboot>install non dell version>reboot>ensure it succeeded

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You need to make sure you have all the latest Dell Keyboard utility things as well. Try uninstalling all WiFi drivers + Intel My WiFi and installing the ones Dell has put on the laptop download page.

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install the regular version drivers again as follows:

remove drivers using formal uninstall procedure>reboot>use driversweeper>uninstall all wlan drivers using it>reboot>install non dell version>reboot>ensure it succeeded

I assume you are talking about using this tool . . . http://phyxion.net/item/driver-sweeper.html

I have never used this before, and after looking at what it does, I am a little wary of messing something up. Is using this software safe?

You need to make sure you have all the latest Dell Keyboard utility things as well. Try uninstalling all WiFi drivers + Intel My WiFi and installing the ones Dell has put on the laptop download page.

If I uninstall these drivers I won't be able to access the internet until they have been reinstalled, correct? So before I do this I should make sure I have a copy of Dell's latest drivers stored locally, right?

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If I uninstall these drivers I won't be able to access the internet until they have been reinstalled, correct? So before I do this I should make sure I have a copy of Dell's latest drivers stored locally, right?

Yep, download everything beforehand! Phyxion's driver sweeper is a good idea. First uninstall the drivers the regular way, then use driver sweeper to clean it up. I use it all the time and it's not just safe, it increases the chance your next driver install will be successful.

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the software I indicated should be completely safe, however with all software like that there are some risks, however many have not had any problems with it messing up thier systems that I know of.

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This still isnt working for me. Maybe I downloaded the wrong drivers? I installed the ones provided by Dell, but when when I used the analyse function in the software, it didnt show that the new drivers had been installed. Furthermore, the My WiFi technology software gets removed but not reinstalled with the new Dell Drivers.

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